27.10: Frederick Douglass- A Breath of Fresh Air
Herman Melville’s “Benito Cereno” and Frederick Douglass’s The Heroic Slave both focus on the escape of slaves and they depict these escapes to be quite different from one another. Melville and Douglass really did write a completely different way than the other. Melville was extremely difficult to understand at times, and he forced the reader to really look into the deeper meaning of what he wrote on the page. Douglass wrote in a pretty narrative manner, which was easier for the reader to understand.
When it is said that “Melville works through irony and indirection,” it means that he uses tools such as irony to show the reader how the characters felt about the situation at hand, which was a revolt against slavery. Melville’s use of irony and indirection, though, is a little more confusing for the reader to figure out just because they have to dig so deep into the novella. He never says what he means flat out, and he likes to beat around the bush. An example of this would be at the end of the novella when Melville writes, “’You are saved, Don Benito,’ cried Captain Delano, more and more astonished and pained; ‘you are saved; what has cast such a shadow upon you?’ ‘The Negro’” (75). A lot of readers could read this passage and honestly have no idea what Melville is trying to convey with it. I’m still not one hundred percent sure what Melville means for Don Benito’s feelings to be in this passage. Does Don Benito miss Babo even after Babo flipped the script and held him hostage? Is he upset that Babo could have done this to him? Melville is forcing the reader to truly think about the story and the characters in this passage.
On the other hand, we have Frederick Douglass with The Heroic Slave . Douglass’s writing seems much more comprehensible in the way that he says exactly what he means, and he says exactly what he wants to say when he wants to say it. It is said that “Douglass works more directly in articulating his themes.” The reader can pretty much tell the character’s feelings about slavery from the clear words written on the page. After Madison tells Mr. Listwell that it would be impossible for Madison to be sold to Listwell, Douglass writes,
“A cup of coffee was all that he could manage. His feelings were too bitter and excited, and his heart was too full with the fate of poor Madison (whom he loved as well as admired) to relish his breakfast; and although he sat long after the company had left the table, he really did little more than change the position of his knife and fork” (39).
Douglass writes in a clear way that shows the reader exactly what the characters in the novella feel. The reader can tell that Mr. Listwell is sad about Madison and that he does care about him. We get that clearly with the line, “whom he loved as well as admired”. Mr. Listwell loves and admires Madison because of everything that Madison has to go through.
Herman Melville and Frederick Douglass are two very different writers who chose two different ways to write the same thing. Melville used irony and indirection to show the character’s feelings towards one another, and Douglass was clear in his wording to show the same thing.


6: Practical Guidance
Climbing Mount Everest
In 1953, Sir Edmund Hillary and his Sherpa mountaineer guide Tenzing Norgay completed the first documented ascent of the highest mountain on our planet – Mount Everest. By 2023, only 7,000 human beings had repeated the accomplishment.  The rare climber who achieves this extraordinary feat garners social admiration both within the climbing community and outside. Making it to the top means enduring the oxygen deprived-atmosphere, enormous physical barriers of crevasse fields and sheer rock walls, unceasing uneasiness and psychological fears, and the volatile Himalayan weather that stops expeditions without notice. Perhaps most hindering of all is the short weather window (5-6 days of clear weather in the month of May). Starting too soon and the snow and cold impede progress, too late and the melting snow and softened ice fields create unmanageable fall hazards. Despite these elements throwing themselves at the climbers every step of the 29,032 foot climb, climbers engage in a practice which substantially improves their odds of a successful summit. That is, they acclimatize. The limited oxygen at altitude demands acclimation – climbers need to spend time allowing their bodies to function on less oxygen (anerobic respiration).
An assault on the mountain begins by hiking 40 miles to Camp 1 (about 18,300 feet). They spend several days at Camp 1 before making their first climb to Camp 2 (about 20,000 feet). Incredibly, the mountaineers spend the night at Camp 2 before returning to Camp 1 the next day. It seems redundant or a waste of time and precious, oxygen-deprived energy to climb 1,700 feet to Base Camp 2, only to return. The process is repeated between Base Camps 2, 3, 4, and 5. However, these meta-steps are absolutely necessary for the human body to properly prepare for high altitude adjustment. By the time they reach the death zone (above 26,000 feet), climbers have maximized their bodies’ chances of making it to the summit through these previous up and down expeditions. “Mountaineers the world over follow a simple maxim: “climb high, sleep low.” The idea is to expose the body gradually to higher and higher altitudes, forcing it to adjust, and then returning back down to sleep and recuperate at an altitude that the body is already used to.” (Cunietti & Galanti, 2023). By the time a climber finishes the last step of the 29,032 foot climb, they have actually climbed the mountain 3-4 times.
(Source: Tibet Travel, Everest Maps)
An important lesson looms here for us, flat-land walking, sleep-in-a-bed every night kind of folks. If we want to achieve more advanced writing, better term papers, more credible journal publications, and acceptable dissertations, we need to engage in a similar process of acclimation. In this metaphor, we can visualize how to progress from undergraduate lower level courses to your upper level ones, the transition from bachelor’s studies to masters, and a jump to the pinnacle of academic writing – doctoral writing, book authoring, and journal publications. As you begin each leg of the journey, you need to hike up to the next base camp to get comfortable with what the new standards and expectations are. What does this mean on a practical level? When you write your first undergraduate term paper, take your first draft to a tutor, professor, or peer who writes well. Understand and internalize this feedback deep enough to replicate it the next time your write. If you get comments that your thesis needs work, ask questions about how to improve exactly. See if the professor will share examples of good theses, either from other students or previous semester “A quality” papers. When working on your master’s thesis or doctoral dissertation, look at successfully defended ones. Most schools have a repository that houses these documents. Read them, replicate their phrasing, ask the authors questions about their process. When you set a goal to publish in the top journals, start with the lower level ones. Practice getting feedback from reviewers by traying to understand every component of their feedback. “Climb high” means learning from the next level up you want to achieve, while “sleep low” means returning to the task at hand and apply what you have learned. In this section we provide practical guidance on how to adjust to the higher altitude that each level of complexity that academic writing demands from us. Allow this feedback to be your guide to the summit of whichever goal (your personal Everest) you have set for yourself.
Read and imitate
A quick story best illustrates our first practical guidance. Pia was a senior in college when her little brother Hans enrolled as a freshman. He was taking the English composition class that all freshmen take, and he asked his older sister if she would proofread his first essay. After reviewing the paper, she saw how horrendous his writing was and how poorly his composition was constructed. So she marked it up a bit, and gave it back to him. “The paper is terrible, but I have good news and I have bad news,” she determined. “The bad news is that the paper is terrible, but the good news is that you are not a bad writer, you are a bad reader.” Her point was that writing is a result of reading. We are not born knowing a language, and we certainly don’t wake up knowing how to write well. We learn spoken language by imitation and observation. This is how we learn our local idioms and regional vocabulary as native speakers of our own language. Dad yells something out at a football game, and the next time you are watching a game, you repeat it, with a fairly confident understanding of what it means and when to use it. Writing is the same way. We imitate good writing only in the contexts of reading that we expose ourselves to. In this case, a lack of reading lead Hans to write how he spoke.
Simply stated, the most effective method for improving your writing is to read. Think about our climbers. Reading is the training they do before they even get to the base of the mountain. In a way, what you read doesn’t really matter. The fact that you are reading does. Try reading all of the assigned chapters in your textbook. Read ESPN news articles. Read the USA Today. Read 100 journal articles from the journal you are targeting for your next publication. Reading allows you to see use of advanced language, new vocabulary, transitional phrasing, and perhaps infusion of personal perspective and critical conclusion drawing without violating the objectivity objective of good research. Read and imitate, then read some more. You will slowly, organically pick up on the habits of outstanding authors – how they vary long sentences with short ones, construct complex use of subordinate clauses, qualifying statements, along with simple stating of ideas. This reading is your preparation for the more advanced writing you will progress towards. This is your altitude gain in our Everest analogy, and will acclimate you to more advanced writing. Climb high, sleep low.
Avoid these pitfalls
Successfully standing on the top of Mount Everest requires unwavering commitment to safety protocols. There are certain behaviors that are imperative to avoid if you want to live. For example: never detach yourself from the rope, never be in a hurry, check harnesses, check knots, and the like. Similarly, good writing has danger areas (or behaviors you want to avoid). One of these behaviors you want to eliminate is called “data dumping.”
The purpose of a literature is not simply to serve as a list of everything that has been studied in a single field. An effective one synthesizes, summarizes, and integrates the varying developments and perspective on a given topic. Resist the urge simply to “data dump” whereby you start going through authors one by one “Smith (2002) found . . . . . Jones (2006) discovered . . . . Martin (2012) concluded . . . .” Instead try to find themes and general trends that can be categorized and presented in a coherent manner without overwhelming the reader with the facts of scholarly articles.
Avoiding dangers and travelling safely is the only way to sustainably move up and down between base camps. Climb high, sleep low.
Fake it
No doubt, climbers on their attempt of Everest get scared. They would not be human otherwise. They must move forward despite the fear as they place one crampon in front of the other, dangling from an ice wall. One strategy to deal with this is to fake it. Act like you belong. Act like you’re not scared and keep moving. The same holds true for making progress in academic writing. While reading allows you to internalize and repeat good writing, you can fake it in the meantime by applying a handful of “academic” words in your writing that will instantly improve its quality. There are four categories of substitutes that can serve as shortcuts while you are in the “fake it” stage. These include single word synonyms, alternative phrasing for citing research, unique ways to improve references, and transitional phrasing.
Alternative wording would include substituting the word “update” with the word “actualize,” or “support” with “bolster.” A word of caution here – be hesitant to simply find alternatives in a thesaurus without context. Look for sample sentences using words you find in thesaurus. Otherwise the use of the synonym you chose could be awkward, or worse, wrong. Some words require distinct prepositions to accompany them. This is why reading is important to reinforce usage. For example, you might find the word “augment” as a synonym to “add” and write the following sentence:
Supervisors augment to the culture by using emotional intelligence.
In this sentence the word augment has both an incorrect preposition (it actually doesn’t require one) as well as incorrect application towards the object. Augmenting usually means adding to something that can be quantified – like income, or scores, or data. Its ok to try new words, and even better to use them correctly. This takes practice and reading, but is an easy first step in improving your writing. Consider the following list of substitutes for common phrasing. In your next term paper, or academic paper, make an attempt to substitute three new words you have never used before. And then use the same three words in the next one, adding three more words.
The second way to fake it is to find alternative ways to reference the research or the body of knowledge on a particular subject. Often, undergraduate students will use the following phrase in their term paper, “An article I found talks about . . . .” There are more sophisticated and easily applicable ways to fix this. Instead of starting with “an article”, instead focus on synthesizing several articles and state “Research shows that. . . . “ and then provide individual citations. Consider the following comparison:
An article I found talks about how people should be more aware of emotions at work (Jones 2016). Another one showed how a manager would have employees who are more willing to be a part of the team (Smith, 2020).
This is clearly a poor a use of academic language. Instead start with a broad statement on the research, such as:
Research shows that emotional intelligence leads to positive organizational outcomes. For example, Jones (2016) found that emotional intelligence leads to higher levels of employee engagement, while Smith (2020) discovered a correlation between emotional intelligence and loyalty.
There are a few phrases that can be “faked” as you learn to become a good writer. Each of these need to be followed by citations of what the research has to tell us. If you make a statement which needs to be substantiated by a research citation, a reviewer or your teacher might respond “says who” or “which research.” Use the following phrasing, followed by your citations of what the research shares.
A common practice in the follow up of these statements is to provide a handful of individual contexts to which it applies. Remember that we need to synthesize what the research has found, but in some circumstances, we can show the variety of topics that the research covers outside the main themes. You can list these in a single sentence and then provide the citations in order at the end. Consider the following:
Empirical evidence suggests that corporate social responsibility impacts a wide scope of stakeholders. Research shows that corporate decision-making has a considerable impact on employees, customers, suppliers, and creditors (Hooks, 2004; Tackleberry, 2001; Hightower, 2021; Mahoney; 2015).
A third approach to faking it is to avoid the use of the word “said” when citing author’s work.  Instead, there is a long list of action verbs you can borrow from, depending on what the author actually said – did they confirm something, did they discover something, did they disagree?? Instead consider “Vespa (1987) offered that . . .” or “Skroob (2019) discovered. . . .”
Use the following list to cite individual sources, and avoid “said.”
Finally, academic writing requires flow. Long sentences, short ones, and good transitional phrasing to connect ideas. An easy way to fake this composition is to add conjunctive adverbs to the beginning of sentences sporadically throughout the paper. Undergraduate students attempt to do this with the trite phrase “With that being said. . . “ Instead, when adding to an existing train of thought, start a sentence off with “Moreover, . . . .” and when introducing an opposing viewpoint, start with “Contrarily, . . . .”. Consider the following list of transitional phrasings:
Engaging in these behaviors (substituting words, referencing research, transitions, and in-text citations) are the writing equivalent of climbing to Camp 2 while you acclimate to the altitude of good writing. Climb high, sleep low.


3.2.4: Competitive Analysis
Learning Objectives
By the end of this section, you will be able to:
- Understand the elements of a competitive analysis
- Describe tools you can use to refine and focus your planning (three circles, SWOT, PEST)
- Recognize social media’s role in saving time and money on research
- Understand how a business model helps determine the feasibility of an opportunity
Conducting a competitive analysis helps you focus your idea and identify your unique selling proposition and competitive advantage.
Competitive Analysis
A competitive analysis should provide the entrepreneur with information about how competitors market their business and ways to penetrate the market by entry through product or service gaps in areas that your competitors do not serve or do not serve well. More importantly, competitive analysis helps the entrepreneur develop a competitive edge that will help create a sustainable revenue stream. For example, a big company like Walmart primarily competes on price. Small companies typically cannot compete on price, since the internal efficiencies and volume sales available to large corporations like Walmart are not available to small companies, but they may be able to compete successfully against Walmart on some other important variable such as better service, better-quality products, or unique buying experiences.
When preparing the competitive analysis, be sure to identify your competitors by product line or service segment. For an entrepreneur, this activity can be difficult when the industry does not yet exist. In the case of Bee Love, Palms Barber didn’t have direct competitors, but she did have related competitors of traditional skincare products. Her unique idea of all-natural, honey-based skin care products created a new market. The competitive analysis might need to focus on substitute products rather than direct competitors. There are two main tools used in analysis of competitors: a competitive analysis grid and the “three circles” approach.
Competitive Analysis Grid
The competitive analysis grid should identify your competitors and include an assessment of the key characteristics of the competitive landscape in your industry, including competitive strengths and weaknesses and key success factors.
Table <IP_ADDRESS> provides an example of what a competitive analysis might look like for a bicycle shop in a tourist locale.
| Key Characteristics | Sid’s Cycle | City Cycle | SpokeMasters | Target |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strengths | Product knowledge, Repair service | Repair service | High quality, Top brands | Price, hours (open seven days per week and online) |
| Weaknesses | Limited selection | Poor customer service | Pricing, no entry-level products | Low-end quality, no repair facilities |
| Product Quality Level | Low-middle | Middle-high | High-end | Entry-level |
| Price Point | Middle | Middle-high | High price | Lowest price |
| Location of the business | Suburban strip-mall on busy highway | Outskirts of town on route 280 | Downtown side street | Branson Mall |
| Promotion | Weekly ad in local newspaper, some radio and Internet/social media | Advertising in local paper during season, Internet/social media | Sponsors major bike race in area, Internet, social media | Advertises online and in Sunday newspaper (seasonally), Internet) |
This competitive analysis grid captures some of the main aspects of competitors within a given market.
As you complete an analysis for your venture’s competitors, identify what contributes to the competitor’s success. In other words, why do people purchase from the company? Some possible reasons include no nearby competitors, lower prices than competitors, a wider variety of products, offering services not offered elsewhere, or branding and marketing that appeals to the target market. Your analysis should inform you of a combination of key success factors within the industry (what it takes to be successful in the industry) and of what your competitors are not offering that is valued by your target market.
Another frequently used tool is a SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats), which focuses on analyzing your venture’s potential and builds on the knowledge gained from the competitive analysis grid and the three circles. You will need to identify the strengths your venture will need to support the competitive advantage identified through the competitive analysis tools. The weaknesses can be identified based on your current and foreseeable expectations. For a new venture, the opportunities and threats sections are based on current factors in the external environment that come from your research. In this context, opportunities are facts, changes, or situations within the external environment that could be favorably leveraged for the venture’s success.
WORK IT OUT
Using SWOT Analysis to Evaluate Entrepreneurial Opportunity
One way to evaluate a business idea is to prepare a SWOT analysis (Figure <IP_ADDRESS>). Note that strengths and weaknesses are internal to the entrepreneur, while opportunities and threats are external factors. Strengths are capabilities and advantages of the entrepreneur, including education, experience, and personal or professional contacts. Weaknesses are disadvantages of the entrepreneur, which could include lack of knowledge or experience. Opportunities are positive events that the entrepreneur can develop to his or her benefit. This could include development of new technologies, changes in consumer tastes and preferences, market growth, and new laws and regulations. Threats can be anything that could potentially harm the business or prevent the business from becoming successful such as competition, negative changes in economic conditions, and new laws or regulations.
- If you were starting a new business venture, what strengths would you be able to leverage to help your business be successful?
- Provide some examples of personal or professional weaknesses an entrepreneur might face when starting a new business.
- Discuss three occurring events such as new laws and regulations, changes in consumer tastes and preferences, or developing new technologies that could provide business opportunity for a new business venture.
Another tool that can be used to analyze opportunities and threats section is called PEST analysis (political, economic, societal, technology). In this analysis, we identify issues in each of these categories. Figure <IP_ADDRESS> shows an example of the topics that could be placed in a PEST analysis.
Each of these categories should be completed with relevant facts related to your entrepreneurial opportunity. After completing this analysis, you then determine if these facts, or factors, would be placed in the opportunity section or the threat section of the SWOT.
Three Circles Tool
Another tool that can be used in competitive analysis is the three circles tool (Figure <IP_ADDRESS>). The goal is to identify competitors’ strengths and competitive advantages with any overlaps among competitors. Then, you would identify values or features not offered by competitors. This gap in value or offered services helps to identify your unique selling proposition and thereby your competitive advantage.
The unique selling proposition is important to the marketing plan and is often used as a slogan. It should also align with the value communicated by the product or company brand. These concepts are different from your venture’s competitive advantage; the competitive advantage describes your venture’s unique benefit, which supports growth of the venture, whereas the unique selling proposition describes the product or service itself, rather than the venture. Although these concepts are different, there should be alignment between the concepts.
For example, Amazon has a competitive advantage in its virtual presence, knowledge of the market, knowledge and application of technology, and knowledge of the industry. Through these competitive advantages, Amazon offers unique combinations of benefits to their customers, such as one-click checkout and algorithm-based recommendations using data mining to track an individual customer’s preferences. Amazon’s unique selling proposition becomes making the purchase as easy and as accurate as possible, whereas their competitive advantage lies in their ability to foresee future advances and act on those predictions, even to the point of shaping the industry.
The competitive advantage results from the analysis of the strengths and unique aspects of a venture, an analysis of the industry, including competitor’s advantages, customer needs, and what the venture provides within this competitive landscape. The unique selling proposition should support the competitive advantage, just as the competitive advantage needs to support the unique selling proposition.
Social Media’s Role in Research
For almost all new business ventures, two key issues related to research are time and money. Large-scale research projects can take months or longer, and cost a significant amount of money. Social media can offer some opportunities to overcome these concerns. Ray Nelson, writing for Social Media Today , reports several ways that social media can provide speedy, low-cost market research: tracking trends in real-time, helping the entrepreneur “learn the language” of their potential customers, discovering unnoticed trends by engaging consumers, and performing market research using a very cost-efficient means. If the entrepreneur can perform social media research on his or her own, the cost will primarily be in terms of time. But the time it will take to conduct research through social media platforms such as Facebook or Twitter is usually well spent. This research should include learning the unique selling proposition of competitors, understanding their competitive advantage, and identifying what the customer values, which can be rather difficult. For example, before Amazon recognized that people are busy, were we aware that we wanted faster check-out processes for making purchases? Or were we aware that we wanted the package delivered to our home to be easier to unwrap? And yet, if we asked Amazon shoppers what they value in shopping at Amazon, we will receive answers that support an easier and faster process.
Another technique would be to read through customer reviews on Amazon (or another company related to your entrepreneurial venture) to find out what customers like and don’t like about existing products and brands. You can also develop your own surveys on an app like SurveyMonkey and send them to customers and prospective customers. This usually works when sent to persons who have a strong interest in the product or issue rather than randomly sending out surveys.
Business Models and Feasibility
Part of the analysis in determining if your idea is an actual entrepreneurial opportunity is identifying a feasible business model. A business model is a plan for how the venture will be funded; how the venture creates value for its stakeholders, including customers; how the venture’s offerings are made and distributed to the end users; and how income will be generated through this process. Basically, a business model describes how a venture will create a profit by describing each of these actions. The business model at this stage is composed of four components: the offering, customers, infrastructure, and financial viability (Figure <IP_ADDRESS>).
The offering refers to the product or service you will be selling, the value proposition, and how you will reach and communicate with your target customers. The customer value proposition includes a detailed description of the products and services you will offer to customers, and what benefits (value) the customer will derive from using your product or service. The customer benefit could be the ability to do something more easily, more quickly, or at a lower cost than customers could before. The benefit could also solve a problem no one else has solved.

Writing a Customer Value Proposition
It is helpful to write out your customer value proposition. Then you have a draft to review and tweak as your ideas develop. Here is a general structure you can follow:
- Start with a headline-style statement that describes how your offering benefits the customer.
- Provide a few sentences or a brief paragraph that explains the offering in more detail. Be sure to make clear what the offering is, who the customer is, and why you are offering it.
- Consider including a bulleted list or checklist highlighting 3–5 features of the product or benefits the customer will receive.
- If possible, add a graphic that engages interest or reinforces the idea.
Customers are the people you will be serving, including potential customers from one or more market segments, or subsections of the market categorized by similar interests or needs. Products seldom appeal to everyone, so the entrepreneur needs to determine, through high-level segmentation and targeting analysis, which segments of the market would make the most sense for the business, and the market environment and dynamics. Some products might appeal to market segments based on age or income, whereas other products might appeal to customers based on their lifestyle. A sign of a potential market opportunity is when a certain market is experiencing rapid growth. This could be a city with a fast-growing population, or it could be a style or consumer trend that is really taking off.
Infrastructure refers to all the resources the entrepreneur will need to launch and sustain the business venture. These include people, products, facilities, technology, suppliers, partners, and finances, all of which the entrepreneur must have to fulfill the customer value proposition.
Financial viability relates to the long-term financial sustainability of an organization to fulfill its mission. This goes back to our definition of an entrepreneurial opportunity. Knowing that the venture solves a sizable and significant problem that the target market is willing to purchase is a key piece in determining financial viability. This category also addresses how the venture will create profits.
For example, would a subscription-based business model fit the target market and venture’s success? Currently, we see a significant growth in startups offering subscription services. What are the benefits to this sales method? For the venture, this model increases upfront cash to support the growth of the venture, especially when customers pay a year in advance for products that will be delivered over the subsequent twelve months. Receiving the payment prior to completing the sales provides the venture with operating cash to support current and future growth. The benefit to the customer in this situation is fewer transactions. The customer knows that the payment covers the next twelve months’ worth of benefits (the received product or service) with no further purchases until the subscription runs out.
Another choice involves deciding whether to have a physical location, a virtual location, or both. Financial viability means exploring the benefits and drawbacks of various methods in creating your business model.
WORK IT OUT
Researching Target Markets with Census Data
Practice conducting research by going to www.census.gov and two other sources to identify a specific target market for a product that interests you. Include the target market’s:
- Disposable income. You might ask whether the target market has sufficient disposable income to purchase this product.
- Demographics
- Psychographics (the combination of buying personality behaviors and demographics)
- How you as the entrepreneur could reach this target market.
When you have a business idea that you have been researching and find that there is a large enough market that has a need that your idea meets, that this target market has the willingness and ability to satisfy the need through purchasing the provided solution, that you have access to the necessary resources to build an infrastructure for your business, that you have the right mix of products and services with a sound value proposition, and that you can secure funding, you have a real opportunity. This chapter has introduced you to all of these concepts. Further chapters delve into them in more depth.


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Writing is a way of entering a conversation, including the larger civil discourse in society. Academic writing is part of this, just as texting with friends in writing as a way of entering into conversation.
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Unlike in spoken conversation, in writing, you have to create the context and tone on your own.
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Developing your “writer’s sense” about communicating within the writing situation is the most important thing you should learn in first-year composition.
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Much more is expected of college students cognitively in college reading and writing.
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Critical thinking for problem solving is an analytical process that we practice intensely in college and use every day to various degrees. It can be learned through practice.
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The rhetorical appeals -- ethos, pathos, logos -- need to be used in balance with kairos for effective argumentation.
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Identifying logical fallacies and inappropriate appeals to pathos are important for your writing and ideas to be taken seriously.
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Rhetorical analysis allows us to understand how the messages that surround us function.


9.11: Estimate the Difference between Population Proportions (2 of 3)
Learning Objectives
- Construct a confidence interval to estimate the difference between two population proportions (or the size of a treatment effect) when conditions are met. Interpret the confidence interval in context.
- Interpret the meaning of a confidence level associated with a confidence interval and describe how the confidence level affects the margin of error.
- Given the description of a statistical study, evaluate whether conclusions are reasonable.
Confidence Interval for a Difference in Two Population Proportions: Beyond the Basics
For all confidence intervals, the margin of error is based on the standard error. We know from “Distributions of Differences in Sample Proportions” that the standard error for the sampling distribution of differences in sample proportions is:
Obviously, if we are trying to estimate the difference in population proportions, we will not know or . So we estimate these population proportions with our sample proportions. This is the same approach we used when had to estimate the standard error for the distribution of sample proportions in Inference for One Proportion . The estimated standard error becomes
This formula estimates the average error between a difference in sample proportions and the true difference in population proportions.
So a 95% confidence interval has the following formula:
We can use this formula only if a normal model is a good fit for the sampling distribution. Recall that this is true only if the expected number of successes and failures in each sample is at least 10. For those who like formulas, these conditions translate into the following inequalities.
We have to adjust these conditions because we do not know the population proportions and . We make the same adjustment we made in Inference for One Proportion . We require that the actual number of successes and failures in each sample is at least 10. For those who like formulas, these conditions translate into replacing and with the corresponding sample proportions. Luckily, this tweak works and the normal distribution still gives fairly accurate confidence levels for different critical z -scores.
Try It
Nicotine Replacement Therapy
The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Canada posted the following description of a clinical trial on clinicaltrials.gov in September 2011.
- This study will examine the efficacy of mailed distribution of free Nicotine Replacement Therapy to smokers. Telephone numbers will be randomly selected from across Canada in order to recruit adult smokers interested in completing a smoking survey and willing to be interviewed again in 8 weeks and 6 months times. Study participants will be asked about their smoking history and a hypothetical question: would they be interested in receiving the nicotine patch if this were to be provided to them free of charge? Participants expressing interest will be randomly assigned to one of two groups. One group will be offered the opportunity to actually receive a program of 5 weeks of nicotine patch for free right away and the other group will not be offered the free nicotine patches. The proportions of smokers in the two groups who quit smoking by the 6-month interview will be compared.
https://assessments.lumenlearning.co...sessments/3640
https://assessments.lumenlearning.co...sessments/3931
Other Levels of Confidence
In Inference for One Proportion , we saw that we can create confidence intervals for other levels of confidence. Changing the level of confidence changes the critical z -score. The following image shows the three most commonly used confidence levels and their critical z -scores.
The following table summarizes the critical values for the most commonly used confidence levels.
Note: A more exact value for the margin of error of a 95% confidence interval uses Z c = 1.96 instead of 2 standard errors.
Try It
What Is the Effect of Increasing the Confidence Level on the Margin of Error?
In an article titled “The Patriotism God Gap: Is the U.S. the Greatest Country in the World?” ( Christianity Today , August 5, 2011), Tobin Grant cites data from the Pew Research Center. Here is an excerpt from the article:
- About 40 percent of other Christians [non-evangelicals] said the U.S. stands alone as the greatest country. Those with no religion stand out as being much less likely to see the U.S. as the greatest country. Only 20 percent said the U.S. was the best country in the world.
The article does not give the sample sizes for these two groups. For this activity, let’s suppose the data describes random samples of 500 from the populations of “other Christians” and those with “no religion.” With samples this large, we can safely model the sampling distribution of sample differences with a normal curve.
Use the simulation to find the margin of error for the 90%, 95%, and 99% confidence intervals. (Note: Conditions for use of the confidence interval formula are met because the sample size is large.)
Contributors and Attributions
- Concepts in Statistics. Provided by : Open Learning Initiative. Located at : http://oli.cmu.edu . License : CC BY: Attribution


6.12: Some Interesting Exoplanets
TrES-4 was discovered when looking for transiting planets. It is about 70 percent bigger than Jupiter but less massive. TrES-4 has the density of approximately 0. 2 grams per cubic centimeter, or that of balsa wood. The Gliese 581 System is a red dwarf star with a mass about 1/3 that of the Sun. It is located 20. 4 light years from Earth and is among the 100 closest stars to Earth. Gliese 581 has at least four planets:
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HD80606b
is a strange planet about four times the mass of Jupiter. It comes so close to its star, at its perihelion point HD80606b would have a surface temperature of 1,200oC.
Then there is the strange planet, Wasp-12b . It takes this planet 1. 1 earth days to go around its star one time; in other words, you would celebrate your birthday every 26. 4 hours. Wasp-12b’s surface temperature is estimated to be 1,500oC, and it is slowly being eaten by its star.
Stellar System Stars and Life
Many biologists and astronomers believe that you have to have the right type of star, as well as the right type of planet, and the right distance from its star for intelligent life.


15.7: Synthesizing Sources
- Evaluate how good source synthesis and integration builds credibility
What is Synthesis?
Synthesis is the combining of two or more things to produce something new. When you read and write, you will be asked to synthesize by taking ideas from what you read and combining them to form new ideas.
Synthesizing Sources
Once you have analyzed the texts involved in your research and taken notes, you must turn to the task of writing your essay. The goal here is not simply to summarize your findings. Critical writing requires that you communicate your analysis, synthesis, and evaluation of those findings to your audience .
 In an article called, “Teaching Conventions of Academic Discourse,” Teresa Thonney outlines six standard features of academic writing. Use the list to help frame your purpose and to ensure that you are adopting the characteristics of a strong academic writer as you synthesize from various sources:
- Writers state the value of their work and announce their plan for their papers.
- Writers adopt a voice of authority.
- Writers respond to what others have said about their topic.
- Writers acknowledge that others might disagree with the position they have taken.
- Writers use academic and discipline-specific vocabulary.
- Writers emphasize evidence, often in tables, graphs, and images.
Let’s return to the example of Marvin, who is working on his research assignment. Marvin already learned from the online professor that he should spend time walking with his sources (knowing where to find them) and talking to his sources (knowing who is conversing about them and what they are saying). Now Marvin will learn the importance of cooking with his sources, or creating the right recipe for an excellent paper.
O-Prof: Let’s take a look at the third metaphor: cooking. When you cook with sources, you process them in new ways. Cooking, like writing, involves a lot of decisions. For instance, you might decide to combine ingredients in a way that keeps the full flavor and character of each ingredient.
Marvin: Kind of like chili cheese fries? I can taste the flavor of the chili, the cheese, and the fries separately.
O-Prof: Yes. But other food preparation processes can change the character of the various ingredients. You probably wouldn’t enjoy gobbling down a stick of butter, two raw eggs, a cup of flour, or a cup of sugar (well, maybe the sugar!). But if you mix these ingredients and expose them to a 375-degree temperature, chemical reactions transform them into something good to eat, like a cake.
Marvin: You’re making me hungry. But what do chili cheese fries and cakes have to do with writing?
O-Prof: Sometimes, you might use direct quotes from your sources, as if you were throwing walnuts whole into a salad. The reader will definitely “taste” your original source. Other times, you might paraphrase ideas and combine them into an intricate argument. The flavor of the original source might be more subtle in the latter case, with only your source documentation indicating where your ideas came from. In some ways, the writing assignments your professors give you are like recipes. As an apprentice writing cook, you should analyze your assignments to determine what “ingredients” (sources) to use, what “cooking processes” to follow, and what the final “dish” (paper) should look like. Let’s try a few sample assignments. Here’s one:
Assignment 1: Critique (given in a human development course)
We’ve read and studied Freud’s theory of how the human psyche develops; now it’s time to evaluate the theory. Read at least two articles that critique Freud’s theory, chosen from the list I provided in class. Then, write an essay discussing the strengths and weaknesses of Freud’s theory.
Assume you’re a student in this course. Given this assignment, how would you describe the required ingredients, processes, and product?
Marvin thinks for a minute, while chewing and swallowing a mouthful of apple.
Marvin: Let’s see if I can break it down:
Ingredients
- everything we’ve read about Freud’s theory
- our class discussions about the theory
- two articles of my choice taken from the list provided by the instructor
Processes : I have to read those two articles to see their criticisms of Freud’s theory. I can also review my notes from class, since we discussed various critiques. I have to think about what aspects of Freud’s theory explain human development well, and where the theory falls short—like in class, we discussed how Freud’s theory reduces human development to sexuality alone.
Product : The final essay needs to include both strengths and weaknesses of Freud’s theory. The professor didn’t specifically say this, but it’s also clear I need to incorporate some ideas from the two articles I read—otherwise why would she have assigned those articles?
O-Prof: Good. How about this one?
Assignment 3: Research Paper (given in a health and environment course)
Write a 6–8-page paper in which you explain a health problem related to water pollution (e.g., arsenic poisoning, gastrointestinal illness, skin disease, etc.). Recommend a potential way or ways this health problem might be addressed. Be sure to cite and document the sources you use for your paper.
Marvin:
Ingredients : No specific guidance here, except that sources have to relate to water pollution and health. I’ve already decided I’m interested in how bottled water might help with health where there’s water pollution. I’ll have to pick a health problem and find sources about how water pollution can cause that problem. Gastrointestinal illness sounds promising. I’ll ask the reference librarian where I’d be likely to find good articles about water pollution, bottled water, and gastrointestinal illness.
Process : There’s not very specific information here about what process to use, but our conversation’s given me some ideas. I’ll use scholarly articles to find the connection between water pollution and gastrointestinal problems, and whether bottled water could prevent those problems.
Product : Obviously, my paper will explain the connection between water and gastrointestinal health. It’ll evaluate whether bottled water provides a good option in places where the water’s polluted, then give a recommendation about what people should do. The professor did say I should address any objections readers might raise—for instance, bottled water may turn out to be a good option, but it’s a lot more expensive than tap water. Finally, I’ll need to provide in-text citations and document my sources in a reference list.
O-Prof: You’re on your way. Think for a minute about these assignments. Did you notice that the “recipes” varied in their specificity?
Marvin: Yeah. The first assignment gave me very specific information about exactly what source “ingredients” to use. But in the second assignment, I had to figure it out on my own. And the processes varied, too. In the second assignment—my own assignment—I’ll have to use content from my sources to support my recommendation.
O-Prof: Different professors provide different levels of specificity in their writing assignments. If you have trouble figuring out the “recipe,” ask the professor for more information. Keep in mind that when it comes to “cooking with sources,” no one expects you to be an executive chef the first day you get to college. Over time, you’ll become more expert at writing with sources, more able to choose and use sources on your own.
Watch this video to learn more about the synthesis process.
Building Credibility through Source Integration
Writers are delighted when they find good sources because they know they can use those sources to make their writing stronger. Skillful integration of those sources adds to an argument’s persuasiveness but also builds the credibility of the argument and the writer.
Well-integrated sources build credibility in several ways. First, the source material adds evidence and support to your argument, making it more persuasive. Second, the signal phrase highlights the reputation and qualifications of the source, thereby adding to the source material’s credibility. Third, effective citation makes it easy for your reader to find and investigate the original source, building your credibility as a trustworthy writer. Finally, your thorough explanation of the source’s relevance to your argument demonstrates your critical thinking and reasoning , another avenue to increased credibility.
Notice in the example below how the student is able to synthesize multiple sources on the minimum wage in the United States in order to demonstrate familiarity with and respond to other voices on the topic. The writer is also able to state with authority their own perspective on the minimum wage and economic inequality based on the effective discussion and synthesis of sources.
In the activity below, you’ll practice building your synthesis based on your analysis and thinking about other source material.
Examine the use of signal phrases, direct quotations from an outside source, citation, and explanation of relevance to consider how well the writer’s source integration builds credibility.
https://lumenlearning.h5p.com/content/1291006520432442118/embed
Synthesis, then, is the final step in the process of using sources. Good writers strive to include other voices in conversation, and they do so using direct quotes, paraphrase, and summary. The most important step, however, in integrating source material, is synthesis where we compare, contrast, and combine those other voices in order to fairly and accurately represent the existing conversation on the topic and thus to demonstrate how our ideas fit into or respond to that existing conversation.
Contributors and Attributions
- Revision and Adaptation. Provided by : Lumen Learning. License : CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
- Incorporating Your Sources Into Your Paper. Provided by : Boundless. Located at : www.boundless.com/writing/textbooks/boundless-writing-textbook/the-research-process-2/understanding-your-sources-265/understanding-your-sources-62-8498/. Project : Boundless Writing. License : CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
- Synthesizing Sources from Chapter 4 and Integrating Sources from Chapter 5: Critical Thinking, Source Evaluations, and Analyzing Academic Writing. Authored by : Denise Snee, Kristin Houlton, Nancy Heckel. Edited by Kimberly Jacobs. Located at : lgdata.s3-website-us-east-1.amazonaws.com/docs/679/734444/Snee_2012_Research_Analysis_and_Writing.pdf. Project : Research, Analysis, and Writing. License : CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
- Critical Thinking, Source Evaluations, and Analyzing Academic Writing. Authored by : Denise Snee, Kristin Houlton, Nancy Heckel. Edited by Kim Jacobs. Located at : digitalcommons.apus.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1001&context=epresscoursematerials. Project : Research, Analysis, and Writing. License : CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
- OWL at Excelsior College: Signal Phrases Activity. Provided by : Excelsior College OWL. Located at : http://owl.excelsior.edu/research-and-citations/drafting-and-integrating/drafting-and-integrating-signal-phrases-activity/ . License : CC BY: Attribution
- Synthesizing Activity. Provided by : Excelsior OWL. Located at : https://owl.excelsior.edu/orc/what-to-do-after-reading/synthesizing/synthesizing-activity-1/ . License : CC BY: Attribution
- Walk, Talk, Cook, Eat: A Guide to Using Sources. Authored by : Cynthia R. Haller. Located at : www.saylor.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/writing-spaces-readings-on-writing-vol-2.pd. Project : Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing Vol. 2.. License : CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
- Synthesis: Definition & Examples. Provided by : WUWriting Center. Located at : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLhkalJe7Zc . License : All Rights Reserved . License Terms : Standard YouTube License


15.22: APA References Page
- Successfully create and identify appropriate entries for an APA References page
Every cited source from your essay, with the exception of personal communications, should appear in your References page, which comes at the end of the essay.
The References page must conform to the following rules:
- Begin on a separate page at the end of your essay, using the same format as your essay (i.e., one-inch margins and page number).
- Entries in your list of references should be alphabetized by the authors’ last names. Use the title if a work does not have an author. (Don’t use any article in alphabetizing – The new America gets alphabetized under “n.”)
- Center and bold the word References at the top of the page.
- Double-space all references, even within individual references.
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Use a hanging indent of 0.5 inches for each reference. This means the first line of each entry will be flush against the left margin, and subsequent lines are indented 0.5 inches.
- In Microsoft Word, for example, you simply highlight your citations, click on the small arrow right next to the word “Paragraph” on the home tab, and in the popup box choose “hanging indent” under the “Special” section. Click OK, and you’re done. In Google Docs, highlight the area you want to indent then choose Format > Align & Indent > Indentation options > Select “Special,” then “Hanging” > Apply.
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All book and articles titles in APA appear in sentence case, meaning that the capitalization rules here are different than what you are accustomed to seeing:
- only the first word and proper nouns are capitalized ( The great Gatsby ). The first word of a subtitle that comes after a colon is also capitalized.
- books are italicized and articles have neither italics nor quotation marks (A study of symbolism in American movies).
- Journal titles are capitalized and italicized ( New Jersey English Journal ).
Click on the following pages to view information on how to create a specific reference entry for your source type.
In this video on APA format, you’ll see a sample references list with some tips on creating a references list of your own.
You can view the transcript for “APA References Seventh Edition” here (opens in new window) .
Print Books
Single Author
Elements: Author’s Last name, Author’s First and Middle initials. (Year of publication). Title italicized . Publisher.
Larson, M. S. (1977). The rise of professionalism . University of California Press.
Multiple Authors (two to 20)
List up to 20 authors by their last names followed by initials. Use an ampersand (&) before the last author.
Rivano, N. S., Hoson, A., & Stallings, B. (2001). Regional integration and economic development . Palgrave.
Online Books
Elements: Author’s Last name, Author’s First and Middle initials, & Last names and initials of other authors, if any. (Year of publication). Title of the book italicized . URL to the full text ebook or to the distributor’s homepage
Austen, J. (1813). Pride and prejudice . http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1342
Online Book with a DOI
Smith, J. (2018). Women’s support groups . Routledge. doi.org/10/1022/0000091-00
Edited Ebook from a Library Database
NOTE: Use (Ed.) if there is a single editor.
Randall, S. & Ford, H. (Eds.) (2011). Long term conditions: A guide for nurses and health care professionals . www.ebrary.com
Print Journal Article
Elements: Author’s Last name, Author’s First and Middle initials, & Last names and initials of other authors, if any. (Year of publication). Title of article. Title of Journal italicized, Volume number italicized (Issue Number), Page numbers.
Winans, A. D. (1992). The Mafioso and American political culture. Journal of Popular Culture, 22 (1), 21-47.
Online Journal Article
Journal Article with a DOI (Digital Object Identifier)
Elements: Author’s Last name, Author’s First and Middle initials, & Last names and initials of other authors, if any. (Year). Title of article. Title of Journal italicized, Volume number italicized (Issue number), Page numbers. DOI
Herbst-Damm, K. L., & Kulik, J. A. (2005). Volunteer support, marital status, and the survival times of terminally ill patients. Health Psychology, 24 (2), 225-229. doi.org/10.1037/027806<IP_ADDRESS>
Journal Article without a DOI, with a Nondatabase URL
Elements: Author’s Last name, Author’s First and Middle initials, & Last names and initials of other authors, if any. (Year). Title of article. Title of Journal italicized, volume number italicized (Issue number), Page numbers. URL
Kelley, H., & Betsalel, K. (2004). Mind’s fire: Language, power, and representations of stroke. Anthropology & Humanism, 29 (2), 104-116. www.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/j...SN%291548-1409
Journal Article without a DOI from Academic Research Database
NOTE: Do not include the database name or URL.
Anderson, H. (2019). Teaching during times of trauma. Education Today, 36 (1), 35-43.
Magazine Articles
Print Magazine Article
NOTE: Magazine citations are similar to journal citations, but they include additional information about the publication date. For monthly magazines, the month is included. For weekly magazines, both the month and day are included.
Elements: Author’s Last name, Author’s First and Middle initials, & Last names and initials of other authors, if any. (Year, Month and Day of publication). Title of article. Title of Magazine italicized, Volume number italicized (Issue number, if available), Page numbers.
Cooper, H. (1998, May). The trouble with debt. Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine, 43 , 100-103.
Online Magazine Article
Elements: Author’s Last name, Author’s First and Middle initials, & Last names and initials of other authors, if any. (Year, Month and Day of publication, if available). Title of article. Title of Magazine italicized, Volume number italicized (Issue number, if available). URL or DOI link
Vogel, C. (2008, June). A honeymoon cut short: How one couple survived the sinking of the Lusitania. American Heritage . www.americanheritage.com/honeymoon-cut-short
Article from a Database
NOTE: If an article from a database includes a DOI, provide the DOI link as you would for any online journal article. If the article does not include a DOI, the reference will look like a print version of the article. The 7th edition of American Psychological Association Publication Manual states, “Do not include the database name or URL.”
Elements: Author’s Last name, Author’s First and Middle initials, & Last names and initials of other authors, if any. (Date). Title of article. Title of Journal italicized, Volume number italicized (Issue number), Page numbers.
Mershon, D. H. (1998, November). Star trek on the brain: Alien minds, human minds. American Scientist, 86 (6), 585.
Online Newspaper Article
Elements: Author’s Last name, Author’s First and Middle initials, & Last names and initials of other authors, if any. (Year, Month and Day of publication). Title of article. Title of Newspaper italicized . URL for article
Hunter, J.D. (2019, April 14). Pressure cooker: A Tiger Woods recipe. The Oregonian . https://www.oregonlive.com/sports/20...ommentary.html
Webpage on a News Website
Elements: Author’s Last name, Author’s First and Middle initials, & Last names and initials of other authors, if any. (Date published or updated). Title of webpage italicized . Site Name. URL
Street, F. (2020, January 9). How the village that inspired ‘Frozen’ is dealing with overtourism . CNN. https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/o...ria/index.html
Webpage
Elements: Author (person or organization). (Date published or updated). Title of webpage italicized . Site Name. URL
Boyd, V. (2012, January 15). About Zora Neale Hurston . Zora Neale Hurston. http://zoranealehurston.com/about/
NOTE: If the above example had no author or date, the title of the webpage would be moved to the front, and (n.d.) should be used to reflect that no date is available.
About Zora Neale Hurston . (n.d.). Zora Neale Hurston. http://zoranealehurston.com/about
Television Broadcast
Elements: Last name, First and Middle initials, & Last names and initials of other primary contributors, if any. (Function). (Year, Month and Day, if available). Title of episode. In First and middle initials followed by Last name (Executive Producer or Producers), Title of series italicized . Production company.
Levy, S. (Director). (2017, October 27). Chapter three: The pollywog. In M. Duffer, R. Duffer, S. Levy, D. Cohen, & I. Paterson (Executive Producers), Stranger Things . 21 Laps Entertainment; Netflix.
YouTube or Other Streaming Video
Elements: Last name, First and Middle initials, & Last names and initials of other primary contributors, if any. (Year released, Month and Day). Title of the video italicized [Video]. Streaming Service. URL
Ezekiel, S. (2012, March 21). MIT understanding laser and fiberoptics: Fiberoptics fundamentals [Video]. YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DCrIAxEv_Y
Podcast
NOTE: Provide the podcast episode number after the title of the episode in parentheses, but this can be omitted if the series does not number episodes. In the brackets after the episode title and number, specify if the podcast is audio or video. If the URL of the podcast is not known (if accessed via an app), simply omit the URL.
Elements: Last name, First and Middle initials, & Last names and initials of other primary contributors, if any. (Function). (Year, Month and Day, if available). Title of episode (No. episode number) [Audio or video podcast episode]. In Title of the series in italics . URL
Garber, J. (Host). (2019, November 22). The grazing revolution: A radical plan to save the Earth (No. 638) [Audio podcast episode]. In The farming podcast . https://www.thefarmingpodcast.com/2019/11/
Tweet
Elements: Last name, First and Middle initials or Name of Group. [@username]. (Year, Month and Day). Content of the post up to the first 20 words italicized [Description of audiovisuals] [Source type]. Site Name. URL
NASA. [@NASA]. (2020, January 5). A team of astronomers have found EGS77—the farthest galaxy group known to date! [Video attached] [Tweet]. Twitter. twitter.com/NASAUniverse/sta...25744352661504
Now that you’ve learned all of the essentials, see if you can identify the correct citations in the following activity.
Contributors and Attributions
- APA References. Provided by : Excelsior College Online Writing Lab. Located at : https://owl.excelsior.edu/citation-and-documentation/apa-style/apa-references/ . License : CC BY: Attribution
- APA Activity. Provided by : Excelsior OWL. Located at : https://owl.excelsior.edu/citation-and-documentation/apa-style/apa-activity/ . License : CC BY: Attribution


6.7: Outcome- Marketing Data Sources
What you’ll learn to do: Identify major sources of available marketing data
Marketing information and research are powerful tools to improve your understanding of your customers, competitors, and the industry and market in which you work. In today’s information-rich world, many great sources of marketing data are already available. Knowing what they are and how to find them is a great skill for any marketer.
Learning Activities
The learning activities for this section include the following:
- Reading: Marketing Data Sources
- Self Check: Marketing Data Sources
Contributors and Attributions
CC licensed content, Original
- Outcome: Marketing Data Sources. Authored by : Lumen Learning. License : CC BY: Attribution


12: Nuclear Physics
In this chapter, we study the composition and properties of the atomic nucleus. The nucleus lies at the center of an atom, and consists of protons and neutrons. A deep understanding of the nucleus leads to numerous valuable technologies, including devices to date ancient rocks, map the galactic arms of the Milky Way, and generate electrical power.
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- 12.1: Introduction to Nuclear Physics
- The Sun is the main source of energy in the solar system. The Sun is 109 Earth diameters across, and accounts for more than 99%99% of the total mass of the solar system. The Sun shines by fusing hydrogen nuclei—protons—deep inside its interior. Once this fuel is spent, the Sun will burn helium and, later, other nuclei. Nuclear fusion in the Sun is discussed toward the end of this chapter. In the meantime, we will investigate nuclear properties that govern all nuclear processes, including fusion.
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- 12.2: Properties of Nuclei
- The atomic nucleus is composed of protons and neutrons. Protons and neutrons have approximately the same mass, but protons carry one unit of positive charge and neutrons carry no charge. These particles are packed together into an extremely small space at the center of an atom. According to scattering experiments, the nucleus is spherical or ellipsoidal in shape, and about 1/100,000th the size of a hydrogen atom. Protons and neutrons within the nucleus are called nucleons.
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- 12.3: Nuclear Binding Energy
- The mass defect of a nucleus is the difference between the total mass of a nucleus and the sum of the masses of all its constituent nucleons. The binding energy (BE) of a nucleus is equal to the amount of energy released in forming the nucleus, or the mass defect multiplied by the speed of light squared. A graph of binding energy per nucleon (BEN) versus atomic number A implies that nuclei divided or combined release an enormous amount of energy.
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- 12.4: Radioactive Decay
- In the decay of a radioactive substance, if the decay constant \((\lambda)\) is large, the half-life is small, and vice versa. The radioactive decay law, \(N = N_0 e^{-\lambda t}\), uses the properties of radioactive substances to estimate the age of a substance. Radioactive carbon has the same chemistry as stable carbon, so it mixes into the ecosphere and eventually becomes part of every living organism.
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- 12.5: Nuclear Reactions
- Early experiments revealed three types of nuclear “rays” or radiation: alpha (α) rays, beta (β) rays, and gamma (γ) rays. These three types of radiation are differentiated by their ability to penetrate matter. Alpha radiation is barely able to pass through a thin sheet of paper. Beta radiation can penetrate aluminum to a depth of about 3 mm, and gamma radiation can penetrate lead to a depth of 2 or more centimeters.
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- 12.6: Fission
- The splitting of a nucleus is called fission. Energy changes in a nuclear fission reaction can be understood in terms of the binding energy per nucleon curve. U-235 fission can produce a chain reaction. In a compound consisting of many U-235 nuclei, neutrons in the decay of one U-235 nucleus can initiate the fission of additional U-235 nuclei. This chain reaction can proceed in a controlled manner, as in a nuclear reactor at a power plant, or proceed uncontrollably, as in an explosion.
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- 12.7: Nuclear Fusion
- Nuclear fusion is a reaction in which two nuclei are combined to form a larger nucleus; energy is released when light nuclei are fused to form medium-mass nuclei. The amount of energy released by a fusion reaction is known as the Q value. Nuclear fusion explains the reaction between deuterium and tritium that produces a fusion (or hydrogen) bomb; fusion also explains the production of energy in the Sun, the process of nucleosynthesis, and the creation of the heavy elements.
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- 12.8: Medical Applications and Biological Effects of Nuclear Radiation
- Radioactive compounds are used in to identify cancer, study ancient artifacts, and power our cities. Nuclear fusion also powers the Sun, the primary source of energy on Earth. The focus of this chapter is nuclear radiation. In this section, we ask such questions as: How is nuclear radiation used to benefit society? What are its health risks? How much nuclear radiation is the average person exposed to in a lifetime?
Thumbnail: In a U-235 fission chain reaction, the fission of the uranium nucleus produces high-energy neutrons that go on to split more nuclei. The energy released in this process can be used to produce electricity.


4.2: Slippery Slope Fallacies
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Slippery slope fallacies depend on the concept of vagueness . When a concept or claim is vague, it means that we don’t know precisely what claim is being made, or what the boundaries of the concept are. The classic example used to illustrate vagueness is the “ sorites paradox .”  Here is the paradox. I will give you two claims that each sound very plausible, but in fact lead to a paradox. Here are the two claims:
- One grain of sand is not a heap of sand.
- If I start with something that is not a heap of sand, then adding one grain of sand to that will not create a heap of sand.
For example, two grains of sand is not a heap, thus (by the second claim) neither is three grains of sand. But since three grains of sand is not a heap then (by the second claim again) neither is four grains of sand. You can probably see where this is going. By continuing to add one grain of sand over and over, I will eventually end up with something that is clearly a heap of sand, but that won’t be counted as a heap of sand if we accept both claims 1 and 2 above.
Philosophers continue to argue and debate about how to resolve the sorites paradox, but the point for us is just to illustrate the concept of vagueness. The concept “heap” is a vague concept in this example. But so are so many other concepts, such a color concepts (red, yellow, green, etc.), moral concepts (right, wrong, good, bad), and just about any other concept you can think of. The one domain that seems to be unaffected by vagueness is mathematical and logical concepts. There are two fallacies related to vagueness: the causal slippery slope and the conceptual slippery slope. We’ll cover the conceptual slippery slope first since it relates most closely to the concept of vagueness I’ve explained above.
Conceptual Slippery Slope
It may be true that there is no essential difference between 499 grains of sand and 500 grains of sand. But even if that is so, it doesn’t follow that there is no difference between 1 grain of sand and 5 billion grains of sand. In general, just because we cannot draw a distinction between A and B, and we cannot draw a distinction between B and C, it doesn’t mean we cannot draw a distinction between A and C. Here is an example of a conceptual slippery slope fallacy.
It is illegal for anyone under 21 to drink alcohol. But there is no difference between someone who is 21 and someone who is 20 years 11 months old. So there is nothing wrong with someone who is 20 years and 11 months old drinking. But since there is no real distinction between being one month older and one month younger, there shouldn’t be anything wrong with drinking at any age. Therefore, there is nothing wrong with allowing a 10 year old to drink alcohol.
Imagine the life of an individual in stages of 1 month intervals. Even if it is true that there is no distinction in kind between any one of those stages, it doesn’t follow that there isn’t a distinction to be drawn at the extremes of either end. Clearly there is a difference between a 5 year old and a 25 year old—a distinction in kind that is relevant to whether they should be allowed to drink alcohol. The conceptual slippery slope fallacy assumes that because we cannot draw a distinction between adjacent stages, we cannot draw a distinction at all between any stages. One clear way of illustrating this is with color. Think of a color spectrum from purple to red to orange to yellow to green to blue. Each color grades into the next without there being any distinguishable boundaries between the colors—a continuous spectrum. Even if it is true that for any two adjacent hues on the color wheel, we cannot distinguish between the two, it doesn’t follow from this that there is no distinction to be drawn between any two portions of the color wheel, because then we’d be committed to saying that there is no distinguishable difference between purple and yellow! The example of the color spectrum illustrates the general point that just because the boundaries between very similar things on a spectrum are vague, it doesn’t follow that there are no differences between any two things on that spectrum.
Whether or not one will identify an argument as committing a conceptual slippery slope fallacy, depends on the other things one believes about the world. Thus, whether or not a conceptual slippery slope fallacy has been committed will often be a matter of some debate. It will itself be vague. Here is a good example that illustrates this point.
People are found not guilty by reason of insanity when they cannot avoid breaking the law. But people who are brought up in certain deprived social circumstances are not much more able than the legally insane to avoid breaking the law. So we should not find such individuals guilty any more than those who are legally insane.
Whether there is conceptual slippery slope fallacy here depends on what you think about a host of other things, including individual responsibility, free will, the psychological and social effects of deprived social circumstances such as poverty, lack of opportunity, abuse, etc. Some people may think that there are big differences between those who are legally insane and those who grow up in deprived social circumstances. Others may not think the differences are so great. The issues here are subtle, sensitive, and complex, which is why it is difficult to determine whether there is any fallacy here or not. If the differences between those who are insane and those who are the product of deprived social circumstances turn out to be like the differences between one shade of yellow and an adjacent shade of yellow, then there is no fallacy here. But if the differences turn out to be analogous to those between yellow and green (i.e., with many distinguishable stages of difference between) then there would indeed be a conceptual slippery slope fallacy here. The difficulty of distinguishing instances of the conceptual slippery slope fallacy, and the fact that distinguishing it requires us to draw on our knowledge about the world, shows that the conceptual slippery slope fallacy is an informal fallacy.
Causal slippery slope fallacy
The causal slippery slope fallacy is committed when one event is said to lead to some other (usually disastrous) event via a chain of intermediary events. If you have ever seen Direct TV’s “get rid of cable” commercials, you will know exactly what I’m talking about. (If you don’t know what I’m talking about you should Google it right now and find out. They’re quite funny.) Here is an example of a causal slippery slope fallacy (it is adapted from one of the Direct TV commercials):
If you use cable, your cable will probably go on the fritz. If your cable is on the fritz, you will probably get frustrated. When you get frustrated you will probably hit the table. When you hit the table, your young daughter will probably imitate you. When your daughter imitates you, she will probably get thrown out of school. When she gets thrown out of school, she will probably meet undesirables. When she meets undesirables, she will probably marry undesirables. When she marries undesirables, you will probably have a grandson with a dog collar. Therefore, if you use cable, you will probably have a grandson with dog collar.
This example is silly and absurd, yes. But it illustrates the causal slippery slope fallacy. Slippery slope fallacies are always made up of a series of conjunctions of probabilistic conditional statements that link the first event to the last event. A causal slippery slope fallacy is committed when one assumes that just because each individual conditional statement is probable, the conditional that links the first event to the last event is also probable. Even if we grant that each “link” in the chain is individually probable, it doesn’t follow that the whole chain (or the conditional that links the first event to the last event) is probable. Suppose, for the sake of the argument, we assign probabilities to each “link” or conditional statement, like this. (I have italicized the consequents of the conditionals and assigned high conditional probabilities to them. The high probability is for the sake of the argument; I don’t actually think these things are as probable as I’ve assumed here.)
If you use cable, then your cable will probably go on the fritz (.9)
If your cable is on the fritz, then you will probably get angry (.9)
If you get angry, then you will probably hit the table (.9)
If you hit the table, your daughter will probably imitate you (.8)
If your daughter imitates you, she will probably be kicked out of school (.8)
If she is kicked out of school, she will probably meet undesirables (.9)
If she meets undesirables, she will probably marry undesirables (.8)
If she marries undesirables, you will probably have a grandson with a dog collar (.8)
However, even if we grant the probabilities of each link in the chain is high (80-90% probable), the conclusion doesn’t even reach a probability higher than chance. Recall that in order to figure the probability of a conjunction, we must multiply the probability of each conjunct:
(.9) × (.9) × (.9) × (.8) × (.8) × (.9) × (.8) × (.8) = .27
That means the probability of the conclusion (i.e., that if you use cable, you will have a grandson with a dog collar) is only 27%, despite the fact that each conditional has a relatively high probability! The causal slippery slope fallacy is actually a formal probabilistic fallacy and so could have been discussed in chapter 3 with the other formal probabilistic fallacies. What makes it a formal rather than informal fallacy is that we can identify it without even having to know what the sentences of the argument mean. I could just have easily written out a nonsense argument comprised of series of probabilistic conditional statements. But I would still have been able to identify the causal slippery slope fallacy because I would have seen that there was a series of probabilistic conditional statements leading to a claim that the conclusion of the series was also probable. That is enough to tell me that there is a causal slippery slope fallacy, even if I don’t really understand the meanings of the conditional statements.
It is helpful to contrast the causal slippery slope fallacy with the valid form of inference, hypothetical syllogism. Recall that a hypothetical syllogism has the following kind of form:
A ⊃ B
B ⊃ C
C ⊃ D
D ⊃ E
∴ A ⊃ E
The only difference between this and the causal slippery slope fallacy is that whereas in the hypothetical syllogism, the link between each component is certain, in a causal slippery slope fallacy, the link between each event is probabilistic. It is the fact that each link is probabilistic that accounts for the fallacy. One way of putting this is point is that probability is not transitive. Just because A makes B probable and B makes C probable and C makes X probable, it doesn’t follow that A makes X probable. In contrast, when the links are certain rather than probable, then if A always leads to B and B always leads to C and C always leads to X, then it has to be the case that A always leads to X.


14.7: References and Suggested Reading
[1]
De Bruijin, N. G. “Pólya's Theory of Counting,” in
Applied Combinatorial Mathematics
, Beckenbach, E. F., ed. Wiley, New York, 1964.
[2]
Eidswick, J. A. “Cubelike Puzzles—What Are They and How Do You Solve Them?”
American Mathematical Monthly
93
(1986), 157–76.
[3]
Harary, F., Palmer, E. M., and Robinson, R. W. “Pólya's Contributions to Chemical Enumeration,” in
Chemical Applications of Graph Theory
, Balaban, A. T., ed. Academic Press, London, 1976.
[4]
Gårding, L. and Tambour, T.
Algebra for Computer Science
. Springer-Verlag, New York, 1988.
[5]
Laufer, H. B.
Discrete Mathematics and Applied Modern Algebra
. PWS-Kent, Boston, 1984.
[6]
Pólya, G. and Read, R. C.
Combinatorial Enumeration of Groups, Graphs, and Chemical Compounds
. Springer-Verlag, New York, 1985.
[7]
Shapiro, L. W. “Finite Groups Acting on Sets with Applications,”
Mathematics Magazine
, May–June 1973, 136–47.


13.10: Legal and Ethical Termination
- Identify ways to legally terminate an employee
- Identify ways to ethically terminate an employee
There should always be justification for terminating an employee. Any company that fires an employee “just because” can face serious consequences. To protect themselves from lawsuits, a damaged reputation, and a hostile work environment, companies need to ensure they have policies in place surrounding termination procedures. These policies should address ways to legally and ethically fire an employee.
Legal Considerations
Let’s start by exploring legal ways to terminate employees. Since the next section will address laws surrounding termination, let’s discuss strategies companies can use to protect themselves from legal repercussions surrounding employee terminations. First, consider layoffs from downsizing. This type of termination is unique because the employees are not fired for wrongdoing or breach of contract. Instead, the company has made a decision to cut costs and therefore has made a business decision to cut their workforce. When laying off employees it is important to consider the following:
- Can the company justify and explain their business decision to make layoffs?
- Are there written company policies that outline downsizing procedures? If so, they need to be followed.
- Is there anything in an employee’s contract that protects them from layoffs or requires some sort of severance pay in the event of a layoff?
- How will the company determine who they layoff? It is important to predetermine the departments and positions that need to be cut. In addition, there should be clear, objective criteria in place to determine who will be laid off (seniority, sales, etc.). These criteria should be used universally throughout a company when downsizing.
“Fired” employees are different than employees who are laid off. When companies fire someone, it can be for a number of reasons. For example, poor work performance, unethical conduct, or breach of contract. Even if employees have behaved in a way that justifies terminating their employment, there are still a number of things to consider before firing them. Check out the information below to learn more.
Document, Document, Document
Consistent and clear documentation is key to avoiding legal problems after firing an employee. If an employee is spoken to about their poor performance, the conversation should be documented every time. This way, employers are able to show habitual behaviors or poor performance and have evidence that the company tried to help rectify the employee’s shortcomings. When repeat behaviors are well documented, companies can justify firing an employee for a negative behavior or performance pattern.
Do Not Discriminate
While this may seem like common sense, it is extremely important to remain fair and consistent across the board, regardless of a person’s background or demographics. If an employee is terminated based on discrimination and not their performance, major lawsuits are possible. In addition to legal and financial problems, companies that are found to be guilty of discrimination may experience a blow to their reputation and company morale.
Stay Consistent
It is extremely important for companies to consistently follow any policies and procedures they have in place around documenting poor performance and bad behavior. The way in which employees are terminated should also look similar. Employees should be fired in face-to-face, professional settings. Consistency is key to conducting legal and ethical terminations.
Ethical Considerations
Now let’s review some ethical factors to consider when terminating someone’s employment. It is important to note that just because something is legal, does not necessarily mean it is ethical. Here are some ways to ensure employees are fired in an ethical way:
- Be sure to hold conversations prior to firing an employee. If they are underperforming or not meeting expectations, having a conversation with them gives them a chance to course correct. The termination conversation should not be the first time the employee is hearing about their shortcomings!
- Stay consistent across the entire organization. We discussed consistency in relation to legality, but it is also extremely relevant to ethics. Consistency can help to avoid discrimination and ensure unbiased and fair treatment for all.
- Be transparent. Employees should be notified in person that they are being terminated. Finding out about getting fired through a letter or from a third party is completely unprofessional. Although most people do not enjoy firing someone, it is important to show the employee enough respect to sit down and have the conversation face-to-face.
Now that we have reviewed ethical and legal strategies for terminating employees, check out the video below to learn about additional strategies managers can use to streamline the termination process.
You can also download a transcript for the video “3 things managers should know before laying someone off.”
Contributors and Attributions
- Legal and Ethical Termination. Authored by : Freedom Learning Group. Provided by : Lumen Learning. License : CC BY: Attribution
- Authored by : StartupStockPhotos. Provided by : Pixabay. Located at : pixabay.com/photos/write-plan-desk-notes-pen-writing-593333/. License : CC0: No Rights Reserved . License Terms : Pixabay License
- Authored by : 472301. Provided by : Pixabay. Located at : pixabay.com/illustrations/checklist-clipboard-questionnaire-1622517/. License : CC0: No Rights Reserved . License Terms : Pixabay License
- 3 things managers should know before laying someone off. Authored by : RiseSmartInc. Located at : https://youtu.be/64ig577XZvs . License : All Rights Reserved . License Terms : Standard YouTube License