Non-Punitive Environment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Non-Punitive Environment - Essay Example After personal beliefs are put aside, managers f healthcare units need to think about others. Is the decision going to hurt anyone and if so, who This question is very important in ethical decision making. Managers need to take into account employees feelings and well-being as well as the well-being f the company. If someone is going to be hurt by the decision, a manager may want to reconsider their decision. Hiring employees based on color or race hurts more people than it helps. A decision for hiring a candidate should not be based on color, race, sex or religion it should be based on their performance, education, and skills. The organization may not see the harm they are doing but they are unintentionally hurting themselves by basing their decision on anything other than skill, education, or experience. Diversity within a workplace is very beneficial to an organization. When organizations hire based on race, they are forfeiting their ability to be diverse. When organization values diversity, they can find new ways to overcome unconventional problems because they have many different resources and perspectives being involved in the decision making. Americans rely on the healthcare system for the maintenance and improvement f personal health, which often involves care in the hospital setting. Most patients believe that the American healthcare system provides the highest quality and safest care in the world. It is estimated that four out f every one hundred hospitalized patients in the United States suffers a serious adverse event, such as a nosocomial infection, medication error, or injury related to improper use f equipment or treatment. Clinical issues must be connected to conceptual models f nursing. This substantiates the clinical issue as valid to the practice f nursing. Jacqueline Fawcett (2000) provides a comprehensive review nursing practice, considered from the vantage f widely recognized nursing conceptual frameworks and models. Fawcett suggests that the systems category f knowledge identifies actual and potential problems in the function f systems and delineates intervention strategies that maximize efficient and effective system operation; change is f secondary importance. Most nursing theories utilize the four metaparadims: nursing, health, client, and environment. Safety concerns are relevant to nursing theory because safety is a direct result f the environment. Using Jean Watson' caring theory, Dorothea Orem's, Self-Care Deficit Nursing Theory and Patricia Benner's Novice to Expert nursing theory, this paper will discuss several approaches to ensuring patient safety. Dorothea Orem's Self-Care Deficit Nursing Theory (SCDNT) can be applied during illness or wellness at any time f life. This theory also works in a variety f care settings with little or no modification. Orem believed nursing should be autonomous in providing care and SCDNT should focus on the patient not the nurse. Nurses provide care for patient's through acting, teaching, supporting, or providing a supportive environment. Acting or doing for another is the usually the first method f assisting with a self-care deficit. This method meets basic needs and doesn't require extensive knowledge or technical ability. Because nurses

Marks & Spencer Essay Example for Free

Marks Spencer Essay Marks Spencer, a British retailer of clothing, food, home ware and financial services was started in 1884, when Michael Marks (a Russian-born Polish refugee) opened a stall at Leeds Kirkgate Market. Today Marks Spencer’s presence can be found in more than 40 countries across the world. A customer can easily shop for both food and clothes at most of the outlets in the UK. Other than that Marks Spencer’s also carries lines of 1) Identify and explain the different customer needs of which the three MS clothing ranges aimed to serve? Assume that the Perfect and Classic ranges serve essentially the same customer segment. One product which will always sell regardless of the world’s economic situation is clothes. Clothes are one of the most important requirements and wants for a person at the same time. You need to be clothed but at the same time you want to make a statement through your clothes of your beliefs, personality and moods. Clothes like pictures can say a whole lot more about a person and leave a long first impression as its the first thing you notice. Marks Spencer’s understands this about people and has made itself one the most well known brands in the world with a reputation to go with the name. The reputation build up is because Mark’s Spencer’s make it a point to provide to the needs and expectations of all its customers, who have a diverse taste and preference. There is something available for everyone. Let’s take three of Marks Spencer’s lines and identify the different needs each line aimed to satisfy. The first line is ‘The Perfect Collection’ and ‘The Classic Collection’. This line aims to facilitate those customers who are looking for something trendy of quality at a reasonable tag price. This customer lives a very hectic life, therefore wants it all, ease, quality and value packaged into one. This customer could be profiled as a woman aged 22-30, as she’s attending school, working and looking after domestic responsibilities; she wants to look good in something that is hassle-free as well as reasonably priced. The next line we’ll look at is ‘The Autograph’, this line aims to reach out those women who are looking for style, comfort and are willing to pay a little extra for it. The line aimed to provide to a niche of sorts. This line provided to its wearers elegance and the ability to stand out as a limited number of items are available in the market and that too only at certain outlets. It lets these women feel special and provides the environment of a boutique. As this line is made by a range of designers, it is nothing less than designer wear. This woman is the business executive who recognizes the truth in the fact that clothes make a man or in this case a woman. They want their clothes to spell out powerful, independent, elegant and unique all at the same time, which they do. As they know of the benefits in dressing well they don’t mind paying the little extra. For these women expenditure on their clothes will bring them ROI at the end of the working day. Their professionalism is visible through what they wear. The third line that we will examine is ‘per una’. This range was designed by, George Davies as a sub-brand for Marks Spencer for the fashion conscious woman and available in the sizes 8-18. This line is for the woman who is a little on the healthy side and knows that but at the same time wants to look good and keep up with the latest styles. This line is also a little less pricey making it accessible for these women to look good and do so at a budget. This woman would be a mother/ house wife belonging to the SEC C, D range. She’s not well off but she’s proud of her sense of style and wants to show it to the world.

Theories of Evolution and Intelligent Design

Theories of Evolution and Intelligent Design Humans have a profound longing to know their roots. In the broadest context, this longing expresses itself as a desire to understand how the universe itself came to exist, in a more particular framework, the origin of living things. Various models attempt to explain how life comes to be. These controversial issues settle on by two views. The evolutionists argue life evolved, while the proponents of intelligent design argue that life is a product of an intelligent cause. Then there are creationists who consider life to be created by a deity or deities. Nevertheless, creationism is not of importance because creationism focuses on defending the sacred texts, having no scientific evidence to how life comes to be. The contentious matter is whether intelligent design is science or not. As Charles Darwin wrote in the On the Origin of Species, â€Å"A fair result can be obtained only by fully stating and balancing the facts and arguments on both sides of each question.† Now, there seems to be a great deal of confusion among the society on what exactly evolution and intelligent design is. According to the online dictionary, evolution is the â€Å"change in the genetic composition of a population during successive generations, as a result of natural selection acting on the genetic variation.† Therefore, evolution is mainly a process occurring from one generation to the next, which results in heritable changes in a population. More accurately, evolution is any change in the â€Å"frequency of alleles within a gene pool† over succeeding generations. Like evolution, intelligent design is on the online dictionary too. The online dictionary states, intelligent design is, â€Å"the assertion or belief that physical and biological systems observed in the universe result from purposeful design by an intelligent being rather than from chance or undirected natural processes.† Thus, intelligent design argues that an intelligent cause rather than an undirected process best explain certain features of the universe. If an intelligent cause best explain certain features of the universe, then intelligent design supporters must agree that certain features are best explained by the evolution theory. Intelligent design supporters like Stephen Meyer say that intelligent design supporters are not against evolution per say. Evolution can mean change over time or common ancestry, which are not meanings of the term they dispute. They do challenge the â€Å"specific Darwinian ideal, that life is the result of a purely undirected process that merely mimics the powers of designing intelligence.† Charles Darwin’s theory is that all living things evolved from a simple organism over immeasurable generations. In addition to the countless generations, random mutations or changes in the traits and natural selection took place, with only the fittest of species surv iving and reproducing. As pointed out before, intelligent design supporters do not reject evolution, nor do they believe that the universe was created in six days. However, proponents of intelligent design do say an intelligent designer created life. Even though they are silent about the identity of the designer, most assume it the God of Christianity. Intelligent design proponents tend to stay away from defining design. Stephen Meyer, an intelligent design proponent says there are two features to what this intelligence is. Meyer quotes, â€Å"you can’t tell from the science alone the identity of the designer. It is like having a painting that was not signed. You can tell from the characteristic signature of intelligence, namely the presence of information, that some mind played a role, but we cannot tell from the science the identity.† Dr. Micheal Ruse, an evolutionist states â€Å"if a painting isn’t signed, a good art historian could look at the painting and say I think it’s a 13 century painting or this painting is an impressionist.† Proponents of intelligent design argue that even the simplest of living things have numerous complex and sophisticated structures that not even natural selection can produce. For that reason, how do you explain the complexity of design? The question that appears to be asked often is, â€Å"is the design of biology an illusion produced by a natural mechanism, namely natural selection that can mimic the power of designing intelligence or is the appearance of design, which all biologists recognize the product of actual intelligence, a mind not a material process.† Hence, proponents of intelligent design, in particular Michael Behe argue the challenge of irreducible complexity, suggesting the existence of an intelligent designer behind the purposeful structures of each living cell. Irreducible complexity implies a â€Å"single system composed of several well-matched, interacting parts that contribute to the basic function, were in the removal of any one of the part causes the sys tem to effectively cease functioning.† Michael Behe’s famous everyday example of an irreducibly complex system is a mousetrap. If one of the pieces of a mousetrap is unavailable, no longer will the mousetrap be effective. An irreducibly complex system is similar to this example. All the components have to be in place before you can catch a mouse or have a functioning system. Michael Behe considers an irreducibly complex system to be very difficult or highly unlikely to form by not only by numerous, successive modifications, but because any essential part could cease to function if a piece from the preceding generations was missing. Michael Behe supports his point how natural selection cannot clarify the complexity that is within a cell by acknowledging a quote Darwin said. â€Å"If it could be demonstrated that any complex organ existed which could not possibly have been formed by numerous, successive, slight modifications, my theory would absolutely break down.† The nature of an irreducible complexity poses as a threat to the Darwinian theory because systems which are entirely working can then only natural selection be present. An example in a living cell is the scheme of how proteins are able to navigate to the precise destination where proteins carry out their â€Å"specialized tasks, such as digestion of nutrients and excretion of wastes. This constant, regulated traffic flow in the cell comprises another remarkably complex, irreducible system.† In order for a system to function fittingly, a system should no break down and the system’s parts should not break down. Kenneth R. Miller counters the argument of irreducible complexity; an intricate system cannot be produced by evolution. Kenneth Miller proves his disagreement by explaining the fault he sees in Michael Behe’s own example, the mousetrap. Michael Behe states how removing a part of the mousetrap causes it to stop functioning, but Kenneth Miller states that you may not have a mousetrap taking away certain pats, but you can have another fully functional machine. A mousetrap is composed of a base, a metal hammer, a spring, a catch and a metal bar. â€Å"Take away the catch and the metal bar, [there is] a functional paper clip. Take away the spring, and you have a two-part key chain. The point is that bits and pieces of supposedly irreducibly complex machines may have different, but still useful functions.† Kenneth R. Miller argues that Darwinian mechanisms could have arranged the numerous complex system that exists within living things. â€Å"Evolution produces complex bioch emical machines by copying, modifying, and combining proteins previously used for other functions.† Kenneth Miller uses again one of Michael Behe’s own example. As mentioned before, Michael Behe argues how an intelligent design is behind the complexity of how the proteins move from one â€Å"subcellular compartment† to another. The journal called Cell has an article where working researchers noted â€Å"these mechanisms suggest in a natural way how the many and diverse compartments in eukaryotic cells could have evolved in the first place.† Overall, intelligent design does not succeed with present any biochemical evidence. William A. Dembski makes another interesting intelligent design statement. Dembski draws attention to how neither chance nor necessity can explain the creation of the universe. The origin of all living things must have had help from a designing intelligence. Researchers receive a sufficient amount of random signal from space for plenty of years. Dembski states, â€Å"If a sequence lacks complexity, it could easily happen by chance.† In other word, if it is complex, it must have not occurred by chance or randomness. Therefore, researchers must infer an extraterrestrial intelligence is the source for such â€Å"complex, sequenced patterns† (random signals). â€Å"Intelligence leaves behind a characteristic trademark or signature [called] specified complexity.† Specified complexity is not similar to the term irreducible complexity. The both have different definitions. Specified complexity indicates that it is an event â€Å"if it is contingent and therefore not nec essary, if it is complex and therefore not easily repeatable by chance, and if it is specified in the sense of exhibiting an independently given pattern.† Slim chances of unlikely events to happen do not reduce chance. For instance, if you roll a dice for an adequate amount of time, you will be able to notice a â€Å"highly complex or improbably event.† Another appealing argument is that â€Å"specifications be objectively given and not just imposed on events after the fact.† For example, if a soccer player kicks a soccer ball onto the field and then we place the soccer net, â€Å"we impose a patter after the fact.† Alternatively, if the soccer net is â€Å"set up in advance (specified)† and then the soccer player shoots the ball into the net, â€Å"we know it was by design.† Robert T. Pennock presents his counterargument to Dembski argument. Pennock claims that proponents of intelligent design like Dembski do not provide the society with â€Å"positive evidence† and instead present us with â€Å"negative evidence.† Basically, â€Å"negative evidence† is evidence that an individual has not experienced by their five external senses, mainly if the whole thing is a phony. On the other hand, â€Å"positive evidence† is the opposite, where there is truth and evidence for the event that took place or for any science matter. Dembski did not present any examples from humans and therefore Pennock states â€Å"Dembski has no way to show that the genetic patterns are set up in advance or independently given.† A common argument creationists attack on is how the second law of thermodynamics doesn’t support evolution. Proponents of intelligent design make use of this argument by means of different approaches to the matter, but it all comes down to how â€Å"can evolutionary processes produce more complex life-forms from more primitive ones [if] evolution violates the second law of thermodynamics.† Pennock states that biological complexities are open systems and since the law applies to closed systems, which is why the second law does not pass the test of evolution. This is simply a misunderstanding of how intelligent design supporters are not able to apply the law to biological systems. Again, the entire hypothesis made by proponents of intelligent design does not provide any scientific evidence. Also, if the origin of the universe was created by a designing intelligence, is this hypothesis testable? Proponents of intelligent design make assumptions on what evolutionists have not yet to discover information or fully understand the cause and reason behind a finding. â€Å"There is no way to dust for [the designer’s] fingerprints.† Jonathan Wells, a proponent of intelligent design claims in fact Darwin’s theory in hard to believe considering that certain features of living things appear to be designed. Natural selection and random variation cannot explain Darwin’s theory of evolution. Wells uses Darwin’s own two examples, the finches and the four-winged fruit fly, to back up his statement. Darwin’s finches and the four-winged fruit fly prove his theory of evolution, but Wells uncovers that Darwin’s theory can only account for certain feature and not all features of living things. Generally, finches vary among the shape of their beaks and Darwin concluded that the shape of their beaks differed due to the assorted food the finches ate. In other words, the finches adapted through a variety of food, but evolved from a common ancestor and the undirected process, natural selection is the cause of such diverse collection of finches. Wells argue that natural selection can only account for the fact that it works within its species and not modify the anatomical structure. Wells agrees that DNA mutations allow certain advantageous variations like antibiotic resistance. Now evolutionists provide evidence of anatomical changes through the four-winged fruit fly, but the fly does not indeed provide proof. The wings that the fly seemed to acquire through mutation show that these wings are not only useless but also worse. Eugenie C. Scott, a well-known evolutionist responds to Jonathan Wells claim by stating that natural selection alone does not explain the features of living things. Besides natural selection, there is genetic drift, symbiosis, genetic recombination and gene flow and chromosomal rearrangement. Scott assures that Wells is sticking to the religious belief rather than the scientific explanation. Today, â€Å"modern genetic analysis† provides scientists with plenty of evidence that all species descended from a common ancestor. The Ultrabithorax (Ubx) complex is â€Å"found in animals as different as sponges, fruit flies, and mammals. They turn on or off the genes involved in body segmentation and the production of appendages such as antennae, legs, and wings.† This Ubx complex is the key to the evolution of body parts and counterargument to Wells claim of how Darwin’s theory does not explain anatomical change. â€Å"The loss of legs in snakes, the change from lobe fi ns to hands, and the origin of jaws in vertebrates† are just some of the examples that the Ubx complex is involved in. For over a decade there has been a controversial issue among school boards whether it is appropriate to teach scientific creation, recently intelligent design, in public school science classes. In 1996, Michael Behe’s Darwin’s Black Box helped emphasize that intelligent design as scientific rather than a religious viewpoint. Although Behe does not mention the name of the designer, the scientific community refuse to believe his arguments and claim it to be from personal incredulity. This book presented points on why the teaching of intelligent design should be included and attacked the teaching of evolution in public schools. â€Å"The 2005 Kitzmiller v. Dover case put the calim that intelligent design was religion masquerading as science to the test.† Evolutionists know that Darwin’s theory has gaps and it is not perfect, but proponents of intelligent design. In conclusion, proponents of evolution and intelligent design dispute over whether life on earth evolved through natural mechanisms or produced by an intelligent cause. Each side brings up interesting arguments where neither side admits defeat. While evolutionists assert the community that intelligent design are more religious and philosophical, not scientific. They believe intelligent design has a link to creationism. Proponents of intelligent design claim evolutionists refuse to admit that life appears to look designed because in fact it really is designed. Even though evolutionists argue how intelligent design has no scientific evidence, proponents of intelligent design argue how there are peer-reviewed articles on intelligent design. The controversial issue in the Unites States of America is whether intelligent design should be taught in schools. Evolutionists say it’s acceptable to for students to learn about intelligent design, but not as a branch of biology. Proponents of intelligent design insist on teaching intelligent design in biology classes. There have been court cases due to this issue and the judge ruled out that intelligent design cannot be taught in schools. â€Å"It is pretty hard to find the right result to a controversial issue.†

Essay --

Gender affects every aspect of our life, from how we feel about ourselves to setting goals in our lives as well as the nature of our participation in social and civic life. It has a strong influence on the way we dress to how we practice our beliefs, the way we express our feelings and the essence of all of our relationships with other people. The film First Position displays the different gender roles taken on by different children who are competing in competitive Ballet. Growing up, children are socialized into â€Å"doing their gender†, which basically means doing something that asserts your gender (Discover 215). There are many factors that come into play when children are exposed to their gender. Gender roles are learned in society through personal experience, through interaction with other people and through what children are exposed to. Children are socialized through family, friends, school, media, etc. At a young age, parents have a huge role in teaching gender to their kids and usually give their children certain clothes, toys, books, etc. based on their sex. The parents are do...

A Mother-Daughter Relationship Essay

The publication had the rarest of chances and of course, a bit of luck, to have the honor of reading from Mrs. Jane Bingley excerpt at her house near Longbourn. We have come to speak with the former Ms. Bennet about her mother, who sadly passed away five years ago after a period of ill health. After being supplied by a generous amount of tea and sweets, Mrs. Jane Bingley was more than accommodating. She had welcomed us graciously into her home and had agreed a few weeks before to conduct this interview. Clearly, there were some unresolved issues before their mother’s death. I asked whether there were some specific issue. Yes, the whole affair was a fiasco. Men came strolling down our lawn, some high-society people, right old snobs by the way, and of course my mother, who I daresay was in the middle of it all. Indeed, it was quite a fiasco for the Bennet family. Miss Jane Bennet-Bingley was the eldest of five children of the Bennet family. Their mother, as she narrates, was highly-obsessed with the idea of accomplishing her self-sworn duty to see all her daughters to get married. She used to send my sisters and me to social gatherings, and such. It was the popular thing to do back then and consequently became a symbol of social stature. We were just middle-class, or more appropriately, preferred to linger between in the middle with menial social associations. This proved to be a factor toward their marriages which, by some sort of instances, was provoked by a high-class society member: the late Lady Catherine. She was arrogant, just like any aristocrat back then. She especially gave my sister, Lizzy (Elizabeth) a hard time since her husband was a nephew of hers. She did not want some sort of low-class society girl with his well-bred nephew. But then, the way things turned out surprised everybody, including me. About my mother’s personality (with expression of momentary soft happiness), I did not hate nor despise my mother. My father would probably scorn at the thought, but then again, my father talked little. He cared for us and for the family very much but he would just sit sometimes in his study and let our mother do all the talking. Mrs. Bennet was a woman of mean understanding, little information, and uncertain temper. When she was discontented, she fancied herself nervously. The business of her life was to get her daughters married; its solace was visiting and news (Austen). Mrs. Bennet’s proudest moment would be the marriage of her two daughters, Jane and Elizabeth, to both respectable and hard-working men. We had our own marriage. My mother did not have any part of it; though I like to think that she did try to impress upon everybody else that she did have a part of it â€Å"on our marriage†. She was always fussy, kind to people, especially our husbands. She tried everything to put us in our good name, just to get married. Indeed, the social status during Mrs. Bingley’s time was centered on the idea that women had only one goal in their lives—that is, to get married. Quite ludicrous actually; in changing times, the status of women have elevated to a more distinguished level. But my mother, if she were alive today, would not understand that. Mrs. Bingley, according to their narration, lived for the purpose of seeing her daughters married without any preamble or consideration for their feelings. Her obsession for marriage blinded her real nature. She was a good mother though; she never failed to uphold her duty as my father’s wife or our mother. I was indeed surprised that my father did not react in such a way that he was displeased with my mother’s behavior back then. But I suppose it was really just her nature to be so. To summarily put forward a remark, I did not like the way my mother handled our affairs when she was still alive. She often embarrassed us and the family with her superfluous attempts of raising the name of the family even though it wasn’t needed. She was much concerned with the way we compose ourselves that she had started to ignore her own behavior. She acted like most mothers would do, though in a different case. And if she did not do what she did, I might still be single anyway. We loved her and we still do. Reference Austen, J. (1995). Pride and Prejudice.

Should You Take the ACT or the SAT

Should You Take the ACT or the SAT SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips If you're in high school, you may be wondering whether you should take the SAT or the ACT. In general, the two tests have gotten much more similarsince the SAT was revamped in 2016,but there are still a few differences that may sway you towards one or the other. In this guide, I've outlined some of the key factors you should keep in mind when deciding which test to focus on and created a quiz that can help you determine which test will be better for you. The first thing you should do is take anACTandSAT practice testand compare your scores. We have a conversion table where you can easily see how your SAT and ACT scores stack up. If you score much higher on one test than the other, I recommend that you study for and take the test you did better on. If your scores are pretty close and you're still not sure which exam to take, keep reading. Next, I recommend checkingwhether one exam or the other is required at your school. It's easier to study for a test you're already familiar with, so if your school requires either the ACT or the SAT, you'll want to seriously consider sticking to the requiredtest. Now, let's move on to the key reasons you might want to go with each test, starting with the SAT. Feature Image: jimflix!/Flickr Take the SAT If You... #1: Panic When Faced With Time Limits One of the most noticeable differences between the redesigned SAT and the ACT is the amount of time per question- you have much more of it on the SAT. This doesn't actually make the SAT easier,since its actual questions tend to be harder, but it does mean thatthe ACT feels like more of a time crunch than the SAT. As such, doing well on the ACTrequires calm in the face of time limits. If you struggle to move through material quickly or tend to panic, you'll likely do better with the SAT. #2: Can’t Stand the Idea of Not Getting to Every Question On the SAT, you have enough time to get to most of the questions, as long as you use it wisely. On the ACT, you probably won't finish all of the sections unless you're scoring a 30 or above. If you have an obsessive need to answer every single question, you should stick tothe SAT. #3: Have a Hard Time Spotting Details When You Read SAT reading questions almost always give you the line number where you can find the relevant information. Even if they don't give you the exact location, the questions are in order, so it's rarely difficult to find information in the passage. ACT reading questions, on the other hand, are randomlyordered and frequently don't give line numbers, so finding specific details in the passage is one of the trickiest parts. If you struggle with retaining or finding details, you will probably prefer the SAT. #4: Struggle With Geometry ACT math has over three times as many geometry questions as the math section on the redesigned SAT. Plus, for the ACT, you need to memorize all the formulas, while on the SAT you're given them at the beginning of the section. If you have a very hard time with geometry, consider taking the SAT. #5: Want to Encounter as Little Science as Possible The ACT has a science section; the SAT does not. If you dislike science or struggle with quantitative thinking, you will probably prefer the SAT. The redesigned SAT does include science questions in each of its threesections, so there's no way to escape science entirely. Nonetheless, struggling withscience will have less of an effect on your score onthe SAT than it willon the ACT. #6: Excel at Writing Analytical Essays in English Class The SAT essayasks you to read and analyze a persuasive essay, much like you might for aclass assignment. If you like English class, you'll almost certainly prefer the SAT essay to the ACT one. That being said, neither essay affects your overall score, so a preference for one or the othershouldn't play a major role in your decision between the two tests. Want to learn more about the SAT but tired of reading blog articles? Then you'll love our free, SAT prep livestreams. Designed and led by PrepScholar SAT experts, these live video events are a great resource for students and parents looking to learn more about the SAT and SAT prep. Click on the button below to register for one of our livestreams today! Next up: the six reasons you might prefer the ACT. Remember you'll have to study forwhichever test you choose. (Image: m00by/Flickr) Take the ACT If You... #1:Struggle With Vocabulary Although it no longer has sentence completion questions, the redesigned SATstill tests more challenging vocabulary on both the reading and writing sections. It also has harder passages on the reading section and more vocab questions overall. The ACT is the better test if you want to avoid higher-level words like "satiated" and "apprehensive" and older passages with challenging language. #2: Can't Always Explain How You Know an Answer Is Correct One of the big changes to the SAT is the addition of evidence questions on the reading section. These questions ask you to point to the part of the passage that supports your answer to another question- #14 is an example: Evidencequestions aren't as novel as they might seem at first, since, in theory, you should always be able to point to the support for your answer in the passage. But if this is a skill you really struggle with, consider taking the ACT instead. #3:Are Intimidated by Doing Math Without a Calculator The SAT has a no-calculator section, so if the idea of doing math without a calculator has you completely freaked out, you may want to stick to the ACT. However, the no-calculator section really doesn't require any complicated calculations. In fact,all of the math questions on both testscanbe done without a calculator, though some are rather challenging. The question is really whether you feel comfortable doing some basic calculations by hand. If not, the SAT will be a challenge for you. #4: Prefer That Different Topics Be Tested in Different Sections One of the goals of the SAT redesign is to integrateimportant skills across all three sections, so there's more overlap between the different sections than on the ACT. One key example of this new policy is the presence of quantitative questions in the reading and writing sections of the SAT. If you'd prefer to avoid this kind of concept mixing, stick with the ACT. #5: Have a Solid Grasp of Experimental Design If you like science, and especially if you have a good understanding of how experiments are built and know the difference between independent and dependentvariables, consider taking the ACT. The ACT asks a lot ofquestionsabout experimental design whilethe SAT new science questions are solely focused on reading charts and graphs. A strong grasp of these concepts will give you a considerable leg up on the ACT. #6: Like to Give Your Opinion The ACT essay is all about arguing for your own point (unlike the SAT essay, which is about analyzing someone else's argument). If you enjoystating your opinion and marshaling examples to back it up, then you will probably prefer the ACT essay. Remember, however, that you may not need to take the essay at all and that, even if you do, it doesn't affect your overall score. You can choose your own adventure in studying. (Image: Nathan Penglington, photo byColin Ross/Flickr) Quiz: Should You Take the ACT or the SAT? In case you're still on the fence about which test you want to focus on, I've created a handy quiz. It sums up all of the ideas above (except those relating to the optional essays) in one easy-to-use chart. To use it, just go through and check"yes" or "no" for each question. Then tally up your answers and give yourself one point for each "yes." Scroll down for an explanation of what your score means. Question Yes No Do you perform well under time pressure? Are you okay with not answering every question on a test? Do you struggle to explain why you think an answer is correct? Do you have a hard timewith high level vocab words? Can you spot details ina passage without reading it closely? Do you dread doing math without a calculator? Do you excel at geometry? Do you prefer each topic be tested separately? Do you understand experimental design? Do you like science? Let's go through what your score means: 1-3: You're an SAT person! If you answered "no" to most of the questions, you'll probably find the SAT more your style. You don't mind slightly harder questions as long asyou don't have to rush and don't have to cover too much material. 4-7: You can do either! If you answered "no" and "yes" roughly the same amount, you will probably find the tests equally approachable. If you're willing to put in the time, try taking one practice test for each and see if you have a strong preference. 8-10: You'll likethe ACT! If you answered mostly "yes," then you're more of an ACT person. You don't mind moving quickly, memorizing material, or answering questions about science. What's Next? For more info on the differences between the two tests, check out our full breakdown or these comparison charts. Wondering how well you'd score on the SAT or ACT?Take a practice test to find out! Check out our links to free and official ACT and SAT practice tests and get started. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points?We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now: