Vedic Religion, Mythology, and Society.

Paige Hammerl Vedic Religion, Mythology and Society The early civilizations of India have proven to be a highly intellectual, god fearing, and advanced collaboration of people. From approximately 2700 B. C. E to around 500 B. C. E two societies flourished in the northern region of India known as the Indus Valley. The Indus Valley Civilization and later, the Aryans – believed by some to have migrated to India from Europe and the middle East – paved the foundation of Hinduism through the influences of their cultures, early religions and social structures.Unfortunately, there is little to be said of the earliest inhabitants, the people of the Indus Valley Civilization because there still does not exist a decipherment of the Indus Valley Script. Based on loose interpretations of artifacts found in ancient Indus Valley cities, we have been able to depict that the people of the Indus Valley were originally a nomadic tribe, but later had a high degree of uniformity amongst cit y development, a language written on a variety of small 1 inch seals, and may have worshiped Goddesses or a pre-Siva God, often seen on these seals with three faces, bullhead, sitting in a yogic position.According to A. L Bashman’s book The Origins and Development of Classical Hinduism, over time the Indus Valley Civilazation began to dwindle because they were driven from their lands by natural disasters, such as the sudden rise in the level of the sea bed south of the delta of the Indus River (Bashman, 1989, pg. 2). Although we have been able to extract minuscule clues from the Indus Valley Civilization, most of Hinduism's pre-history stems from an religious Aryan ancient text called The Veda, consisting of four traditions, the Rg-, Yajur-, Sama-, and Atharva-.It is important to mention that the Veda’s are thought of as eternal, or not written by human beings, and the Aryan people passed down knowledge of the Veda’s from generation to generation through word of mouth. People saw the Veda’s as extremely sacred texts or scriptures and they were verbally relayed for nearly 3000 years with little to almost no change to them. By some the translation of the Veda’s into written word was viewed as against the religion because traditionally not everyone was actually allowed or able to learn the Veda’s in early times, and also it was as if physical written words tainted the sacredness of the scripture.The priestly class of the Vedic Aryans, known as the Brahmans, were viewed as the preservers of vedic tradition. They were allowed to attend the various theological schools which would specialize in the memorization of specific texts within the Veda’s. The Veda’s were composed chronologically with the Rg-Veda as the first text â€Å"written†. The Rg-Veda consists of 10 books of 1028 hymns praising various deities, guessed to be composed in early Sanskrit as early as 1200 BCE over a period of a few hundred year s. The Sama-Veda is a book of songs, all based on the hymns of the Rg-Veda.The Yajur-Veda consists of 4 books: one book is the white Yajur-Veda, and the other three are the black Yajur Veda. Within these books lies vital information regarding procedures for rituals and sacrifices. Lastly, the Atharva-Veda is a collection of hymns and â€Å"magical† material (spells, charms, imprecations, and incantations), and this Veda is essentially overlapping magic and religion. Each of the four Veda’s have a vast number of gods, or devas, being acknowledged and praised. However, within the Veda’s, stories or myths of the gods are scarcely present; that information was assumed to be common knowledge.All the pantheon of Vedic religion are divided into two classes: the gods (devas) which follow rta, the cosmic order, the set course of nature, and the demons (asura), follow anrta, or anti-rta, in an attempt to overturn the natural course of things. The gods uphold rta, which is essentially moral and physical universal law. Many other gods or devas are deities associated with nature, the heavens and space. The main Devas include Indra, Varuna, Mitra, Nastya, and the minor devas include Yama, Vishnu, and Rudra. The nature divinities include Surya (sun), Agni (fire), Soma (ritual plant), Pajanya (rain), Ushas (dawn), Earth, Moon and Night.The gods are viewed as powerful and willing beings whose pleasure or dissatisfaction determines the course of events in humans day to day lives. If they are pleased they can bless the people with rain for their crops, fertility in woman, good health, etc. and if they are displeased they first punish wrong-doers with disease, and after they are banished to â€Å"The House of Clay† a gloomy hell-like place, similar to where Hades of the Greeks resides. Of all the gods mentioned in the vedas, most notably in the Rg-Veda, the god Indra, god of war and weather, has a staggering 250 hymns in his honor.Indra is believed to be the creator of the cosmos, for when the demons, led by the serpent Vrtra, came to attack the gods, Indra, strengthed by Soma drink, faced them alone and came out victorious and from Vrtra’s dead body he created our world. Because of this, Indra is mainly viewed as a war leader (Bashman, 1989, pg. 12). The Veda’s main function were its involvement in public worship, and it were an essential part in rituals. The vedic Aryans main religious practice was promised religious sacrifice on a cyclical basis with the purpose of pleasing the gods and their ancestors.Both demanded praise and acknowledgement so anything from milk, clarified butter or ghee, curds, grain (rice/barely), soma plant, and even domestic animals were all used as offerings to the gods during sacrificial ceremonies (Bashman, 1989, ). There were two types of sacrificial ceremonies: domestic (life-cycle rites, requiring one fire) and solemn (public rites, requiring three fires). The vedic Aryan people used regular sacrificial ritual to maintain functionality of their tribe or cities. The gods were believed to have control over things such as rain, disease, sun, fertility, etc. o the people would sacrifice various goods/animals in their name in order to please them or strengthen them to help them. in order to maintain the functionality of the tribe. Each ritual was an extremely delicate experience. If one word, or one procedure was out of place the ritual was deemed void, and could even sometimes cause harm to the tribe for displeasing the gods. This is where the use of Brahman’s were vital, the rituals did not require massive buildings or elaborate icons, but only a qualified Brahman who knew all the required procedures learned from the Yajur-Veda.Often they had several Brahman’s present in order to ensure the correct sequence of events occurred. Rituals were centered around the idea of fire. In rituals the fire god Agni would, via a specific number of domestic fires, re ceive sacrifices/praises from the people and pass them onto the other gods. This gives Agni the reputation of a rather important god, with 200 hymns dedicated to him in the Rg-Veda. Fire was viewed as a link between the worldly and divine realms (Flood, 2004, 41). Also, rituals consisted one other important act preformed by the Brahmans – the eating of the Soma plant.According to Gavin Flood in An Introduction to Hinduism, Soma is believed to be some variation of a hallucinogenic mushroom, and was used to bring the priests to a mystical state where they could see the gods and recite veda hymns to them. Soma was not only a plant used in rituals, but was also a deity (god) and was praised for creating the link between gods and humans. To the drinker, Soma brought superhuman strength, a sense of growing to a gigantic size, and gave visions of the gods coming down to join the worshipers (Bashman, 1989, 14).Soma was also given to the gods during rituals as a strength inducer so th ey would be able to fight off the demons causing a tribe grief. As stated in An Introduction to Hinduism, rituals were preformed on a daily basis by every Aryan at around dusk or dawn, and also more complicated rituals were preformed at the beginning of the two lunar fortnights of the months (the days of full and new moons). One expensive and important ritual preformed during this period was the rajasuya sacrifice. It was a royal sacrifice used by kings to ensure them a place in heaven during afterlife and also to prove their worth as a king.This complicated sacrifice was put on by the king and was centered around a great stallion (or horse) that would be followed by groups of men for about a year as it roamed the plains going city to city demanding praise before coming back to the main city to be sacrificed to the gods. The significance of the rajasuya sacrificial ceremony was its link to political power (Bashman, 1989, 33). These sacrifices were used to maintain the functionality of a tribe/city and give kings the opportunity to prove their worth to the people, so kings would pay all the extensive expenses in order to put forth these ceremonies.However, the only people that were able to preform these specific ceremonies with perfect precision was the priest class (Brahmans). This gave them a considerable amount of power, and one could argue that it created a power struggle between the ruling class and the priestly class. Nevertheless, all the sacrificial offering ceremonies were a time for rejoicing, not only for the kings who put them on, but also for the entire population because everyone was benefiting. Later in vedic history, after all the Veda’s had been written, people began to grow antsy with their religion.They started to seek more answers and try to create connections between the meaning of life, birth/rebirth, karma, the gods, and the purpose of ritual (Reat, 1977, 1). This is the period when the Upanishads were written. The Upanishads were a â€Å"secret conversation† that was only meant to be heard by a select few people, and was the beginning of the emergence of Enlightenment and created the basis of classical Hinduism. Vedic religion is not the same as the Hinduism religion, it is however a precursor to it.From the vedic religion we can see the pre-stages of important Hinduism concepts, such as the connection between religious sacrifice and karma. To this day some people in traditional Hindu and Nepal societies practice early vedic traditions. The vedic religion is overall a polytheistic religion, however it seen being practiced as monotheistic and henotheistic, and in my opinion this excerpt coming from the Yajur-Veda sums up the Vedic Religion: â€Å"O Supreme Force governing the world! You function as per unchangeable laws which remain the same throughout without slightest of deviations.May I also seek inspiration from. You to be unflinchingly principled in my life. Thus I resolve to seek truth constantl y by eliminating the false from my life every moment to the best of my abilities, intentions and efforts. May I be successful in this noble decision of mine. † Yajurveda 1. 5 Bibliography Bashman, A. L. The Origins & Development of Classical Hinduism. Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press, 1989. Print. Flood, Gavin. An Introduction to Hinduism. New Delhi: Cambridge University Press, 2004. Print. Hammerl, Paige and Deshpande, Madhov. Vedic Religion/Lifestyle Notes.Jamison, S. J. and Witzel, M. â€Å"Vedic Hinduism. † FAS at Harvard University. Harvard University. 2002. Web. Accessed February 4th, 2013. Lorenzen, David N. â€Å"Who Invented Hinduism? † Comprehensive Studies in Society and History. Cambridge University Press. October 1999. Web. 4 February 2013. Ross Reat, Noble. â€Å"Karma and Rebirth in the Upanishads and Buddhism. † Lancaster, England: ProQuest and Information and Learning Company. December 1977. Print (on the web). â€Å"Srauta. † Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 4 December 2012. Web. Access February 4th, 2013.

Finance and Accounting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Finance and Accounting - Essay Example The studies referring this approach view beliefs for Service Level Agreement (SLA) indicating the future behaviour of the students as well as effective learners. The study related to normative approach enables to provide a description along with classification of the types of beliefs related to SLA (Holliday, 1994). The normative approach comprises studies which include beliefs, methodologies, and relationship among actions along with their advantages and disadvantages (Kalaja & Barcelos, 2006). The normative approach can be beneficial to accounting as a new diversified research approach emerges with the approach, which would enhance the position of accounting research along with accounting theory (Coetsee, 2010). However, the normative approach disappoints to illuminate credible understandings regarding problems related to accounting practices for social and economic factors. It is also concerned with the development of normative theories which impose standards based on theories rel ated to quality information and relevant information about the consequences of conventional accounting system. It also reflects certain facts related to inefficiency of comparability among various financial statements due to a variety of alternative rules related to accounting. Moreover, normative accounting theories replicate various actions and processes that are approved by accountants in order to accomplish the desired goals or objectives (Banerjee, 2010). A positive approach can be defined as a determinant through which critical situations or crisis circumstances can be ignored by driving the opportunities to an expected higher level. The positive approach can also be determined through a positive drive. Positive approach also promotes the failure and success of an organisation as well (Barber, 2011). The role of accounting in positive approach can be described with respect to accounting aspects, role of accountant and impact of accounting on resources as well as people. Moreov er, the approach is structured on the basis of proposition for regulators, shareholders and managers for maximising the utility. The approach is completely opposite to normative approach (Womlib, 2001). Part B Literature Review According to the observation of Belkaoui (2004), in the context of normative approach, it can be stated that accounting in relation to descriptive approach can be critically evaluated through normative methodology. Normative accounting theory justifies what should to be done rather than what it is. It can be viewed that in the professional field of accounting, a belief is widely apprehended that accounting is considered as an art which is not formalised. Furthermore, it also entails methodologies used in traditional aspects that can be considered in the establishment of accounting theory. It also justifies these facts that by coding of accounting practices. Moreover, in the context of oversimplifying, the complex nature of accounting phenomena and issues can be identified which are essentially required in order for formulating accounting theory. The methodology of normative approach can be considered in order to validate a few of the accounting practices that are required to be approved. It can be stated that among the studies provided in normative approach, Moonitz and Sprouse deserve special mention. Normative accounting theory emphasises on reference theory, thus enabling an appropriate way of making the prediction of various accounting phenomena, along with evaluating interactions amid accounting variables in the

Investigation on Whether Nokia Should Quit the UK Essay

Investigation on Whether Nokia Should Quit the UK - Essay Example The main research objective is find out whether it would be viable to minimize expansion of the Nokia brand in the U.K market. Nokia as evident from the analysis has been experiencing a decline it its market share in the named market. Competition has stifled with other companies providing equal or better quality mobile handsets. Handsets are now a requirement for a majority of people. Statistics has shown a decline in number of handsets purchased and an ever increasing number of smartphones acquired. It is a technologically changing world that can be attributed to this trend. People want the best, and since it is affordable, they can get it. Nokia holds a high popularity of mobile phone manufacturing companies in the world. It had the biggest market share of mobile users, but this is changing. This research focuses on finding out changes in the performance of Nokia and if it is a viable idea for to withdraw itself from the U.K market. In trying to answer this, several factors have to be investigated on the reasons that have led to this aftermath in the Nokia Company. 1.2: Research objectives. The research problems highlight the areas of importance in this study. They seek to encompass the most crucial factors involved in this project. They revolve around the Nokia Mobile statistics. They are, to determine the factors behind the decline of Nokia smartphone market share, changing trends in the mobile market, to identify measures to be taken against this issue and know if it is wise to leave the U.K market or not. 1.3: Research questions What are the reasons for declining market share in U.K, how can it be controlled and what are the appropriate ways to control it. 1.4: Statement of problem Factors influencing Nokia mobile market share the U.K and factors influencing changes in the mobile market in U.K 2.0: LITERATURE REVIEW In recent times, with the advancement of technology, operating systems became one of the major determinants of a company’s performance in the market. With the need for faster and efficient mobile systems, there has been competition on who provides the best operating system customers prefer in the U.K. Apple has the most popular OS scooping a share of 42%, Blackberry with 36% and android with a share of 12%. It is surprising because Nokia, known for its popularity and with the changing trends and stiff competition, stands to make its way to the top or quit the smartphone market for better standing mobile companies. This research focuses on finding out what appropriate measure to take, whether quit or continue in the race of attracting customers to use their smartphones. In trying to investigate this, it has to identify the gap existing the company and the competitors. Strategies used in pricing, promotion, quality provision and the 4ps of marketing have a large part in determining the performance of a company’s products. For example, while price may not be a substantial factor to consider because of affordab ility in the current market of smartphones it is still pertinent to know that is the crucial factor customers consider for any product. They may want to operate in the market with the highest margins. This can only be realistic in a monopolistic market where they are the sole suppliers of a product. That is why the Nokia Company have to identify what strategy to use to maintain their share, increase it or exit the market. They should

Choose a topic and do a 2 pages reseach on it. (Topics are in the Research Paper

Choose a topic and do a 2 pages reseach on it. (Topics are in the intructions) - Research Paper Example rough the process of fertilizer containing nitrogen compounds; (Stephens, 1998, p.  173) through the decomposition of animal wastes; and off course through sewage treatment facility and septic systems. Nitrate is naturally found in various different vegetables, including root vegetables, collard greens, broccoli and cauliflower. The human body has the ability to convert nitrate into nitrite. Both of these compounds are considered as hazardous. Only legal limits of them are allowed in food and drinking water. These compounds have the ability to change normal hemoglobin (the chemical compound present in blood for transportation of oxygen) to met-hemoglobin. Normally, levels of met-hemoglobin are less than 2.5% of the body’s total hemoglobin. Excess of met-hemoglobin by nitrates from normal levels, reduces the ability of blood’s oxygen transportation to the blood cells. Reduction of oxygen from the blood cell can cause a bluish tint of the nose, lips and ears in minor cases (also named as blue-baby syndrome) in infants. While in some severe cases it can cause heart and respiratory problem, and even death. However, nitrates and nitrites can also react with other compounds either present in our body or in the food we are consuming to form substances that may cause cancer. These reactions are more probable to take place in the existence of protein. Meat is a ric h protein food. When nitrites in the presence of amino acids, are exposed to high temperature, they can form a compounds named nitrosamines. Scientists believe that these formations may be responsible for the relationship they have found between nitrates and nitrites and the diseases mentioned above. Exposure of nitrite or nitrate can also cause complications in pregnancy and health problems in infants. It nitrates/nitrites lose an oxygen atom it can turn into Nitric Oxide, an important signaling molecule. This molecule travels through the walls of artery and transmits signals to tiny muscle cells around

2.To what extent does Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas fulfil Essay

2.To what extent does Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas fulfil the stated aim of the Voyage extraordinaires series to provide instruction which amuses an - Essay Example It still finds its place in hearts of many people. One of the most famous and iconic characters of this book is Captain Nemo. True to his name Nemo was an enigma to Aronax, the narrator and the professor in the story, Ned land, the Canadian harpooner and Conseil, loyal servant of Arronax. To really look into characteristics of Nemo, let’s briefly sum the concise idea about this classic. While idea of the story is being told we will analyze the character of Captain Nemo. The story is being narrated by Pierre Aronnax, who is a famous marine biologist. It all starts with a theory of narwhal being sighted in various places. Aronnax along with his servant and Ned Land follow the path of seas only to understand that narwhal is a submarine which is led by a certain captain called Captain Nemo. The story then revolves around the expedition of Nemo, Aronnax, Conseil and Ned wherein they travel under sea for sixty thousand kilometers or twenty thousand leagues. The book became a cult success and has achieved the tag of classic not only because the central idea of Verne but also the style, characterization and treatment given to the plot to make it more entertaining and astounding. Captain Nemo is the central character of the story. Nemo in Latin means no one or nobody and that name aptly suits him because of his mystical attitude and mystery behavior in the course of the book. Let’s take the book analysis in more detail to understand the iconic character of this great captain. The name has lot of significance to the character and the outcome of book and we shall unravel the mystery behind it now. The first meeting with Captain itself was the one to remember. When Ned, Conseil and Aronnax were being taken as captives in the submarine ‘Nautilus’, each of them explain their situation in different languages of English, French, German and Latin. Captain Nemo does not reply and walks away. Later when he confronts the group he was attacked by Ned and

Global perspectives assessment Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Global perspectives assessment - Research Paper Example This means that the US criminal justice system including its law enforcement could go beyond the boundary of the state as the crime itself could be created beyond boundaries, but could still have substantial threats on the part of the nation. At this point, the US could remarkably play the role of a global police, trying to maintain peace and order situation of the whole world just as to ensure stability of peace in its state. This is a significant and probable response to the growing international dimensions of crime. Criminals might be staying out of the US state, but still could inflict potential threats due to the spreading wide coverage of their scope, connections and evolving organizational control. In response to this, the US state should also therefore expand the exposure of its criminal justice system throughout the world. Let us add to the problem when technological influences on global criminality enter the scene. The advancement of technology at the other part of it does not only bring comfort, but trouble at the same time if used at the criminals’ vantage point of view. Concerning this, the US criminal justice system needs to make its effort twice as much, double its time and never delay in order to keep its pace even more than the level of the criminals. Added to the issue is the diversified US culture, leading to the point that the US criminal justice system requires international cooperation so as to ward off probable threats on America’s borders and of other relevant crimes. The heterogeneous culture in the US though it may provide certain advantages, but at the other side of it, the bottom line is that there are other probable problems tied up with it. For example, the diverse culture creates a portal making it easy for bigger syndicates to easily move in and out of the US federal state. They became too familiar with the US culture, but on the other side, the US still needs to learn more about varying culture. This signifies the need to learn more about the existing different cultures on the part of the US, be familiar with them too and use this for its competitive advantage. That is why it requires constant international cooperation to solve existing crimes and even those new cases as upshots of varying changes not only brought by technology and different cultures, but the globalization in general. For this reason, the US is strongly advancing to create an effort to solve crimes and as much as possible hinder possible great impacts they could bring to the entire state. Compare and contrast international criminal justice systems Socialist law traditions are used by the states that are communists and are formerly communists. They employed the Marxist-Leninist ideology (Joerges & Ghaleigh, 2003). Another branch of law is civil law which deals with legal disputes among individuals or organizations and those who win the case may be able to receive compensation (Dunham, 2008). The common law on the other hand is a case-based reasoning law, evaluating the case and then applying what laws might probably apply to it (Holmes, 2005). Embodied in the Islamic law are the religious duties employing Allah’s commands (Standke, 2008). As noticed, these international criminal justice systems have varying foundations and beliefs as their means to ultimately come up with the right and appropriate decisions. While socialist law is

Hong Kong affect its future economy Essay Example for Free

Hong Kong affect its future economy Essay This research project seeks to bring out the effects of the Hong Kong population structure on the future economy of Hong Kong. Hong Kong is a booming economy being one of the major financial districts of the South Asian region and its changing population structure has a lot to do with its workforce and in turn affects its working culture and present and future economic structure as well. Research Question: The research question for this project seek to study how or to what extent the population structure a regards to age and gender or social characteristics of the population tend to affect the present and future economy of Hong Kong. So there are two parts to this research project – the first part analyzes the population structure of Hong Kong with regards to the age and gender or social status and the second part brings out the economic structure of Hong Kong from its past to present changes and the future of Hong Kong economy in a more globalized world and the impact of global markets on the financial centre of Asia. The focused research question in this case brings out several dimension of the study as through the analysis of the qualitative and quantitative dimensions, the subjective and objective aspects of the study. The impact of the changes in population structure on the economy could be understood on the basis of changing population numbers and percentages quantitatively and the socioeconomic changes as understood qualitatively. The research question essentially focuses on the qualitative and quantitative dimensions of the research as it seeks to bring out the impact of population change in economic structure of Hong Kong in a descriptive manner and in accordance with socioeconomic changes, as in influence of wage, gender, age gaps and changes etc an also the direct statistical values and correlations between population and economic structures in terms of numbers and statistical values. The research question on the extent to which population structure affects the Hong Kong economy thus brings out this ‘extent’ in terms of numbers or real values as also in terms of description of changes in Hong Kong as what happens qualitatively when the population structure changes and what is the impact on the economy from a descriptive point of view. Like for example this can be related to lack of high living standards, poor health conditions of the elderly. These would be qualitative dimensions of the research and the values or percentages of changing population and simultaneously changing economy would be the quantitative aspects of research. These two methods are discussed further in the methodology section as given below. Background/Literature Review: A brief literature review is provided here and brings out the main points of research articles as published in journals and obtained from ingentaconnect or sciencedirect or JSTOR. The literature review is on the Hong Kong population and economic structure and articles published and written on these issues showing the impact of an ageing population on Hong Kong’s economy and job prospects and on the industries in Hong Kong as influenced by a global economy and ageing population. In this literature review section a study by Leigh (2006), a research article by Chui published 2003 and another by Fan and Lui (2003) have been selected. Leigh’s study shows the direct impact of ageing on Hong Kong’s economy, fiscal changes and living standards. Chui shows how the ageing population face problems of survival and housing in a fast paced Hong Kong economy and Fan and Lui talk of gender and wage gap in Hong Kong’s population that could redefine economic changes and structure. The studies chosen here highlight the qualitative aspects of the impact of ageing and gender changes in population or demography on the economic structure of Hong Kong. The participation of women has also increased significantly necessitating needs of study of the impact of gender on Hong Kong’s economy and how women’s participation in the workplace can change things for the economy. In a research article on the population structure of Hong Kong, Leigh (2006) has suggested that Hong Kong SAR’s population has been aging rapidly and aging could adversely affect the growth and living standards of people in Hong Kong. There has to be some change in economic and administrative policies in keeping with the aging or changing population according to the article. There is a high labor and productivity growth with increased migration of younger skilled workers from Chinese mainland in Hong Kong mainly due to Hong Kong’s booming economy and although this attenuates the economic impact of aging, there is no full offset of the impact of aging population on the economic structure of Hong Kong. According to Leigh, aging puts considerable pressure on public finances particularly as with aging there is also rising health costs that directly affect government spending. There are relatively fewer options that government has and opportunities to implement polices on this are also limited that could lessen the impact of aging on the governance and structure as demographic effects would start setting in by 2015 when the ratio of working population would peak. The Hong Kong SAR authorities have been focused on administrative and governance policies that would limit or reduce the fiscal impact of aging and they have also provided continued expenditure restraint on reform of health care financing with private health insurance systems, along with tax reforms and non age sensitive areas (Leigh, 2006). Considering the gradual ageing problem of Hong Kong, Chui (2001) suggest that Hong Kong as one of the Four Dragons of Asia is faced with the gradual ageing problem that seems to have affected the urban fabric of the city as also the general population. However one of the regions in which Hong Kong seems to be booming along with the economy is property development as Hong Kong is mainly based on a property led economy and the government as well as private and public property developers have been launching redevelopment projects for setting up new structures in Hong Kong. However as Chui points out the special needs problems of elderly people have not been attended to and most of Hong Kong’s elderly people are poor physically, financially and socially. However with urban renewal and changes, the elderly people are at disadvantage and face threats to their survival as they are not in a position to cope with the restructuring changes in Hong Kong’s fast paced urban development projects. There has also been a gradual weakening of the respect to Chinese traditional values and culture as for the respect given to the elderly and this along with nuclearization of families have added to the problems of the elderly. Chui writes that government housing policies in Hong Kong should emphasize on community care and ageing in place and help in solving housing problems and needs of the elderly. The study shows the plight of older people in Hong Kong, a booming economy in the South Asian region and a contrasting fate of the elderly people. The gender gap in wages has been analyzed by some researchers and the trend shows a narrowing gender gap in wages. According to Fan and Lui (2003), the narrowing gender gap may be related to women’s advantages compared with earlier times especially women’s changing positions at the workplace. Gender gap is found as smaller in occupations and industries that are less dependent on physical labour as men are more suitable for physically rigorous work. This shows that when an economy transforms from a manufacturing or production oriented approach to a more service oriented one, women’s productivity would be recognized an with increased women’s participation in service based economies, the gender gap on the basis of wage or participation at the workplace also decreases. A 1% random subsample was used in this study for two population censuses and the results of the experiment also support empirical results. Methodology The methodology to be used for this study will be both qualitative and quantitative research methods. The qualitative and quantitative data would be primarily available from the internet and research journal databases and journal articles will be selected along with studies by the Hong Kong government as based on the economic indicators, as well as statistical and other government reports on the population and GDP, GNP and labor or prices. Of course in this section we highlight the importance of theory and practice and differentiate between the theories and the practical implications of research and the use of methodology to explain these two features. The theories that will be dealt with will be economic theories and changes in the global economy along with changes in the Hong Kong economic structure. The practical implications here would be changes in the population structure statistically obtained and otherwise and population changes as indicated in journal articles that deal with ageing and its associated problems in Hong Kong. The theories and practice of the economic and population changes in Hong Kong will be obtained from journal articles selected from journal databases and these articles are obtained by using search terms such as ‘Hong Kong economy’, ‘Hong Kong population, ‘Ageing population, ‘South Asian Economy’, ‘Economic structure of Hong Kong, Population of Hong Kong, ‘Elderly in Hong Kong, ‘Employment in Hong Kong and Economy’ etc. As indicated in the later part of the study, the government’s reports on the economic changes and population changes have been given here and the results can be used to show the trends and the analysis can be done quantitatively and qualitatively to show the changes in population in terms of age, gender and wages or social status. In fact wage structure shows changes in economic conditions of the major part of population and results could be drawn to show how economy and wages would be related in turn to gender and age and the overall impact this has on the Hong Kong’s population structure could be drawn in the analysis and interpretation section of the results. The different possible methodological frameworks would be the qualitative methodology and the quantitative methodology. Qualitative methodology is about understanding the more qualitative or subjective aspects of the population and delineating the attributes or the characteristics of job changes, economic structure and population structure in Hong Kong. Quantitative methodology is about showing statistical tables and values and suggests the population and economic structural changes in terms of values or numbers as given in statistical tables. The impact of old age or ageing population on the economy as discussed qualitatively by researchers would form part of the study using journal articles and descriptions of the situation as given by researchers in articles and published papers as would be the quantitative aspects that are given in published reports and statistical tables giving values or numbers that define the changes in Hong Kong’s social, demographic and economic structure quantitatively in terms of values, statistics and numbers. A snapshot of the qualitative and quantitative primary data as would be used in the research study is given below and from some of the research papers as used in the literature review and the reports published by the Hong Kong government, the primary data in terms of tables or published research reports will be chosen and analyzed for the purposes of this study. The published articles or papers in journals as selected from ingenta, sciencedirect, JSTOR or other such databases thus provide the basis for qualitative primary data and the published research reports as available from Hong Kong government sites showing statistical analysis of population and economic structure form the more quantiatve aspects of this study and a balance of quantitative and qualitative methods will be considered for analysis of this research study. Social science research is largely based on ontological and epistemological propositions that help to understand consumer behavior and in this case population structure and government approach to population and how it affects Hong Kong economy in general. From the ontological point of view any phenomena could be analyzed objectively using economic data and in this case the economic structure of Hong Kong could be comparatively objectively analyzed considering other developed or developing economies and the effects of population on economy. The epistemological approach to methodology emphasizes on people’s perspectives and the subjective or qualitative aspects of research as already indicated. Positivistic and Interpretive theories in social science research focus on scientific data (as in positivism) in which experimental findings are of prime importance and interpretive analysis in which drawing out qualitative aspects and viewpoints of the researcher would be more important. The epistemological, interpretive positions are closer to qualitative methodology and the positivistic, ontological philosophies are akin to quantitative methodology as used in any research project. The Table below provides the population structure of Hong Kong by age and sex and as seen from the initial study of 2007 population growth and structure, 3. 9% of the population is above 60 years of age, 3. 4% of the population is above 65 or 70 years of age, 2. 7% of the population reaches above 75 year limit and 1. 7% of the population crosses the 80 year old mark. 1. 4% of the population is above 85 years. This suggests that a significant portion of the population is an aged population in Hong Kong and this is a change from 2006 in which the 60 year old population was at 3. 7% and above 75 year olds was at 2. 6% and above 85 year olds was at 1. 3%. The charts show that thee has been a slight yet significant increase in aging population of Hong Kong and considerable decrease in the young population as seen from the population data of 2006-2007. If data is attained over a period of last 10 years this aging population trend will however become more prominent and this will be elaborated in the methodology and data collection section of the research. This research table thus forms part of the resources that we use as data for our study on the effects of population on economic structure.