Literature review †Anxiety and Depression in the Workplace Essay

Emotional concerns in the workplace are a considerable loss to employee’s health and welfare. They slow down the performance of employee and so they are harmful to the organisational well-being as well. This literature review would put forward a concise introduction on the two frequently occurring emotional concerns in the workplace: anxiety and depression. Anxiety and depression are a usual and adaptive reaction to the individual who is undergoing such emotional problems in our surroundings. They are a normal part of life, and would take place at any time when there are considerable positive or negative changes in one’s life. In general, it is believed that some of the anxiety and depression are challenging and positive one but some are negative where the individuals feel difficult to handle it. Anxiety and depression would take place in personal life as well as work life. This literature review is mainly focused on how an employee who is suffering from anxiety and depression should behave and at the same time how managers should handle the situations when his/her employee is suffering from anxiety and depression. Analyzations and insinuations of such emotional problems are discussed in this review. Moreover, this literature review is endowed with sensible understanding in support of recognizing and dealing with the anxiety and depression in the workplace. This review also focuses on the role of manager as supporter to the employees by taking necessary initiative steps to decrease the possibilities of anxiety and depression in the workplace. Defining Depression and Anxiety: Defining the term ‘depression’ is very complex because of the involvement of intrinsic uncertainty. According to , ‘ depression can be witnessed as a condition of mood, as a special symptom manifesting itself in many different mental disorders, as a syndrome measured by depression rating scales, and as a clinical diagnosis operationalised in diagnostic classifications’. (Weiten, 2001) and (Barlow, 2005), who are the psychology book writers, highlighted the debilitating effect that depression has on an individual which was agreed by different researchers and scholars. Through his findings, Blair stated that depression is severely debilitating and the most common mental health disorder affecting society. This was further detailed in 2000 by Akiskal that irregular depressive mood experienced as low spirits, dejection, and sadness can be a normal reaction to disappointments, adversities, and losses and should be differentiated from depressive disorders, which represent actual psychological illness and are often accompanied by distinct impairment of psychological, somatic, and social functioning . Bender and Furman agreed with Blair and came to the conclusion in 2003 that depression was found to probably be incurable and had raised to become the world’s number one public health problem. An American judge held that depression is a misleading term for an extremely debilitating illness. (Seligman, et al.,) defined anxiety as â€Å" psychological and physiological state characterized by by somatic, emotional, cognitive, and behavioral components†. Davison stated that â€Å"it is the displeasing feeling of fear and concern† . Depression and Anxiety in the work place: In the present status of the economy, anxiety and depression in the workplace are the rising concerns where the employees are facing more and more situations of work overload, no job safety, no job satisfaction, and lack of self-sufficiency. Depression has significant economic impacts relative to lost productivity within the workplace . Workplace anxiety and depression have been exposed to have unfavorable impacts on employees’ health, well-being, workplace productivity, absenteeism, and workplace performance. Lost productivity involves presenteeism, in which the employee is present in the work setting but productivity is reduced due to health concerns or depressive symptoms, or in terms of absenteeism from work . Anxiety normally occurs when an individual senses that he/she is just going to face some circumstances on which he/she will not have control and ability to manage the situations. Particularly, workplace is the main ground where such situations happen to occur. Changes in the company such as restructurings, amalgamations and change in company policies are quite common incidents which take place in an organisation are some of the source anxiety. Now a day’s most of the organisations are trying to cut off their personnel to the least by putting more pressure on employees and overloading them with more work than their capacity to handle are also one of the main cause of anxiety. In workplace, employees are likely to suffer from anxiety in the following situations; when dealing with austere managers, when there are possibilities of downgrading, being tensed whether they can get their job task completed on time, Panic of getting terminated from their job In any organisations, there are certain existing rules, regulations and company policies which all the employees are enforced to stick on to. At times, these systems of the company can also cause anxiety and depression to an employee when there is some clash of pursuits between acting based on what he/she thinks is right and what the current system of the company states. Moreover, this situation can be pointed up further when the employees have to pact with customers or with the bond with their colleagues. Generally all the employees try to relieve their own anxiety and depression either by adjusting with their work environment or by resigning their job. To overcome such situations, individuals as well as organisations can take some initiative steps to ease the harmful impacts of anxiety and depression, or to prevent it from coming up in the initial stage. Effect of Depression and Anxiety: The course of adjustment to work environment results in employees’ anxiety and depression. Workplace stress is usually caused by employees’ acuity about their position in the organisation and includes the role of variance and role of vagueness. An employee’s perception of his/ her position in the workplace comes up from the job designation, interpersonal bond models, as well as from the emotion of discreteness and relation to others. Workplace depression states several behavior performance and behavioral shortfalls of an individual in the workplace (Lerner, et al., 2004; National Institute of Mental Health, 2011; Wallace, 2011; Wang et al., 2008). An employee who is suffering from anxiety and depression is affected psychologically, physiologically, cognitively. Some of the psychological effects are aggressiveness, evading societal situations, tapered forbearance to hand stress, loosing temper, becoming impatient deprived motor control. Physiologically, employee can suffer from fast heart beating, clammy hands, often headaches, muscle inflexibleness and aches, difficulties in breathing, indigestion, high blood pressure, frequent mood swings, change in eating habits, falling sick regularly and changes in weight. Anxiety would cognitively affect an individual’s capability of focusing, memory power and motor skills. Sometimes, an individual may not recall the names of the person whom he/she know or fails to remember what task he/she wanted to do. Depression and anxiety in the workplace would even effect the organisation in terms of financial loss. It was anticipated that 12 billion dollars was lost by the business and industry from lost output, 12 billion dollars was lost from non-attendance, for direct treatment costs business lost 26.1 billion dollars, and 5.4 billion dollars was lost due to death (Greenberg, et al., 2003; Lerner, et al., 2004). How employees should control their anxiety and depression? There are more possibilities of retaining the talents and experiences of the depressed employee for the organisations, if he/ she takes break for sometime from the work and then return back in a suitable and meaningful role. This would also decrease the possibilities of such occurrence of such situations. Every employee should know how to identify the situations of anxiety and depression and need to make use of personal coping strategies and develop. Employee can use the following methods in coping with their stress ; Meditating – learning Yoga Laughing therapy Spending some time in their hobbies on regular basis Sharing of feelings with their close ones Relaxation techniques – profound breathing, progressive relaxation, listening to relaxation music, massage therapy and hot baths Maintaining balanced diet Depressed employees need enough sleep Avoid consuming caffeine Exercising or joining in dance, swimming classes etc. These techniques will help in muscles relaxing; slowing down the heart beats and reduce emotional problems. This will also help them to concentrate and focus on things and manage anxiety and depression without any difficulty. Role of Organisation as supporters: First of all, the organisation should concentrate on the following question to determine where they are going wrong. i. Is there any circumstance that triggers employees’ anxiety in the workplace? ii. Is there any changes taking place in the organisation frequently? iii. Do the new rules and policies are threatening the employees? iv. Is there any terminations frequently done in the company that trigger the anxiety level of the employees? Successful organisations would assist their employees to defy the bigger demands, reduce their panics and negative levels in the market and the country as a whole. To overcome the emotional problems of the employees, the organisation should start implementing some strategies that can be useful in reducing the effect of depression and anxiety. The approaches are as follows; Company should allow the employer and employees to informal and frank communications so that both can have an opportunity of expressing any apprehensions. Company should have the best policies and procedures in the workplace ensuring the employees’ well-being. Company should send a message stating its support for each employee’s emotional concerns to all the employees. Organisation should aware of the work pressures handled by the employees, percentage of absenteeism and employees’ illness. They should also review their present policies and systems and indentify the positives and negatives of the same so as to change the policies suitable to the organisation. They should implement mental health policy which shows the commitment of the employer of taking care of all the employees who work for the organisation. This will prove that organisation identifies and agrees to the importance of psychological issues of the employees. Companies should make sure that all the employees feel their importance in the organisation and accept them as a part of the organisation. This will also help to reduce the stress level of the employee. They should implement management training and development with regards to anxiety and depression in the workplace. Training should be provided to employees about anxiety and depression. They should learn to identify the symptoms of depression on their own.. This will indeed help the employee’s to know recognise their problem at ease and prevent the circumstances before getting poorer. Manager should also be trained about depression and anxiety so as to be aware about the behavioural changes in the depressed and anxious employees and provide them assistance when need. To decease the situations of depression and anxiety among the employees, quite a lot of researchers have shown that organisations that implement training approaches to the managers tend to avoid practicing the following; Setting unrealistic short task deadlines Giving multifaceted job tasks to the employees without decision making authority Giving repetitive and tedious jobs only to the employee who is capable to doing thing much more than it Deprived management practices where managers are not supportive to the employees and takes unfair decisions. Not giving recognition and not congratulating for good tasks achieved by the employees Organisation should focus on employee engagement; implement programmes like Employee Assistance Programme (EAP), Stress Management Programme. Role of Employers as supporters: Different people are affected by depression and anxiety in different ways. Some people who experience anxiety or depression would manage to handle the situation and would continue with their work. But some people would definitely need a break. In such situations, there should be someone in the organisation to support the employee to return back to the workplace and this is possible only by the employers. Employers are required to realise the basis of such type of psychological problems, prevention of such emotional problems, and the array and efficiency of different treatments related to such problems. Employees can improve their performance of the work with the correct extent of anxiety. But if employee’s level of anxiety goes beyond the right extent, then there are possibilities of interference of anxiety with the employees’ performance of the work and their efficiency level. Employers are required to be familiar with various levels of anxiety or depression to facilitate the employees’ with an atmosphere that brings out their most excellent performances. How to identify anxiety or depression in the workplace? Employers should be conscious of the symptoms of depression and anxiety in the workplace. They should also try to identify the changes in the behavioral aspects of their employees. Some of the symptoms are as follows ; Irreconcilable or decreased productivity, Absenteeism, unpunctuality, or often nonappearance in the job site, Increased mistakes, decreased work excellence, Postponement, failure to reach targets, Extraction from collaboration, teamwork, or unnecessary arguments with colleagues, Over perceptive, over-responsive feelings, Becoming too besieged to work, Showing less interest in the work, Decreased work performance or deliberation procedures, Problems in focusing or recalling work responsibilities, Exhaustion and diminished energy level, Lessened attention, and Impaired educational and professional achievement How employers should deal with depressed or anxious employees? Employers should follow the below steps to deal with depressed or anxious employees. They should try to get some knowledge in regards to anxiety and depression, so as to obtain some ideas on what type of emotional problems the employees are undergoing and in what way they can support them. If the employees hesitate to respond to the questions, the employers should lend a hand to them to bring out their fears by showing care and supporting them. This would help to decrease their level of anxiety. Once the feasible ideas are identified, they should have informal meetings with their employees; listen to their problems and determine how to help them and offer support and encourage to them completely. Employees’ feels that their experiences are sensible. If they feel that they are depressed due to particular work related problems, then the employers should try to listen to their views in a laissez-faire manner and take action aptly. If any employee is acts in a different way, then the employer as well as co-workers should keep in mind that this is an outcome of his/her ill health and understand that it is not their fault. While taking these steps, it is the responsibility of the employers to maintain confidentiality about the health issues of depressed employee from other employees. Employers should inform other staffs in case of any changes in the work allocations without letting down the privacy of depressed employee. This would reduce the possibility of tittle-tattle among the other employees. Employers should be in contact with the employees when they are absent to the work and they can also provide a chance to them to present their views on tasks that are likely to happen in the office, in spite of their absence. They should provide them assistance personally and practically. For example, take them out with other staffs after office hours, encouraging them in their work, advising them eat well, inviting them to have lunch together. Employers should try to make their employees to feel more comfortable in the workplace by inviting them as well in the meetings, work related societal events to support them for speedy recovery from depression and anxiety. All the above steps would help the employee to get rid of their depression and anxiety and concentrate on their work. This will also help the employee to increase their motivation level and self esteem. Moreover, these steps will also help the managers and the organisation to be successful by increase in productivity and company profits. Conclusion: Various finding proves that depression and anxiety has negative impacts on individual, as well as organizations. This impact continues to be raising concern in the economy. Most of the people who are suffering from depression are working without taking any breaks with the anxiety of being terminated. Some try to control their depression by the awareness. Either directly or indirectly, depression has been the reason for many death by high blood pressure, heart attacks etc. Most of the workers are suffering physically and emotionally in the workplace due to harmful workplace atmosphere. From this literature review it is proved that these situations can be managed by individuals or by the management or by the organisation to reduce the psychological illness of the employees. Changes should be done from the hierarchy level and hence it is essential for the managers to identify that they have moral responsibility and authority to protect the physical and mental health of their employees . If the organisations follow the strategies and approaches mentioned in this literature review that and prevent employee from the emotional problems, facilitate required treatment, then the company can increase the net gains in productivity. References 1. Canadian Mental Health Association. (2009). Coping with too much stress. Retrieved 2012, from http://cmhanl.ca/education/publications/cwtms/index.php. 2. Angela, S. (2010). Anxiety and Stress: How Poor Performance and Absenteeism Affect the Workplace. Florida, USA: Dissertation.com. 3. Akiskal, H. S. (2000). Mood disorders: clinical features. In B. J. Sadock, & V. A. Sadock, Comprehensive textbook of psychiatry (7 ed., Vol. 1, pp. 1338–1377). Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. 4. Barlow, D. H., & Durand, M. V. (2005). Abnormal Psychology: An Integrative Approach. 5. Bender, A. (2009). Depression in the workplace: Recognition and response. Benefits Canada 33 , 41. 6. Bender, K., & Furman, R. (2003). The Social Problem of Depression: A Multi-theoretical Analysis. 30 Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare , 123 . 7. Blair, D. A. (1999). Employees Suffering from Bipolar Disorder or Clinical Depression: Fighting an Uphill Battle for Protection Under Title 1 of the Americans with Disabilities Act. 12 Seton Hall Law Review , 1347. 8. Clark, J. (2002). Stress: A management guide. London: Spiro Press. 9. Cox, A. A., Ness, K. M., & Carlson, R. F. (2010). International perspectives on depression in the workplace. Retrieved 2012, from http://counselingoutfitters.com/vistas/vistas10/Article_04.pdf. 10. Cox, A. N. (2008). Depression in the workplace. Retrieved from VISTAS 2008 Online: http://counselingoutfitters.com/vistas/vistas08/Cox.htm 11. Davison, G. C. (2008). Abnormal Psychology. Toronto: Veronica Visentin. 12. Eyers, K., & Parker, G. (2011). Tackling Depression At Work: A Practical Guide for Employees and Managers. New York: Routledge. 13. Frew, J. (2004). Motivating and leading dysfunctional employees. In J. C. Thomas, & M. Hersen (Eds.), Psychopathology in the workplace: Recognition and adaptation (pp. 293-311). New York: Brunner-Routledge. 14. Greenberg, P. E., Kessler, R. C., Birnbaum, H. G., Leong, S. A., Lowe, S. W., Berglund, P. A., et al. (2003). The economic burden of depression in the United States: How did it change between 1990 and 2000? Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 64 , 1465-1475. 15. Healey, J. (2006). Anxiety and depression. Thirroul, N.S.W.: Spinney Press. 16. Hayes, J. (2011). Dealing with Anxiety and Depression in the Workplace. Retrieved 2012, from http://www.ibectraining.ie/IBEC/Training/IBECTAD.nsf /vPages/Information_Centr

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Manegerial Rolls and Skills

Answer. To meet the many demands of performing their functions, managers assume multiple roles. Henry mintzberg has identified ten roles common to the work of all managers. The ten roles are divided into three groups: interpersonal, informational, and decisional. The informational roles link all managerial work together. The interpersonal roles ensure that information is provided. The decisional roles make significant use of the information. The performance of managerial roles and the requirements of these roles can be played at different times by the same manager and to different degrees depending on the level and function of management. The ten roles are described individually, but they form an integrated whole. The idea of a role comes from sociology and is the pattern of actions expected of a person in his activities involving others. It arises as a result of the position that he occupies in a group in a given situation. Thus, a manager who occupies different positions in different situations plays different roles because people in each situation have different expectations of him concerning his functions. Interpersonal Roles: The three interpersonal roles are primarily concerned with interpersonal relationships. In the figurehead role, the manager represents the organization in all matters of formality. The top-level manager represents the company legally and socially to those outside of the organization. The Informational Role: The direct relationships with people in the interpersonal roles place the manager in a unique position to get information. Thus, the three informational roles are primarily concerned with the information aspects of managerial work. The Decisional Role: The unique access to information places the manager at the centre of organizational decision-making. There are four decisional roles. In the entrepreneur role, the manager initiates change. Q. 4 What are the factors influencing perception? † question. The assignment question is written for SMU MBA MB0038 assignment. We already have shared some solved assignments for MB0038 – Classification of Personality Types of Myers and Briggs and Methods of Shaping Behavior. Answer. Factors Influencing Perception: A number of factors operate to shape and sometimes distort perception. These factors can reside: 1)In the perceiver ) In the object or target being perceived or 3) In the context of the situation in which the perception is made 1. Characteristics of the perceiver: Several characteristics of the perceiver can affect perception. When an individual looks at a target and attempts to interpret what he or she stands for, that interpretation is heavily influenced by personal characteristics of the individual perceiver. The major characteristics of the perceiver influencing percep tion are: a) Attitudes: The perceiver’s attitudes affect perception. This attitude will doubtless affect his perceptions of the female candidates he interviews. b) Moods: Moods can have a strong influence on the way we perceive someone. We think differently when we are happy than we do when we are depressed. c) Motives: Unsatisfied needs or motives stimulate individuals and may exert a strong influence on their perceptions. d) Self-Concept: Another factor that can affect social perception is the perceiver’s self-concept. An individual with a positive self-concept tends to notice positive attributes in another person. ) Interest: The focus of our attention appears to be influenced by our interests. Because our individual interest differs considerably, what one person notices in a situation can differ from what others perceive. f) Cognitive Structure: Cognitive Structure, an individual’s pattern of thinking, also affects perception. Some people have a tendency to perceive physical traits, such as height, weight, and appearances more readil y. g) Expectations: Finally, expectations can distort your perceptions in that you will see what you expect to see. The research findings of the study conducted by Sheldon S Zalkind and Timothy W Costello on some specific characteristics of the perceiver reveal knowing oneself makes it easier to see others accurately. One’s own characteristics affect the characteristics one is likely to see in others. People who accept themselves are more likely to be able to see favourable aspects of other people. Accuracy in perceiving others is not a single skill. These four characteristics greatly influence how a person perceives others in the environmental situation.

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IKEA Analysis Report (Operations management)1 - Assignment Example The value proposition provides benefits both to the company and the stakeholder. It encourages the roles and tasks undertaken by the stakeholders to be in like with company’s objectives. It becomes the promotion proposition to potential clientele, the reason they ought to do trade with company, rather than its rivals. It communicates to the entire company a sense of precise purpose and course, coordinating their labours toward the overburdening common purpose of generating a satisfied customer. IKEA, the Swedish furniture industrialized company have applied Co-productivity to its complete exploitation. IKEA sells its commodities to customers in a kit type which the customer assembles themselves, at a lower pricing. The cause that this technique is successful is that customers do not place a worth on their own energy and time in assembling the merchandise. In some scenarios, the amount of extra effort inputted by the clients can be a greater cost than it could be if the get-tog ether of the furnishings were done proficiently (Porter, 2001). IKEA’s differentiation positioning strategy; the fundamental nature of a differentiation policy is to be exceptional in manners that are precious to clients in a sustainable method. Differentiation needs an in-depth comprehending what clients value most, where down the value chain to generate the differentiating variables, and what facilitates and capabilities are required to produce this exceptionality. It is that the corporation services a small number of market segments by offering a value intention that satisfies each section on a few key scope which creates this positioning strategy gainful. The key is to create product stand out from competitive provisions by having merchandise that provides a few highly valued elements. Distinctive capabilities are those potentials that a company can do better than competitors and are not simply imitated. For instance, IKEA can be said to have an idiosyncratic capability i n comprehending the customer. When this characteristic capability lies in a major accomplishment area, or a movement which is necessary if the company aspirations to stay alive in the long-term, it becomes a competitive gain. The value Chain The value chain is the organization of various products or segments of the company to offer valuable items. It involves proper planning, coordination and control of the company segments such as production, marketing, service and design and development. IKEA value chain is summarized as; the value proposal is the conclusion of the value sequence. There are two parts to the value plan: the consumer and the company. The company covers all of the domestic and external procedures that are executed throughout the value chain. The accomplishment or failure of the value plan will mirror how the members of the value chain recognize the external pressures on the value chain (Sheehy, Bracey, and Frazier, 1996). If these discernments are inaccurate, then th e worth proposition will be outdated. The value chain encompasses the customers and stakeholders expectations that must be considered. Manage the logistics of the company that ensure smooth flow of procedure. Ikea intangible products and benefits Currently IKEA has not concentrated on assessing the tangible advantages of its environmental

MIH548 - Theory Based Research - Mod 1 Case Assignment Essay

MIH548 - Theory Based Research - Mod 1 Case Assignment - Essay Example This is principally arrived at through deductive and inductive logic and parsimony within the limits and domains of science and related rational presuppositions. It is to be remembered that experiments and observations generate data, and in some point there would be a need for interaction between data and theory, which leads the methodology beyond the realm of deductive rationality to collection of data and their interpretation in such a manner that the whole affair can be replicated (Wilson 1952). John Snow is famous as an epidemiologist who first demonstrated conclusively that cholera is actually caused by microorganisms, and he deductively established that these organisms affect the human beings through transmission by food or water. His epidemiologic work is now considered as the classic reference of modern epidemiology and has been termed by Frost to be a â€Å"nearly perfect model† (Morabia 2001). Snow’s work on cholera epidemic in London would not have been possible without the scientific disease surveillance methodologies enacted by Farr, which indicated the importance of water supply in South London. Based on the data collected by Farr, Snow could reach a conclusion about the causation of cholera epidemics in London. Based on the distribution of mortality data from cholera, it was possible for him to locate the households that were getting comparatively cleaner water and hence lesser incidence of the disease and related death rates (Morabia 2001). The necessity of a controlled experiment in order to implicate the water supply in the London cholera epidemic in 1848-1849 was understood by both, but Snow got an intellectual leap from the data collected by Farr, through the simple method of grouping the households based on a definition of exposure to the causative agent. Despite the thought of controlled experiment

Sample Research Paper for English Essay Example for Free

Sample Research Paper for English Essay The struggle now being waged in the professoriate over which writers deserve canonical status is not just a struggle over the relative merits of literary geniuses; it is a struggle among contending factions for the right to be represented in the picture America draws of itself. (Tompkins 201) In 1850, with the help of her well-known father, James Fenimore Cooper, Susan Fenimore Cooper published Rural Hours, a natural historical account of one year in the Otsego Lake area of New York state. I mention her fathers name in order to situate Susan Fenimore Cooper in literary history, or, more accurately, to position her book in relation to our understandings of literary history. For truthfully, if literary history were faithful to the developments of, and reactions to, literature of the past, Susan Fenimore Coopers name would be well-known to all scholars of nineteenth-century American literature. Her book was immensely popular both in America and abroad; it went through six printings by 1854, the publication year of Thoreaus Walden. Rural Hours was reissued with a new chapter in 1868, reprinted again in 1876, and then abridged by 199 pages and reissued in 1887. When critics praised Rural Hours1 and the volume sold well, Susan Fenimore Cooper achieved literary fame as a writer of natural history. However, while many of her contemporaries knew her name, most scholars in the 1990s know only of her father. Why this oversight in the construction of literary history?2 In 1968, David Jones, a visitor to the Otsego Lake region in New York, reissued the 1887 edition of Coopers book. In his introduction he compares Rural Hours to the canonically established Walden and claims, Rural Hours is not, like Walden, a multi-level book (xxxvii). Instead Coopers text, Jones asserts, tells us as [well] as a book canhow a representative part of the rural northeastern United States looked, sounded, smelled, and even felt in the middle of the nineteenth century (xxxvii-viii). Admittedly, portraying a location so fully is no small task, and although Jones intimates that Rural Hours provides enjoyable light reading, he clearly believes that Thoreaus text far surpasses Coopers in its complexity and depth. I want to suggest that Joness evaluation of Rural Hours overlooks subtle but important textual intricacies, that Coopers text is  multi-levelled, and is, in fact, concerned with much more than the local flora and fauna of the Otsego Lake region. One problem in determining the literary value of Rural Hours lies in our inability to classify its genre. The book takes the form of a nonfictional journal, but Rural Hours cannot be classified as autobiography in the traditional sense of one writer imparting the story of his or her life experiences. Cooper portrays her outside world as much as her personal experiences, and she relates her writings to her community more than to her own life. One is tempted to call Rural Hours nature writing and, in fact, her contemporary supporters do classify her text as such, but Coopers text does not meet the typical criteria for this genre, either. This is in part because of the imprecision of definitions of nature writing itself. Critics generally agree that nature writing is non-fictional prose in which the writer functions as an observer of the outside world, attempts to represent that outside world in language, and typically, reflects on the process of giving language to the natural world. It is commonly agreed that nature writing also evinces the authors reflections of his or her individual spiritual growth. Sharon Cameron, in writing about Thoreau, suggests that to write about nature is to write about how the mind sees nature, and sometimes about how the mind sees itself (44). In his recent study of several nature writers, Scott Slovic echoes and expands Camerons definition: [Nature writers] are not merely, or even primarily, analysts of nature or appreciators of naturerather, they are students of the human mind (3). We find, then, that according to our current definitions, nature writers write about their environment, but they also consider their personal relationship to it. Therefore, a writer like Coo per, who concerns herself more directly with her surroundings and less with her personal reactions to them, somehow does not quite fit the criteria for the genre. How can a book such as Rural Hours, rich with observations on the botany, ornithology, and natural history of an area, not be considered nature writing? I submit that we have been trained to read books about the natural world and  the human relationship to it in ways that affect our abilities to find value in texts that deviate from the canonical Thoreauvian forma form based on personal reflections regarding ones relationship with nature, ones connection to the community, the difficulties of conveying perceptions through language, and, most importantly, perhaps, the process of forming identity. When contemporary readers realize and examine the expectations that they bring to Rural Hours, and willingly suspend those expectations, thereby allowing the text to reveal its own agenda and voice its own concerns, they will discover that Coopers work is rich with insights regarding nineteenth-century Americas social, natural, and historical politics. Rural Hours is not so directly involved in exploring how the mind sees nature or how the mind sees itself. Instead, Cooper concerns herself with the ominous task of giving words to each aspect of her natural surroundings and to exploring the implications of this environment not for herself as an individual, but for her larger community, and ultimately, for the entire nation. We must ask, then, not only if Rural Hours has literary value, but also if we as critics can consider expanding our current conceptions of nature writing to accommodate a book such as Rural Hours. In his attempt to summarize what he considers to be the weaknesses of Coopers book, Jones quotes a description of autumn in Rural Hours and uses Coopers words to create an analogy concerning her prose: autumn, like Coopers prose, is variable, changeable, not alike twice in succession, gay and brilliant yesterday, more languid and pale today (xxxvii). As literature, Jones further explains, Rural Hours varies from brilliant in one passage to languid and pale in another (xxxvii). Jones offers very little support for this critical assessment of the book and, therefore, I cannot help but wonder why he truly found the narrative to be languid and pale. As we will see, Joness explanation for the weakness of Miss Coopers work is circular and underdeveloped, and supports the conventional notion that quality nature writing portrays less of nature, and more of the authors engagement with the natural world. Further examination of his criticisms will help to explain the exclusion of Rural Hours fr om most records of literary history. Jones explains, [Cooper] brought realism and vitality to her portrait of rural life by revealing its variable and changeable nature, to be sure, but the very act produced a major flaw in the book (xxxvii). Jones here suggests that Coopers realistic portrayal of the natural world is the very downfall of her book. However, her narrative dedication to the natural world, to its vitality and constancy, necessitates that portions of the text be purely descriptive. Jones thus seems to contradict himself: the one level at which Coopers text is unsurpassed, he asserts, is in its ability to so accurately and faithfully describe the natural world. This strength, however, is also the weakness of the book. Finally, Jones does not define this flaw at all; instead, he proceeds to discuss Thoreaus Walden. Jones assumes throughout his introduction that Thoreaus book is far superior to Coopers, that readers of Rural Hours will agree with this assessment, and that, therefore, his assessment requires no justification. This method of reasoning also presupposes that Walden and Rural Hours afford the same criteria for judgement, or, that they exhibit similar attempts at representing nature.3 If Cooper and Thoreau actually engage similar projects, this assessment is valid. If, however, these writers differ in their purposes, or representand react tothe natural world in distinct ways, then we need to examine these criteria of evaluation. How do we approach a text that attempts to represent the natural world on its own terms? Have we been taught to read texts whose straightforward depiction of the natural world is, seemingly, their main goal?4 If, as Jones suggests, Coopers prose remains so loyal to her subject that it is too realistic, and therefore borders on boring, we need to ask how we expect Cooper to represent nature so as to hold our attentions and why her contemporaries were not also bored by her book. Many questions arise: what are contemporary readers expectations of writing that engages the natural world? How do our expectations differ from those of readers in the nineteenth century? Assuming that readers bought and consumed Coopers text because they found interest in both its subject matter and its perspective, how does Coopers direct conveyance of the natural world reflect her  cultures interests and concerns?5 What is the role of nature in such a text, as opposed to the role of people? How often do we require that a realistic portrayal of nature be replaced by metaphor or symbolism, thereby preventing languid and pale prose? How often do we want to read specifically about nature, and how often are we more interested in exploring the human presence in nature? Finally, is Rural Hours actually poorly written, or boring? Such questions, originating from an attempt to understand the immense success and warm reception of Rural Hours in the mid- to late-nineteenth century, cause us to examine our conceptions of how writers should relate to nature, how their relations should be represented through language, and how weas readersshould read such texts. Read within our common understandings of nature writing, a conception that stresses writings influenced by the Romantics, Coopers prose may seem languid and pale, but if we approach Coopers text in other ways, as I will demonstrate, we will discern the richness of Rural Hours. Interest in writing that depicts the environment has increased in recent years. Clearly, texts such as Emersons Nature and Thoreaus Walden have dominated our reading lists, but studies such as Cecelia Tichis New World, New Earth and Annette Kolodnys The Lay of the Land and The Land Before Her investigate the history of American interest in the environment and invite us to consider a variety of literary forms as important in understanding how Americans have related to their natural environment through the centuries. Tichi states, Consistently since the seventeenth century [environmental reform] has formed an integral and important part of our cultural and literary history (x). American interest in the land infiltrates our earliest documents, as Tichi proves in her study. In early America, the American spirit and the American continent were bonded ideologically, and arguably continue to be bonded ideologically, albeit in different ways (Tichi ix). Another important study of Americans conceptions of the wilderness as reflected in literature is Bernard Rosenthals City of Nature. Rosenthals  study focuses on Coopers predecessors and contemporaries, and concludes that two ideas of nature emerge in the writings of the American Romantics. He locates one idea of nature in the conception of wilderness as the space to be assumed by the emerging American city. The second idea of nature concerns the new religious myth, an individual journey into nature for the purpose of establishing what Rosenthal terms the city of the self (27). Put another way, two irreconcilable connotations emerged as the most important definitions of the word nature: one in which nature represented commodity being transformed into civilization, and one in which nature became the metaphor for a new spiritual mythology for the nineteenth-century individual (Rosenthal 31).6 Rosenthal suggests that, during the nineteenth century, the majority of Americans conceived o f nature in this first way, and that most of the American Romantic writers worked within the second understanding of nature (71).7 These two conceptions of nature largely inform our readings of nineteenth-century texts that center, in some way, around the natural world. We have been taught not only to conceive of the natural world as a metaphor for our own society, but also to read texts that depict the natural world in terms of what they impart regarding the individual human spirit.8 We therefore approach texts that describe the natural world and that share personal reflections regarding the landscape with the expectation that they will either consider the transformation of nature into its purest form, civilization, or that they will explore nature as spiritual place, as the site of an interior journey to a private place in the spirit (Rosenthal 18), or that the author will attempt both visions of nature.9 As readers we are taught that while purely descriptive prose may be poetically beautiful, it is boring, contains no metaphor or symbolism, and therefore lacks importance because it does not pertain to individ ual spiritual growth. In the words of a colleague, We skim over the flowers and birds and pretty things and look for what really happens. However, what really happens often happens within the descriptive prose that we overlook. In relying on metaphor for our readings of such texts either the metaphor of nature as civilization or nature as self we fail to investigate the implications of capturing nature in language or the process by which a writer envisions  elements of nature and transforms that vision into linguistic representation. We fail, finally, to ask how this investigation into the natural world functions not only for the individual or for society, but for the natural world itself. At this point, some may accuse me of oversimplifying nature writing; some may argue that metaphor and symbolism are the more complicated ways in which authors employ language, and that to dismiss these linguistic forms is to reduce nature writing to the parroting of knowledge of natural history, or the meaningless naming of colors, sounds, and sights. I am not, however, suggesting that nature writing texts not be considered for their metaphorical value, only that we consider the implications of only considering them in this way. Susan K. Harris makes a similar point in her study of nineteenth-century womens sentimental novels written between 1840 and 1870: There appears to be an unspoken agreement not to submit nineteenth-century American womens novels to extended analytical evaluation, largely because the evaluative modes most of us were taught devalue this literature a priori. (44) While Harriss study focuses on fictional writings, the implications of her study for the study of nature writing and Susan Fenimore Coopers text are multiple and deserving of some attention. Harris finds that the criteria upon which scholars often scrutinize texts in order to determine their literary merit and the methods they employ in analyzing texts disregard important alternative aspects of texts. Harris suggests reading texts through a method she calls process analysis, a method of reading and interpreting a text that foregrounds the relationship of the literary critical task to the critics stance in her own time (145) and that considers the public, political and social context from which the text emerged. 10 Harris explains her belief that it is important to establish the terms of the debate(s) in which the text participates the positions it takes, and how these positions are embodied in its textual structure  (46).11 Thus, as the language of the text is foregrounded, we look at the text as both reactive and creative, and disregard the traditional concern that the text self-consciously embody timeless truths' (45). A text such as Coopers Rural Hours faces many of the obstacles in contemporary criticism that the sentimental novels that interest Harris face, especially when considered as part of the category of writing that has come to be called nature writing. Not only does Coopers book adopt a prosaic style that is contrary to those of canonized texts, but her book also forms part of a genre that itself is not very well established in the canon. She is, finally, a woman writing in a denigrated style within in a genre largely ignored by traditional scholarship. As critics have only recently begun to realize, historical and contemporary writers who represent their relationships to their surrounding environments exemplify differing ways of using language, and the linguistic methods these writers employ to represent and conceive of the natural world reflect, in complicated ways, the ideological implications of our cultural conceptions of nature. An understanding of the content of such writings, the issues they raise, and the methods of linguistic construction they employ will enable us, as literary scholars and historians, to realize how our language reflects our attitudes toward the earth, and more pointedly, how such attitudes have determined, prevented, or justified our actions against, and reactions to, the earth. The traditional approaches to such texts consider timeless truths in the forms of metaphors concerning nature as civilization or journeys to nature as journeys to the self. But these views often neglect to consider the authors in terest in the political and social opinions of the time concerning the proper relationship of society and the earth, and how writers in our society throughout history have coded such opinions in language.12 Studies such as Harriss often center on cultural conceptions of gender in womens fiction.13 The recent critical focus on issues of gender differentiation has lead contemporary critics to ask if women naturally relate to the outside world differently than men. In keeping with this  interest, Annette Kolodny suggested in her 1975 study, The Lay of the Land, that womens writings and linguistic usages have all along been offering us alternate means of expression and perception (ix) and that an examination of womens writings on the subject of nature could yield better understandings of American conceptions of the wilderness. Kolodny also states that a conscious and determined struggle to formulate for themselves the meaning of their landscape characterizes the writings of nineteenth-century Americans (Lay of the Land 71). Certainly both Cooper and Thoreaus texts engage in this struggle, although their engagements take different forms. Although I am not aware of any critical investigations as to whether Coopers and Thoreaus alternative narrative styles are based in gender differences,14 most recent critics of Cooper (of which there are few) do seize on the issue of gender when exploring her text. Unlike Jones, they quickly dismiss Thoreau from their studies, and instead suggest that Coopers text presents a representative depiction of womans relationship to the natural world in nineteenth-century America.15 The most recent study of Rural Hours appears in Vera Norwoods Made from This Earth, in which the author devotes a chapter to Susan Fenimore Cooper and her arguable influence on the women nature writers subsequent to her.16 Norwood argues that Cooper represented a literary domestic,17 a woman writer who wrote to deliver the scenes and values of middle-class homes to a wide readership (27). Thus, Norwood suggests, Cooper used the occasion of her book not only to describe her natural surroundings, but also to impart valuable lessons to her readers in a non-threatening manner. Norwood asserts that Cooper turned to nature to discover what nature teaches about the roles of women in the domestic realm. 18 For example, Cooper describes robins and praises the mother robins dedication to her young, implicitly suggesting that human mothers should emulate the robins self-sacrificing nature (Cooper 39-40/Norwood 37-8). Thus, Norwood sees a conversation in Rural Hours, a dialogue that Cooper creates in her text between the natural and human worlds in which gender roles in nature inform and enlighten gender roles in human society. Finally, Norwood claims that Cooper was consumed with understanding what nature suggests about female roles and family responsibilities, and how gender definitions and familial arrangements help  people comprehend what they see in nature (37). Cooper does occasionally focus on gender roles and responsibilities in Rural Hours, but to state that she is consumed with such issues greatly exaggerates her narrative interests. As Norwood points out, Cooper ruminates on the devoted mother robin, but she also, interestingly, refers to the voluntary imprisonment of the mother, and to her generous, enduring patience (Cooper 40). While this patience is clearly a noble attribute of parental affection for Cooper, the scene leaves her somewhat incredulous and stunned by the mothers consistent, uncomplaining waiting: Cooper admits this is a striking instance of parental devotion (40). While she may advocate human parental devotion, she also recognizes that the natural world is more willingly generous than the human world,19 and that whereas humans can learn from nature, there are also aspects of the natural world beyond human comprehension.20 Interestingly, and perhaps even provocatively, Norwood does not point out that the voluntarily imprisoned mothering robin is accompanied by the male of the little family, who occasionally relieves his mate by taking her place awhile and exerts himself to bring her food, and to sing for her amusement (40). Cooper includes his participation in her description of voluntary imprisonment; his is also a striking instance of parental affection. If Cooper invokes the mother robin as a testament to giving mothering, her invocation of the father bird suggests his necessary assistance around the nest. Ultimately, then, to read Coopers text in terms of its interest in gender affords some intriguing insights: Cooper clearly remains within her position as a middle- to upper-class lady throughout her narrative and, just as clearly, seeks confirmation of gender divisions and domestic roles from the natural world.21 These instances, though, are rare in Coopers text. The themes and issues that arise more often in Rural Hours concern the establishment of a national identity and history, and while Cooper does not divorce her gender from the concerns that inform her larger agenda, she also does not encompass her interest in nationalism within explorations of  domesticity. Certainly one aspect of Coopers desire to explore the natural world in order to formulate a national identity concerns the place of women in society, but to read Rural Hours solely in terms of its attempt to explore the implications of gender roles as exemplified in the natural environment greatly simplifies the complexi ties and layers of Coopers book. I do not wish to suggest that traditional feminist readings of Coopers text are unwarranted or unnecessary, nor that such readings will prove unproductive. I do believe, however, that reading Coopers book through too narrow a focus is hazardous not only in seeking to establish her in the canon of serious and teachable writers, but also in that such a reading sidesteps many larger cultural issues that her text engages. A critical reading of Coopers text should investigate her representations and explorations of gender roles in mid-nineteenth century America as well as her other complex and overt concerns, such as the creation of an American history, the treatment of American Indians, the problems of deforestation, and the religious connotations of the natural world, all of which fall under the rubric, in Coopers text, of the establishment of a national identity.22 As Jones points out, the majority of Coopers text contains descriptions of her surroundings. Her reflections are not always couched in metaphor, as Jones also suggests, but this does not detract from the value of Coopers text, nor does it indicate that Cooper does not entertain significant issues in her writing. Coopers descriptions of her surroundings reflect and embody her larger concern for the development of a national identity based in the land. In her view, the establishment of a national identity is linked to individual conceptions of the land, its flora and fauna, its people, and the relationship of the countrys peoples to the land. Cooper depicts the landscape of Otsego Lake, relates the history of the land and its peoples, and describes the indigenous plants, animals, and waters of the area in an attempt to create an identity of place. The landscape, and the life the land supports, create the identity of this place. Coopers literature of place23 serves not only to create a natural identity for the Otsego Lake region, but also to assert the need for a similarly  constructed national identity. The creation of a national identity, then, is the cultural work of Coopers text; she seeks to locate the natural identity of her new nation. Coopers development of this theme a national identity rooted in the landscape is subtle and calculated, but a scrupulous reading of Rural Hours reveals the careful construction of Coopers text. The opening pages of Rural Hours share observations that reflect the intentions of the book as stated in Coopers 1850 preface: The following notes contain, in a journal form, the simple record of those little events which make up the course of the seasons in rural life. In wandering about the fields, . . . one naturally gleans many trifling observations. . . The following pages were written in perfect good faith, all the trifling incidents alluded to having occurred as they are recorded. (Preface) In her first chapter, we read of the coming of spring: snow thaws, buds appear, robins return to the area. These are seemingly little events, trifling in their lack of worldly significance. One almost immediately notices, however, the pride Cooper takes in plants and animals peculiar to her native land, those that are uniquely Americas own. In contrast to the European robin, our robin never builds [a nest] on the ground (21), and the pretty white-bellied swallow, which has been confounded with the European martin is, Cooper assures, peculiar to America (56). Cooper also explains the uniqueness of American plants, complaining that the wild natives of the woods are often crowded out by European plants that were introduced by the colonists and that [drive] away the prettier natives (81).24 In her discussion of autumn in America, Cooper ruminates, Had the woods of England been as rich as our own English writers would have praised the season in their writings long ago (336). Instead, one is led to believe that the American autumn has helped to set the fashions for the sister season of the Old World (335). American writers reflections on the landscape have encouraged English writers to do the same, Cooper  suggests. These trifling observations begin to speak together, and we find Cooper asserting the importance of knowing the natural forms indigenous to ones place. Thus, for Cooper, determining which birds, animals, and plants are native to America, as well as which of these are unknown to Europeans, helps to define the American landscape, and therefore helps to establish a national identity. She takes pride in her land and in its natural wealth. Cooper also mourns the losses that her land incurs, suggesting that any depletion of the natural aspects of a place drastically alter its identity. Like her seemingly innocent cataloging of natural plants and animals indigenous to America, which emerges as a plea for national pride and definition based on the natural world, her repeated lamentings of disappearing or decreasing portions of the natural world emerge as a plea for the preservation of the wilderness. Like Coopers gently emerging concern for identifying indigenous plants and animals, Cooper gradually develops this theme of loss throughout her text. Little events, when taken cumulatively, have large implications. Cooper observes wild pigeons in early March, for instance, and recalls a previous season when they passed over the valley in large unbroken flocks several miles in extent succeeding each other. Then she remarks, There have not been so many here since that season (18). The reader might dismiss this observation due to its early position in her book, but as one progresses through the text and continually comes across this motif of longing for previous times whensomehownature was more complete, one realizes that Cooper is truly concerned about the changes taking place in her surroundings. Her concern becomes much more overt, but not until much later in the book.25 Coopers seemingly minor concern for the losses of groups of birds or plants culminates in her consideration of the rapid deforestation occurring in the country.26 She returns to the subject many times throughout the course of Rural Hours and, further along in the book, strongly criticizes people for their careless use of timber: One would think that by this time, when the forest has fallen in all the valleys when the hills are becoming more bare every daywhen timber and fuel are rising in prices, and new uses are found for even indifferent woodssome forethought and care in this respect would be natural in people laying claim to common sense. (213-14) Clearly, Cooper is warning her contemporaries by suggesting that they discontinue the destruction of trees for purposes of fueling their homes. The continual destruction of the forests so radically alters the landscape that Cooper cannot conceive of continued deforestation. She not only seeks to educate her audience regarding the benefits of preservation; she also makes the preservation of the American landscape a moral imperative. This moral duty for national preservation becomes linked to Coopers feelings regarding the red man, or Native Americans (93). Again, Cooper subtly portrays this sense of the loss of the indigenous peoples early in Rural Hours. When standing beside a clear running spring, she states, one seems naturally to remember the red man; recollections of his vanished race linger there in a more definite form than elsewhere (93). The rolling, clear water somehow evokes the vanished race: yesterday they were here, to-day scarce a vestige of their existence can be pointed out among us (94). However, later in Rural Hours, Cooper more overtly conveys her feelings regarding the colonists treatment of the indigenous peoples, which she finds integral to the colonists treatment of the landscape. While viewing a forest grove, she laments: It needs but a few short minutes to bring one of these trees to the ground (193). She reminds her readers that entire generations will come and go in the time that it takes for one of these mature trees to reach such magnificent heights: The stout arm so ready to raise the axe to-day, must grow weak with age, it must drop into the grave; its bone and sinew must crumble into dust long before another tree, tall and great as those, shall have grown from the cone in our hand (193-94). In the same paragraph, Cooper calls for a reinstitution of wilderness, claiming that the wild deer, the wolf and the bear must return from beyond the great lakes, and then, significantly, that the bones of the savage men buried under our feet must arise and move again. . . ere trees like those ever appear again, so large, so wild (194).27 The mistreatment of Native Americans emerges as a large theme in Coopers text. She advocates retaining the names they gave to places and portions of the natural world, partly because of the beauty in Indian words, which [unite] both sound and meaning (484). In the creation of a national identity, Cooper intimates, the power of names is very suggestive: names reveal history and meaning, and the Indians words capture both elements. She argues against re-naming places not only due to the beauty of the Native Americans languages, however, but also because she believes that somehow European-Americans owe the indigenous peoples something. The refrain of loss that resonates throughout Coopers text reaches its climax in the following passage. I quote at length to impart Coopers passion: There are many reasons for preserving every Indian name which can be accurately placed; generally, they are recommended by their beauty; but even when harsh in sound, they still have a claim to be kept up on account of their historical interest, and their connection with the dialects of the different tribes. A name is all we leave them, let us at least preserve that monument to their memory; as we travel through the country, and pass river after river, lake after lake, we may thus learn how many were the tribes who have melted away before us, whose very existence would have been utterly forgotten but for the word which recalls the name they once bore. (485) As these words suggest, Coopers concerns in Rural Hours are far-reaching. Cooper finds little distinction between the establishment of a national identity based in the uniqueness of the land, the preservation of the wilderness, and the maintenance of the influence of indigenous cultures.28 The natural history of this place and its people provide its meaning. These enmeshed issues resonate even more strongly when Cooper places them in accordance with her religious ideals. Although her Christianity by no means permeates the text, its presence offers a cohesion between her many areas of interest. Cooper envisions each and every aspect of the natural world as belonging to part of Gods plan for Americans. For example, while admiring a particularly beautiful sky, Cooper says, At hours like these, the immeasurable goodness, the infinite wisdom of our Heavenly Father, are displayed in so great a degree of condescending tenderness to unworthy, sinful man, as must appear quite incomprehensible- entirely incredible to reason alonewere it not for the recollection of the mercies of past years, the positive proofs of experience.What have the best of us done to merit one such day in a lifetime of follies and failings and sins? (73-74) I do want to stress that these moments are rare in Coopers text, that her homilies are short and few, but that they clearly convey her sense of wonder about the natural world.29 She finds value in each aspect of the natural world, and seeks to preserve the world as a testament of her faith in God. While maintaining the Puritan notion that the new world was intended for the colonists to cultivate, and that their duties included imparting Christianity to the Native Americans,30 Cooper also stresses the need to balance the human presence on, and cultivation of, the land with careful preservation of it. She envisions a society that works with the land, not against it, and that creates a national identity based on its intimate knowledge of, and respect for, the natural world. She suggests this balance between humans and nature lightheartedly, saying Many birds like a village life; they seem to think man is a very good-natured animal, building chimneys and roofs, planting groves, and digging gardens for their especial benefit (63). But she also asserts the seriousness of her belief in admiring her village, rural and unambitious, and quite in proportion with surrounding objects (114). Cooper further explains her belief in a rural ideal,31 a sustainable  balance between civilization and nature, in an essay collected in The Home Book of the Picturesque, which was published in 1851: The hand of man generally improves a landscape. The earth has been given to him, and his presence in Eden is natural; he gives life and spirit to the garden. It is only when he endeavors to rise above his true part of laborer and husbandman, when he assumes the character of creator, and piles you up hills, pumps you a river, scatters stones, or sprinkles cascades, that he is apt to fail. Generally the grassy meadow in the valley, the winding road climbing the hill-side, the cheerful village on the bank of the stream, give a higher additional interest to the view; or where there is something amiss in the scene, it is when there is some evident want of judgement, or good sense, or perhaps some proof of selfish avarice, or wastefulness, as when a country is stripped of its wood to fill the pockets or feed the fires of one generation. (82) This interest in creating a national identity based upon a balance of civilization, nature, and the preservation of religious ideologies forms the basic underlying motif in Coopers text. While her words often convey seemingly simple observations about her surroundings, Coopers linking of the natural world and the human treatment of it with the necessity of establishing a national conception of the proper human relationship to nature forms a complex, intricate portrayal of the myriad concerns of nineteenth-century life. Rural Hours also reveals how issues surrounding the formation of national concepts of environmental treatment were intertwined with the establishment of pride in a new country. Additional readings of Rural Hours will undoubtedly uncover themes and tropes unexplored in the present essay. In order for this to occur, however, we must continually ask ourselves how our preconceptions may prohibit finding value in texts that do not meet established, too often unchallenged, criteria for judgements. One can approach Rural Hours, finally, as a natural history engaged in creating the story of a region and as an attempt to appreciate nature on its own terms: not as a commodity for human use, but as beautiful, powerful, and suggestive of Gods greatness. In writing a  balance between humans and nature, Cooper sets an agenda not only for her region, but for the country as a whole. Her text is filled with natural history, but it also expounds upon the concerns of an age in Americas history. As such, it greatly contributes to our understandings of the human presence on the land.

Critical Review of three Scholarly Journal Articles Essay Example for Free

Critical Review of three Scholarly Journal Articles Essay One of the most important finding generated by this paper is the effects of race on the view that police is biased on race. This includes racial profiling of police where Black or minority group in general are most like stopped by police than White American. In all four models, blacks and Hispanics are more likely than whites to believe that police bias is a problem (Weitzer Tuch, 2005). Blacks however, according to this article perceives police bias more of a problem than Hispanics. One interesting subset of this is that Blacks tend to perceive police discrimination against Hispanics than Hispanics see themselves. So that Black Americans tend to see that Hispanic drivers are being racially profiled compared to white drivers. Another important finding presented by this article is the role of media in shaping the perceptions of people regarding racial discrimination. People who frequently hear or read about incidents of police misconduct, as transmitted by the media, are inclined to conclude that the police engage in racial profi ling, are prejudiced, and discriminate against minority individuals and neighborhoods (Weitzer Tuchs, 2005). The data gathering method and analysis technique used in this article is solid considering that it is based on a national survey of national survey of 1,792 white, African American, and Hispanic adult residents of U. S. metropolitan areas with at least 100,000 population (Weitzer Tuch, 2005). The survey results where advantageous in the sense that oversampling African Americans and Hispanics, in contrast to the small number of minority respondents common to other surveys. Another advantageous factor is the tapping of both attitudes toward police and personal and vicarious experiences with the police. Another very important correction factor they have added is idea that there are differences in the number of households with phone access from the three different races, Black, Hispanics and White American. This is very important consideration since the data was collected using random dialing of phone numbers. So in general the data was very reliable. Race-Based Policing: A Descriptive Analysis of the Wichita Stop Study Unlike the previous article which discusses racial discrimination of policing in a wider perspective, this article focuses on racial profiling. The results of this rigorous effort put on the analysis of enforcement pattern do not prove race-based policing. The result of this document instead provides guidance for what are needed on studies to determine if race is a significant determinant for police to decide whether to stop them for inspection or not. According to this article, in order to fully understand the results of these decisions we must document the process by which these decisions are made (Withrow, 2004). Unfortunately, nothing in this data-set or any similar data-set is capable of such an analysis (Withrow, 2004). Although important findings emphasized by this study is that police awareness of the incorrect conceptions of well-established beliefs regarding race plays an important role in dealing with this sensitive police profiling issue. It is however certain that by asking the appropriate questions police administrators have a real opportunity to raise their department’s level of sensitivity to the issue (Withrow, 2004). One important finding that supports this idea is the result of this study that the proportions of searches that produces contrabands does not vary with race. The data gathering method used in this study is based on qualitative information recorded on every police stops from the Wichita Stop Study Dataset and the analysis technique are based on logical reasoning. In late July 2001 representatives from the Wichita Police Department provided the author with a data-set representing the first six months of collected information including 37,454 stops (Withrow, 2004). What is interesting about this data is that to date (relative to this article) this is the largest qualitative data set of this type. This provides reliability of the data gathered and provides validity of the results of this study. Perceptions of Racial Profiling: Race, class and Personal Experience The important result study is to provide a significant basis for the need to examined both race and class determinants of citizens’ relation with the police. In the discussions provided by the author, it was indicated that disadvantage black are more likely to believe that police are abusive of African American because of their personal experience. Another very important point generated in the discussion is with regard to racial profiling. We found that better educated African Americans are more likely than are less educated to disapprove of profiling, to view it as a pervasive practice, and to say that they have personally experienced it (Weitzer Tuch, 2002). The authors argued that the reason for this is that higher education fosters greater exposure to media and information related to profiling problems. The data gathered were collected from a nationwide random-digit-dialing telephone survey of 2006 respondents conducted by the Gallup organization between September 24 and November 16, 1999 (Weitzer Tuch, 2002). This offers reliability on the data gathered and considering it has the same strength of oversampling African Americans. Couple this data with various related literature from refutable sources, the data collection are quite valid. The analysis employed in the discussion where supported by citations from previous studies which further validates the ideas presented. CONCLUSION The important results generated by these documents suggest that minority group and Black American in particular, perceives that racial discrimination in the form of racial profiling is an issue. Through proper police awareness of incorrect conceptions that race is a factor that determines people tendency to commit crime, the sensitivity of this issue can be controlled. Couple this with the important role of education in providing proper understanding of the situation there is a possibility of correcting this perception. References Weitzer, R. Tuch, S. (2005). Racially Biased Policing: Determinants of Citizen Perception. Social Forces from the University of Carolina Press, 83 (3), 1009-1028. Withrow, B. (2004). Race-Base Policing: A Descriptive Analysis of the Wichita Stop Study. Police Practice and Research, 5 (3), 223-240. Weitzer, R. Tuch, S. (2002). Perceptions of Racial Profiling: Race, Class, and Personal Experience. Criminology, 40 (2), 435-453.

Concept of Crosswall Construction for Earthquake Hazards

Concept of Crosswall Construction for Earthquake Hazards 1. INTRODUCTION The aim of this report is to understand the basic concept of crosswall construction, and a proposal for Armature Crosswalls to be used as earthquake hazard mitigation for reinforced concrete and masonry infill-wall buildings vulnerable to collapse. RC frame and infill construction is common throughout the world and often has proved lethal in earthquakes. The paper traces the history of masonry infill construction from pre-modern forms that have shown earthquake resistance in the past, to the early modern steel skeleton frame buildings that survived the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. the construction flow at real time in step by step procedures and quantifying the benefits and studying their applications. This is done by making a comparison in usage of the same technique in two different countries namely India and the United Kingdom. This comparison is aimed at producing an insight into the technique and to identify the areas of improvement. 2. Crosswall construction 2.1 Definition: Crosswall is a modern method of building construction using division walls which transfers the floor loads through the building to the foundations. The name crosswall itself signifies the masonry connection is on either sides of the main wall. It employs concrete components like lift and stair cores, precision engineered (highly skilled), and precasted in the factories. 2.2 Applications: This type of pre-cast single-skin or flat panel concrete construction is becoming more popular in commercial applications such as hotels, motels, prisons, military barracks and student accommodations. These types of structures up to 16 storeys have been finished in U.K using the crosswall technique. The use of such panels can result in fast, simple construction process on site followed quickly by finishing trades. Crosswall is mainly used for medium and high rise buildings. 2.3 Benefits: Cross wall construction method reduces the wet trades and creates very early dry boxes for subsequent trades. This helps in speeding up the construction process without delay in work. Crosswalls also helps to eliminate internal cladding and other items such as party walls because the concrete crosswalls and floors do more than load carrying system. Crosswall technique reduces the labour onsite. A precast panel provides concrete frames without structural down stands. Cross wall construction which has been developed for providing very fast and high quality in repetitive accommodation units such as hotels and the opportunity for multi storey apartments is rising, student accommodation buildings, stadiums etc. but the crosswall technique optimisation in low rise buildings is minimal(single houses) because the dimensions of each room may not be the similar. The Crosswall construction is incorporated with a series of both horizontal and vertical ties which are designed in such a way to prevent the failures and collapses according to building specifications. Other precast work can be started simultaneously before the precast units are erected. The crosswall buildings have less maintenance service and have good acoustics values. The acoustic performance of crosswall is excellent because of its mass and effective damping. Crosswalls reduces the risks of failing pre completion acoustic tests. (The Concrete Centre, 2006) Pre cast walls and floor units are more than just a structure (highly effective in costs, speed, early start for other trades, and provision of fire separation panels), wall panels are provided with good finish and air tight tolerance. Tight tolerance enables fitting of bathroom pods, carpets and built in furniture. Flat pack construction is very quick and cost effective because it reduces the material waste on the site and the party walls are largely eliminated. The separation of acoustics and additional finishes are reduced as the wall panels provide the sufficient airborne noise separation. Thermal mass is provided by concrete and the thermal is utilised in crosswall constructions because the concrete widely spreads on the unfinished surfaces and the thermal mass reduces the risk of over heating in summer season by keeping the surrounding cool.( Doebber, Ellis M.W; 2005) The main features incorporated in cross wall construction are Direct decorative finish to the walls with only minor pre decoration treatments. Solid room sized slabs pre finished for direct ceiling decorations. Reduced structural zone without downstands. Cross wall system generally utilises stair cores and lift cores for overall stability. Pre fitted windows eliminates internal cladding. Optimal methods of floor construction, allowing flexibility for individual client requirements. Construction of stairs and lift cores can permit early access for subsequent trades. (The Concrete Centre, 2007) 2.4 Limitations: In spite of several benefits offered by the precast panels, it has found that there is no wide acceptance of the precast panels in construction because of Highly skilled engineers or labours are required for manufacturing, placing and erecting the moulds on required positions. Lack of awareness and initiatives especially in Indian construction industry because of invariable labour intensive methods which leads to delay in the construction and that result in cost over-run and poor workmanship. Shortage of skilled and semi-skilled personnel availability may bring poor finishes, leakages in the buildings, corrosion of structural elements. These defects can be only minimised by the use of mass scale projects such as schools, offices, hospitals and other similar projects.(A.B.Shah,2005) Precast wall panel construction may be more or equal expensive as masonry construction because it mainly depends upon the transportation of offsite fabricated materials to onsite. (Havel.G, 2006) Difficult to transport heavy weight and size of the precast panels. The profit margin is very low in the small scale constructions. For single and two storey dwellings it would be typical to use single storey height walls panels between 90-300mm thick concrete for external walls and 70-100mm thick panels for the internal walls. The variation in designs leads to the problem and the single housing clients are not happy with the precast technique even though it provides a higher quality and good finish. This crosswall technique is mostly used for large repetitive structures may not be used for small scale construction like individual housing because the crosswall is more expensive tool when compared. (Glass.J, 2000) 2.4.1 Fire Conditions: The building with large precast wall panels often has high ceilings and heavy fire loadings, as in retail stores, factories and warehouses. The fire in one of these occupancies require large volumes of water from large lines, if the fire is not controlled master stream appliances will be needed. The fire in large precast buildings is likely to cause an early collapse of the roofs even if they are no weak connections. In this type of precast panel construction all the parts of the building are tied together as part of a structure, the roof collapses are more likely to tip the walls inwards and outwards. As we know, the roof supports are more securely connected to the walls, the chances of roof collapsing is high before the wall connection fails. The failure of any part of the structure may affect the stability of the other parts of the building. (Havel.G, 2006) 3. Historical background: The precast concrete wall panel system was devised in England by William H.Lascelles (1832-85) of Exeter. In 19th century the pre-casting concrete for the structural purposes was started. Francois Hennebique (1842-1921) first introduced precast concrete into cast in-situ flour mill in France. White and Morris had given the historical accounts of the early development on precast concrete. (Elliot.K.S; 2000) Later in 1930s the use of precast as been expanded by companies such as Bison, Trent concrete and girling. Whilst precast concrete usage was stand at the first place it differs from country to country. One of the reason was the structural timber became more limited in some of the countries which led to development and improvement of precast usage. During the next 25 years the development in the precast frames, precast cladding as increased the market share to around 15% in industrial, commercial sectors. (Richardson.J.G, 1973) Since the 1990s, a significant amount of research has been conducted on the seismic behavior and the design of precast wall paneled structures that do not emulate the behavior of cast-in-place reinforced concrete construction. 4.Development Of Precast Concrete Panel Frame Systems: Precast panel frame systems have been successfully emerged from the research use of post tensioning between the precast beam and columns to achieve the lateral load resistance needed in seismic areas. (Seismic design of friction-damped precast concrete frame structure) For the Docklands project on constructing student accommodation blocks in London, the concrete was prefabricated in Belgium and transported because the northern Europe was only able to cope up with the demands of the project and other small local markets were tightened. Precast concrete wall panels in buildings speeds up the building process by adopting the precast concrete moulds. Decorative and light weight blocks have a great to offer visual values and technical values. The small store buildings from the precast industries offer excellent means of construction within the budget. The farm buildings, ware houses, industrial buildings are required to be constructed on exposed sites so the materials of standard precast frame components are supplied. Precasting of simple lintels offers opportunities of time saving on the site. The schools, universities are built by using the precast modular components. 4.1 Comparison of Conventional and Large precast panel Construction (Shah.A.B, 2005) The above table clearly signifies the benefits of large precast construction over conventional construction methods in various fields. 4.2 Structural Superiority: The precast panel structural system can be quiet efficient compared to other systems and it was tested and proven. (Fintel.M, July1991). In cast in-situ concrete structures, the large stresses may built up in the structure due to the curing, shrinkage, creep, temperature etc. However no such stresses are built in large precast panel systems during casting. Due to these special characteristics of large panels it has proved its efficiency for more than 50 years in Europe, America and other developed countries. (Shah.A.B, 2005) 5. Precast Concrete Panel Manufacture Process 5.1 Casting: Precast concrete panels can be manufactured by various casting methods. 5.1.1 Wet casting : It is generally used for small number of units having similar specifications. The moulds are manufactured by heating them in the enclosed and covered zones. Skilled engineers design the type of moulds depending upon the requirement for the project and also under the guidance of trained supervisions. As this casting is used for small units, it can be manufactured manually depending upon the number of units to be prepared. This casting can be provided for small housing. Wet casting provides the concrete in the cube strength ranging from 21 to 50N/mm, the slump varying from 0 to 175mm with a compacting factor varying from 0.8 to 0.97.(specifications are derived from CP 110 Unified code for structural concrete) 5.1.2 Gang casting: It is usually used when the moulds are combined together into a large unit assembly. The gang casting is developed by the modification of wet castings. The gang casting could be used when the similar unit requirement is more. For example: gang casting can be used in the production of stair case in the multi storied buildings. The main factors for adopting gang casting process is because of the designed units, and the general components of concrete. The gang casting can be arranged horizontally and the outputs which are achieved from gang casting can be more enhance in the stack casting. The main advantage of gang casting is it allows the concrete to place faster and than the concrete is compacted with the help of immersion-type vibrators. The greater accuracy of the component units are produced with the gang casting. The gang moulds are tied up in series so that the pressure loading on each individual unit is counteracted by the adjacent units, by this way it reduces the number of tie members. The gang moulds can be used for long horizontal spans, but the filling of gang moulds must be carefully controlled such that the intermediate moulds are not subjected to differential loading which may cause deflections and waves along the line of moulds. (Gibb.A, 1999) 5.1.2 Stack Casting: Stack casting is the slight modification to the flat and gang casting units. In this casting process gang moulds are filled and hardened after the hardening process the divider plates are driven into the mould up to an appropriate depths so that the next layer will be ready for casting. Stack casting is used to produce A frames and can be used in the repetitive structures such as prisons constructions. All the rooms are of same size and dimensions. Precasters have found that the incorporation of through holes, barrels or by insertion of anchors allows fastening the mould sides and bring them to the subsequent positions with exact casting thickness. 5.1.3 Battery casting: It is mostly used on wider scale, battery moulds has become more popular in large concrete wall panel constructions and the casting technique is also used for the manufacture of floor slabs and for decorative cladding components. The battery casting can be used in the manufacture of L shaped components such as balcony elements and lift enclosures. In this type, the units are generally cast in batteries of two or more. The battery mould can also have eight to twelve cells in the same mould. The changes on the casting process which provides a continuous casting, hardening, and curing schedule prior to de moulding. The battery mould which basically contains a series of plates that are spaced a part by the other mould members. A Battery mould allows high density of casting to be carried in the available space. Care and proper supervision is required in the assembly operations so it results in securely tied moulds which will be impossible for the concrete member to get separate from the mould. (Richardson.J.G, 1973) 5.2. Direct Casting and Inverted Shell Procedures: The precasted concrete panels can be obtained from the flexible formwork. The fabric formwork can be used to produce two basic types of concrete panels such as direct casting and inverted shells. In the direct cast panels, the concrete moulds are formed by the sandwiching fabric between the two rectangular frames. Firstly, the lower frame has the intermediate supports place inside it. The lower frame is X- shaped intermediate supports. The fabric membrane is than prestressed between the lower and intermediate supports. Finally, the upper frame is placed over the membrane and than aligned with the lower frames. When the concrete is placed in the mould, the fabric form bends downwards and creates three dimensional tension curves between the available supports. Using the direct casting method, a single membrane can be moulded to form different varieties of designs by simply changing the design of the intermediate supports. The produced precasted frames with different designs can be used as various building components. The direct cast panel can be used as moulds to produce light weight shaft panels with compressed shells are caste from the mould. The panel has a minimum thickness of 38mm at the apex and a maximum thickness of 127mm at the perimeter and the diagonal X beams. The two glass fiber reinforced concrete panels can also be produced by optimising the same process of tilting the direct cast panel to produce a compression shell panel. The final obtained glass fibre reinforced concrete panel cast from the mould which significantly varies in thickness from 13 to 38mm. Unlimited desired number of different pattern or designs can be produced from these methods. Each intermediate supports produces its own set of compression shells. The moulds can be produced by providing the compression resistance to different load patterns by the changing the loading which is used in direct cast mould productions. This method helps in developing an architectural quality concrete finishes using the industrial concrete mixing. Also expands the architectural potential of concrete constructions. But the problem was identified that there was no suitable method for predicting the magnitude of deflections in the formwork membranes under the variety of loading and also structural behaviour of some of the structures are not examined, precise engineers may solve the problem of structural behaviour in the precast concrete panels. (West.M, April 2004) 6.Crosswall Construction Procedures Precasting the elements such as foundations, wall panels, floors, stairs, chajjas, water tanks are manufactured at the factory and they are directly installed on the site. 6.1 Foundations: The foundations along with the walls up to the plinth levels can be cast by using M20 grade concrete in the factories and further construction can be processed by using precast panels. 6.2 Precast Wall Panels: The precast wall panels can be made of concrete with the reinforcement provided as per the specifications. The wall panels can be cast in horizontal positions and than they are lifted from the casting beds after the concrete attains minimum required strengths. They are three main types of wall elements that are solid panels, panels with door openings and panels with window openings. 6.2.1 Sandwich Panels: The sandwich panel which involves a precast concrete outerleaf, and the choice of simulated stone finishes or facings, insulating layer and a blacking leaf of plane grey concrete. The insulation which is installed under the factory conditions is well protected by the concrete. The thickness of the insulation contained in the sandwich panels can be varied to achieve the required U-values. The precast concrete sandwich panels are often used for the building exteriors cladding and also serves as shear walls. The two sandwich layers are generally connected by the stainless steel connectors, which may consists of wind and the shear connectors. Several insulation types such as mineral fibre insulation materials can be used. A cavity can also be introduced if necessary. Mineral fibre insulation is environmentally friendly, fire resistant when compared to the expanded polystyrene products. The sandwich panels may support floors, slabs and beams. The main advantage of the load bearing panels is they may not require perimeter columns and instead increases the floor area and gives flush wall profiles. The applied finish panels may include terracotta, glazed bricks, tiles, granite, and limestone. A panel may incorporate more than 1000 bricks or 100 stones. (Dawson.S, 2004) The sandwich panel system which includes polystyrene insulation sandwiched between the two concrete walls. The interior of the sandwich panel is thicker because several studies as shown the thermal capacitance of benefits are greater when the thermal capacitance is within the insulation barrier (Kossecka Kossny, 2002) The two types of precast concrete panel systems are One is waffle precast concrete panel system which is currently used in the light commercial and residential industry and the other is sandwich precast concrete panel system which represents the available wall technologies which has greater thermal performance than the waffle panel system. The inner leaf of the sandwich panel may be used as a load bearing structural element for giving support to the floor units. This provides more efficiency to the construction process and minimises the need to integrate different trades. Techrete Company has manufactured the load bearing sandwich panels for Dublins city centre; the city centre was designed by OMahony Pike and for the first time the sandwich panel was used in a structural capacity on residential development. The sandwich panel provides very strong, durable, energy-efficient and fire resistant cladding systems. All the panels are manufactured in the factory and they are Just in time delivered to the site, they are enabled to provide very high quality finishes. Construction will be much faster and the load bearing walls panels they provide both structural support and external finish, the labour on site is minimised. (Taylor.P.J, 1992) Most of the precast concrete cladding system comprises of a single layered structural concrete panels which are manufactured in the factory and than installed on multi storey buildings with a weather resistant external finishes. Sandwich panel generally contains insulated material between the two precast layers. Techrete is one of the leading precast concrete manufacturers which has expanded the range and potential of the sandwiched panels. The Techrete company has introduced the precast panels in stone and bricks. The air cavity can be fixed in between the panels and they can be integrated as a part of load bearing structures. 6.2.1.1 Two-Wythe Sandwich Panels: The precast concrete slabs are constructed by two Wythes of concrete which are separated by thermal insulation layer. Two Wythes panels are provided with strong concrete which enables both lifting and handling. The solid concrete may also have catastrophic impact on the thermal performance on the precast concrete panels. The research was mainly directed towards the development of precast concrete three-Wythe sandwich panel with the improved thermal performances. Often, both the concrete Wythes are of same thickness and the surface of the exterior Wythes may include the architectural panels. The panels with two concrete Wythes and one insulated layer are referred to as two-Wythe panels. (Lee B.J,Pessiki; 2006) 6.2.1.2 Three-Wythe Sandwich Panels: The three Wythe panel which usually as three concrete Wythes and two insulated layers, those are connected by solid concrete and they are staggered in location so that no concrete path extends directly through the entire thickness of the panel. In practice, the three-Wythe panels are evaluated by estimating the thermal resistance (R-value) using the finite element methods. Three Wythe panel was developed to reduce the thermal bridges which were produced by solid concrete. Generally the thermal performance of three Wythe panel is evaluated by estimating the R-Values (thermal resistance) using finite element methods. The benefits of three Wythe panels are: The concrete connection between the Wythes allows improving the thermal performance over the two Wythe panel. The increased overall panel thickness may lead to increased span capability, this how which increases the usage of sandwiched panels. But the three-Wythe sandwiched panel may not be applicable for all scenarios because it increases the production time and production costs when compared to two sandwiched panels. On the whole three Wythes panels provide greater advantages in thermal performance than two Wythe panel but with higher cost and time productivities. (LEE, PESSIKI; 2003) 6.2.2 Tilt-Up Panels: The tilt up technique which combines the advantage of precast walls with other benefits of site casting, the size and the thickness of the panel is reduced. The tilt up construction had grown more rapidly with respect to the increase in the demands for more durable and economical buildings. The use of WWR(wire welded reinforcement) in the tilt up panels is relatively new concept. According to concrete international there are inherent advantages and disadvantages to the use of the WWR. (Griffin.J, 2003) WWR (wire welded reinforcement) mats are manufactured in the plant-controlled environment, which gives the correct number of bars that to be placed in the panels depending upon the additional drawings. In the fields the prefabricated mats give assurance that the bars do not bunch or free float together in the plane of reinforcement, step- through meshes are well maintained which offers the workers the ability to step between adjacent bars, reduction of labour on the site. Tilt up panel can be reinforced in less time because of the labour reduction. This wire welded reinforcement(WWR) may be used in joining the precast concrete walls and may finish the work very quickly without the need of excess labour and has an advantage in reducing size and thickness of the walls in multi-storey structures. 6.2.3 Double wall precast panels: Double wall building technology means that both sides of the wall and the floor components are form finished. The interior surfaces of the walls are dry and smooth, only single coat of paint may be required to achieve the look and feel the drywall finish. The exterior surfaces of the walls can be produced with variety of finishes and surface treatments. Dukane Precast Company has used the double wall technique for the low-rise residential and non residential constructions. This company has built a plant geared for low cost production of roof and wall that created safest, durable and most energy efficient building systems. The double wall building method may offer significant energy conservation by recognising thermal mass properties. The benefits of double wall panels: The double wall panel design may be a good choice for the home buyers looking primarily in cost, comfort, health benefits. The high degree of insulation provided by the panels can permit the use of smaller heating and air conditioning units, thus may save monthly operating costs of the house. (Concrete Products Staff, 2002) 6.3 Floors/Roof Panels: 6.3.1 Hollowcore Floors: Hollowcore and prestressed floors are also commonly used as floor slabs in multi-Family housing, schools, and hotels, offices which may take an advantage of span to depth ratios, high load carrying capacity, fire ratings and speed of construction. The hollow unit reduces the self weight of the slabs. These floor units may be available in 1200mm in widths depths from 110 to 400 mm. The hollow core slabs for the residential buildings may have very good span capabilities (short long span). The long span is used for the car parks and office constructions and they can exhibit upward cambers. The short spans can also be provided with a layer of the expanded polysterene on the soffit to provide the insulation for the ground floor situations. The hollowcore slabs with reinforcement can be generally 225mm deep and 1200 mm wide Termodeck Company is more specialised in providing hollow core units. (Borghoff.M, 2006) The hollow core wall panels can be installed with or without insulation. The floor units can be provided with the polysterene or poly-isocyanurate (PIR) insulation material. The benefits of using hollowcore floor units are as follows: It may include high load carrying capacity, long spans, durability, erection speed, providing instant working, and very good thermal and sound insulation, providing the floor with fire resistant properties without the need for the fire protection treatment. Hollow core units may be the ideal building material for the construction of ware houses, manufacturing plants, schools, retail stores, office buildings and administration buildings. The use of pre stressed hollow core units and the solution which may enables fast construction and it is cost effective because the secondary fire resistance treatment is not required Precast hollowcore floors are designed with up to 4 hours fire resistance by using tabulated data that gives minimum dimensions for the depth of concrete cover to the prestressing strand or wires as well as overall depth of the floor slab to be used. (Norman E Brown, Head of Engineering Services – British Precast Secretary – Precast Flooring Federation) 6.4 Transportation: The precast concrete panels can delivered to the site over the highways by semi trailer trucks. A few can be shipped by rail or other modes of transportation depending upon the feasibility of resources. The precast plants may not restrict the size and weight of the precast panel production if there is ease of transportation. The use of light weight aggregate concrete panels can minimize the impact of weight on shipping, handling and