Ways and Means

(noun)

The Committee of Ways and Means is the chief tax-writing committee of the United States House of Representatives

Examples of Ways and Means in the following topics:

  • Meaning perspectives

    • Transformation of meaning perspectives is more rare than the transformation of meaning schemes.
    • Transformative learning does not happen by itself; it takes place when learners face a radically different and incongruent situation or information that cannot be assimilated into their meaning perspective.
    • Meaning perspective is "a collection of meaning schemes made up of higher-order schemata, theories, propositions, beliefs, prototypes, goal orientations, and evaluations" (Mezirow, 1990, p. 2) and "a way of seeing the world, that is, the perspective or view through which meaning emerges from experience" (Cranton, 1994, p. 42).
    • For instance, in the scenario, the learners had a limited understanding of AutoCAD (meaning schemes), and they felt that the only valuable way to work in architectural design was through manual labor and hard work (meaning perspective).
    • Interestingly, words like assimilation and ideas like "incongruent situation" align quite well with Piaget's Constructivism ideas of assimilation and disequilibration.

  • Introduction to Criteria for Evaluation

    • To make these choices, it is necessary to value or prioritize ends and means.
    • Both ends and means can be ranked on the basis of tradition.
    • Use of tradition and institutions (and rules of thumb) to choose ends and means is a way of minimizing the use of analysis and reasoning to make choices; there are a set of ready-made choices.
    • These traditional ends and means are created and evolve as workable solutions to problems.
    • Religion, the vested interests, desire for the old ways and human resistance to change are examples of forces that inhibit the search for new solutions.

  • Mean, Variance, and Standard Deviation of the Binomial Distribution

    • In this section, we'll examine the mean, variance, and standard deviation of the binomial distribution.
    • The mean, variance, and standard deviation are three of the most useful and informative properties to explore.
    • The easiest way to understand the mean, variance, and standard deviation of the binomial distribution is to use a real life example.
    • If you performed this experiment over and over again, what would the mean number of heads be?
    • The mean and standard deviation can therefore be computed as follows:

  • The Symbolic Nature of Culture

    • Think, for example, of the way you dress and what it means to other people.
    • The belief that culture is symbolically coded and can, therefore, be taught from one person to another, means that cultures, although bounded, can change.
    • These meanings took concrete form in a variety of artifacts such as myths and rituals, tools, the design of housing, and the planning of villages.
    • The sociology of culture concerns culture as it is manifested in society: the ways of thinking, the ways of acting, and the material objects that together shape a people's way of life.
    • Cultures are shared systems of symbols and meanings.

  • The Importance of Stories

    • Because human life is narratively rooted, incorporating story telling into public speaking can be a powerful way of reaching your audience.
    • Stories or narratives have been shared in every culture as a means of entertainment, education, cultural preservation and instilling moral values.
    • Storytelling is a powerful tool, a means for sharing experiences and knowledge.
    • It's one of the ways we learn.
    • Because human life is narratively rooted, incorporating story telling into public speaking can be a powerful way of reaching your audience.

  • Mean: The Average

    • The term central tendency relates to the way in which quantitative data tend to cluster around some value.
    • If the numbers are not the same, the average is calculated by combining the numbers from the list in a specific way and computing a single number as being the average of the list.
    • The three most common averages are the Pythagorean means – the arithmetic mean, the geometric mean, and the harmonic mean.
    • For example, the harmonic mean of 1, 2, and 4 is:
    • Define the average and distinguish between arithmetic, geometric, and harmonic means.

  • F Distribution and One-Way ANOVA: Purpose and Basic Assumptions of One-Way ANOVA

    • The purpose of a One-Way ANOVA test is to determine the existence of a statistically significant difference among several group means.
    • The test actually uses variances to help determine if the means are equal or not.
    • In order to perform a One-Way ANOVA test, there are five basic assumptions to be fulfilled:

  • Median and Mean

    • Table 1 shows the absolute and squared deviations of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 9, and 16 from their median of 4 and their mean of 6.8.
    • When a distribution is symmetric, then the mean and the median are the same.
    • The mean and median are both 5.
    • Absolute and squared deviations from the median of 4 and the mean of 6.8
    • The distribution balances at the mean of 6.8 and not at the median of 4.0

  • Using Two Samples

    • Typically, one group is given aspirin and the other group is given a placebo.
    • For example, studies compare various diet and exercise programs.
    • In the previous section, we explained how to conduct hypothesis tests on single means and single proportions.
    • Independent groups mean that the two samples taken are independent, that is, sample values selected from one population are not related in any way to sample values selected from the other population.
    • In this section, we explore hypothesis testing of two independent population means (and proportions) and also tests for paired samples of population means.

  • What Does Art Mean?

    • The meaning of art is shaped by the intentions of the artist as well as the feelings and ideas it engenders in the viewer.
    • Most people would not have considered the depiction of a Brillo Box or a store-bought urinal to be art until Andy Warhol and Marcel Duchamp, respectively, placed those objects in the context of art (i.e., an art gallery), which then associated these objects with a way that art could be defined.
    • The meaning of art is often culturally specific, shared among the members of a given society and dependent upon cultural context.
    • It has been defined as a vehicle for the expression or communication of emotions and ideas, a means for exploring and appreciating formal elements for their own sake, and as mimesis or representation.
    • It means whatever the artist intends it to mean, and this meaning is shaped by the materials, techniques, and forms it makes use of, as well as the ideas and feelings it creates in its viewers.