I want you to free write
about some subjects you might be interested in researching this
semester. Consider some of the inquiry based questions you have
generated in class on Thursday and consider your own personal interests
as well. This is pretty open and the
content is really up to you, but here are a few examples of things you
might write about:
How might you conduct your own study? (consider how the first two student examples pieces worked) Could a focus group work for your study? Write
about what you already know about your subject and the stake holders in
the discussion you are entering into. Consider alternate ways to frame
the question to accentuate different aspects of the original idea. You
might also develop a research experiment to test your inquiry based
question.
If you are having a bit of trouble coming up with your research subject, consider the
research articles that are published on Stylus.
http://writingandrhetoric.cah.ucf.edu/stylus/issues.php
It is important to note that not all articles published on Stylus are
inquiry based studies, so be sure to look for articles published from
ENC 1102 classes. Also, you might try watching some of the videos posted
on the blog or reading some of the articles for invention strategies
that might help you.
This posting is due before Monday evening, 1/21/2013, before 11:59pm.
Jake Rosenberg
ReplyDelete1/21/13
Longhany
Week 3 blog
After generating many different topics to potentially research for the inquiry based research paper I have come to like the questions of how sports have become violent for certain societies and peaceful for others as well as the idea of how fans have come to take a game and turn it into a war. I really enjoy sports and I believe research papers should be educational and intriguing. Therefore I would like to research something sports oriented so that I can become more knowledgeable in a field that is relevant to my life, even if sports are only a hobby to me.
The first potential topic for research is the violence of sports in certain countries. I plan to compare football in the United States to gladiator fights in Rome in hopes to show how societies that are safe to live in produce violent sports. I have always been intrigued by how different societies produce activities based on the citizens’ safety. In order to research this topic I would have to relay mostly on historical books and I may try to create a focus group that discusses a main question. I know this topic may be a stretch but with a little more thought I think I can groom this into a topic worth researching.
On the other hand, I think the topic of sports fans becoming engrossed in their team is a very fun and interesting topic. I would like to research rivalry games and how the fans of the two teams find the game not to be just an event, but actually a war. A major part of this research would be based on the recent violence between the Los Angeles Dodgers fans and the San Francisco Giants fans. The “Bryan Stow Beating”, as it has been named by the sports world, is a great example of how fans have crossed the line in sports. Besides using books and videos of past fans actions to research this topic, I feel another great technique to gather information would be through interviews. I feel that this topic could be very eye opening for me as well as my audience because it has the power to educate both parties for the better.
In all, I love sports and I know that research is supposed to be educational but I also think it should be fun. I know these topics are not yet set up for success but I think they have great potential. Even if these topics fail to become my chosen research topic, I believe they are a good start.
Kyle Bussey
ReplyDeleteFor my research project I have general idea about what I would want to do. I want to research people and our unnatural attachment to Apple products. What makes Apple so successful at convincing us to buy things we either A) already have or B) don’t really need? How does one company release the same device 5 times and yet each time people are lined up for half a mile down the road to buy it (*cough cough IPhone)?
The amount of people who own at least one Apple product is so large that it’s impossible to put in words. It has gotten to the point where people have grandmothers with iPods and Macbooks. I would like to ask at least 25 people do they have at least one Apple product and if so how many of them would trade for a different devise that has the exact same functions but is not an Apple product. I wonder who all would switch and who would choose to stay with Apple products. Having an IPhone myself creates a bit of bias in my experiment but at the same time it allows me to use myself as a test subject as well. The Apple industry is booming and I would deffinatly want to know what keeps it the wheels spinning
John Campbell
ReplyDeleteAs an avid Scuba Diver and Gear Salesman, I have a large interest in picking a research topic within the field of scuba diving. There are many studies that have been conducted that relate to diving and the sciences behind dive theory. Due to the extreme environments and nature of the sport, there are many restrictions to testing theories and discoveries are made slowly.
For my research paper, I will be testing the relationship of a diver's Surface Air Consumption Rate (SAC rate) is affected by the oxygen content of the air they breathe and if it relates to the number of dives a diver has done. The community of divers believes that more experienced divers should be using less air on a dive than beginning divers. This is the theory I will be testing, however, I also believe that there are many other factors that affect this as well and plan to test for. These factors include fitness level, body composition, weight, gender and gas mixture in addition to the control variable (number of dives completed).
Some of the questions I may ask include "Does a scuba diver's SAC rate decrease in relation to the number of dives they have completed? What factors affect a scuba diver's SAC rate? Is there a relationship between a scuba diver's SAC rate and the oxygen content of the gas they are breathing?". As a diver, this information is very important to know. Since most dives are limited by how much gas one uses, this knowledge may help individuals to improve their SAC rates.
I intend to carry this study out in a survey style manner. I will be asking divers a series of questions about their dives, health, age, gender and other data relating to this study. All the data I will be using can be quantified and measured to eliminate any bias. I aim to use data from at least 50 individuals in my test group.
Brittany Taylor Wentlandt
ReplyDeleteI still need more brainstorming time to come up with the best inquiry based research question for me, but I did come up with some starting points Thursday in class. The first idea I had was, “Why does our culture value ‘retro’?” Another way to phrase this could be, “Why is ‘retro’ a trend in American culture?” I was thinking about how clothing styles have changed and they tend to harken back to other times. For example, I remember when I was in middle school, “cool” clothes where reminiscent of the 1980s. Lately, I’ve been noticing trends geared towards the 60s, 70s, and even the 90s. I don’t know how great of a question this is because I may have trouble finding ways of proving the basic idea before I could even do research into why this trend exists.
My next idea is, “How do cartoons from different decades portray the future and how accurate are their portrayals?” “The Jetsons” inspired this question. For this research, I would look for examples of future predictions in cartoon movies and television shows from the 1940s to today. I believe locating the examples would be difficult though. I may not be able to find enough for thorough research.
My last and most solid idea is, “How have body image ideals changed over time and how do they differ over cultures?” That really can be split into two different questions. I could probably just use one for my research because looking at body image culturally and chronologically may be too much to cover in one study and each could provide enough material on their own. I did a research paper in tenth grade similar to this and I think it would be interesting to explore it further. I also am very interested and intrigued by this topic.
I already know that some cultures in poorer countries go to the lengths of force-feeding their young girls because potential husbands will be looking for someone that seems well-fed who can give birth to healthy children. I could look at how the ideal differs from women to men. I remember a study in psychology that showed that the kind of women men find most attractive are bigger than what women think men find most attractive. As for the chronological aspect, pin up girls and today’s models are worlds apart. There are even subcultures today that still find older ideas of the body image ideal attractive.
So it seems that my third idea is the most fruitful and I have many different directions I can take with it. I look forward to continuing to develop it and eventually research the topic.
Katelyn Lechner
ReplyDeleteI have by no means decided on a final topic, but after some research I have narrowed it down to a few that I find interesting. The first is the effects children are having on societies increase in the use of technology. We are in the age of technology and soon, most things, if not everything will rely on it. I would like to research the positive effects this is having on children, as well as the lost benefits of having tangible items, such as actual books, for children to have. In order to conduct this study I would do extensive research on, you guessed it, the internet. I could also conduct interviews of parents to see what effects, if any, they are seeing in their children, and conduct them with different age groups of children to see how time has changed.
Another possible research question I have come up with is if the birth order of children is correlated to the children's differing personalities. I have heard a few cases of this, whereas the oldest child tends to be more impatient and the younger shows signs of procrastination. I have noticed this to be true in my family as well as a few others and I would like to further research other effects as well as how the parenting style differs for the order of children born, and how that pertains to their differing personalities. In order to draw some conclusions, I will do research both online as well as in books, collecting data into different tables. I could also interview parents about common traits they see in their children.
As I was researching ideas I came across one that caught my eye because it was related to me. I discovered the hypothesis that tall women are more successful in life than their shorter counterparts, and being almost 5'10'', this was a topic that interested me. I would like to further research this claim, answering the questions first if this is true, why it happens, and bring up some examples and statistics of this happening in the real world. I am not quite sure if this would be a topic that I would be able to find enough information to do a research paper on, but it's a thought.
I will continue doing research on these ideas, as well as keep researching more topics that catch my eye.
I have not even come close to knowing what I would like to do for the final project, but I do have a few ideas that have peaked my interest. One being how have horror/thriller films influenced violence over time? And the other being how has clothing and dress affected the way society acts?
ReplyDeleteFirst I will look at some of the top horror/thriller film directors out there, George A. Romero, Wes Craven, Alfred Hitchcock, and Tod Browning. This way I will get a range of decades of horror/thriller films. I will then look at their directing styles and conduct a study on how violence is perceived in these movies. Also to which audiences they were writing for. Wes Craven is known to have written more for the ‘Teen Horror’ market. There are a lot of loose ends that I still need to tie up with this research and study, which I will continue to do and conduct. I am interested to see where this goes because George A. Romero and Alfred Hitchcock are two of my favorite directors.
I believe fashion has become, I believe, a very important part of society, with fashion capitals all over the world. People will always spend money on fashion, whether it is clothing, shoes or accessories. I used to work at the mall in a few different stores and I would see people fork over ridiculous amounts of money for stuff they probably did not need and I am sure most, if not all, have been in the same situation. The question is how has this affected how society acts. Girl’s clothes cover less and less and guys wear their pants down under their butts. If I were to choose this topic I would do research on the topic and I feel that a field study would be best, observations at the mall on a weekend night, possibly over the course of a couple of weeks. I would bring a partner, take notes, and then compare notes at the end. Interviews could also be another possibility.
I will continue to think of more topics and do research on the ones that I have come up with.
Rita-Nicole Gross
ReplyDeleteBlog Post 3
I still am up in the air with what I want to write my paper on. However, I want the overall focus to be based on environmental science. That is one of my biggest interests and it is something I would like to learn more about.
One of my ideas for my inquiry based ideas are how is the world going to be affected in 100 years. There are so many negative impacts on the environment that a very small percentage of the world seems to try and take care of. I think the world is already being affected because of the climate changes over long periods of time. would like to research how these changes will affect life on earth in many years to come.
For my research I would compare other peoples research and add in what I think will happen. I can also take surveys and learn about the amount of people that recycle right here on campus.
My question still needs to be improved on; it needs to be more specific. As I continue to research more ideas, I will find a stronger way to focus my topic.
I am still trying to put together a final topic to research. Being a student athlete, I am very interested in the topics of exercising and good health. I have decided that I would like it to relate to exercise and the effect it has on the mood. I know that it releases endorphins which makes people happier, I can conduct a study to see if students work out and in relation to that live happier lives. Or I could even conduct a survey on if students exercise before a test or exam vs. students who don't and see if there is a difference in grades. I will continue brainstorming for new ideas relating to the topic I am interested in.
ReplyDeleteKahfi Sims
ReplyDeleteWeek 3 Blog
Last class meeting we were asked to conduct a few inquiry based questions in our assigned groups. It took all of us a few moments to create questions. The difficulty of the task was evident in all of us as we just looked around the room for a few minutes. But as I looked around I saw the American flag. The flag was present in all of my elementary school classrooms and most of my high school classrooms. I began to think about the flag and conjured the though, How has the significance of the American Flag changed? Not saying that it has changed at all, but if it has, in what ways? And why?
Also, another group member brought up the topic of heroes. She came up with the question of how has the meaning of a “hero” changed? Or is there a new depiction of a hero?
For my research project I am leaning toward the American flag question. Because I am unbiased toward the issue I believe it will lead to a informative view of the topic on both sides.
Luke Cresante
ReplyDeleteGenerally I would like to focus my paper on one of my main interests, those being nature, fitness, nutrition, or music. More specially, what I find the most interesting is nutrition and fitness. It seems to be for the most part we are largely a "lazier" nation, especially with regards to our obesity rates amongst adults and children. The typical American with regards to eating and exercising is usually associated with fast food, and preoccupation with media such as television. I believe that this is beginning to fade away as the era of organic and natural health is being ushered in, specifically in areas on the west coast like California. With this being said I would like to investigate amongst different age members of our society, children, teenagers, adults, and the elderly, to find out their views on a healthy lifestyle. I would go about this process by interviewing select individuals from these age groups, and asking about their eating habits, exercise regimen (if any), and their opinions towards the products in our markets today. Another possible investigation I would like to conduct would be to find out the average persons knowledge regarding the ingredients in common foods they consume, as a majority of the products we use daily contain artificial ingredients that are non beneficial to our well being.
Ginni Correa
ReplyDeleteRecently I found out exercise and pets are the best for treating depression. I have depression and no many others who do but I also love dogs and know others who do as well. Since my major is psychology I am very interested in writing a paper related to my interests which also include animals. I would like to investigate more on depression and the effects that animals have on people with depression.
Catherine Rucker
ReplyDeleteI don’t really have a solid idea for my research paper. All of my ideas are really up in the air at this point and none of them are very clear or cohesive. My first idea is to write about the idea of the ‘hero’. I thought to maybe talk about how the qualifications of heroes have changed throughout history; by qualifications I mean what one has to accomplish in order to be noted as a hero in society. With this subject however, it such a broad topic because there are many different cultures and to encompass them all would be tedious. So maybe I would stick to the culture surrounding ancient Greece or with the culture of ancient Japan and somehow compare it to today’s classification of heroes.
Another topic I’ve thought about is the topic of the gothic subculture. I thought I would go into the history of the subculture and then somehow interview or find interviews of those who participate in it. I’d also interview those who aren’t a part of the subculture and see how if there are any preconceived notions about individuals who are part of the gothic subculture.
Another topic that I think I would be interested in is the phenomena of the strong attachment that young females have towards male artists whether they are musicians or actors. Millions of young women ranging from teenagers, those who are in their twenties, thirties, and sometimes early to mid-forties have attachments that borderline into the obsessive when it comes to men in the entertainment industry and I feel as though it would be interesting to find out why these attachments occur.
Haley Wood
ReplyDeleteI have not really come up with any sort of experiment or question that I want to ask yet. I would, however, love to figure out a way that I could use “brain food” and how many people believe it to be helpful in their everyday life. I haven’t figured out how I am going to go about it or any sort of experiment but I think that would be a cool idea.
Also, I would like to possibly research the effects of caffeine on the energy levels and if this is detrimental to your health.
I would also possibly like to research the differences in movies and their effect on our society. I am very interested in the impact that media has on our society in this day in age so maybe I could do something involving media.
I need a lot more brainstorming before I can come up with a good inquiry based question for my research project but I believe I have a good start on the incubation stage of my paper. It will rather be about human health or the media.
Francois J. Turner
ReplyDeleteWeek 3, Blog
Following the discussion in class, I came up with an inquiry based research question inspired by the research papers that were read; it might be lacking some refinement or clarity nonetheless it’s a start.
The research that was done regarding women’s entrance into the workforce being a catalyst for the changing family dynamics represented in cartoons prompted me to draft my own study involving cartoons. The ultimate question being asked is whether or not there’s a psychological side effect related to excessive television exposure- with the persuasive or detrimental medium being cartoons- altering a child’s perception of reality? Simply put, will a child be suede to believe he or she possess the ‘super-human’ abilities that Superman, Sailor Moon, The Power Rangers, The PowerPuff Girls or Goku has, is what’s being asked. How will I address such a question if it were to be chosen as my primary research study? In terms of research methodology and approach, I’m still not quite sure how I’ll be able to best answer the question but I do have ideas. To narrow my research and produce a more specific focus and approach, I would first define ‘’children’’ by age limit and then identify their level of perception and understanding of reality regarding several aspects; understanding of right/wrong, truth/lie, real/fake and possible/impossible. Potential outliers might include ‘’children’s’’: level of intellect and maturity with respect to age and socioeconomic background. A focus group would be the most appropriate means of data collection but it limits the range of my sample field. One thing to note is that I’m a student and not a researcher with the appropriate resources which limits my study and the points mentioned above are a few of the limitations I’ll possibly face.
Despite those issues, my history with cartoons and interest in the subject will definitely be a motivation to overcome any limitations of the study. I can recall my childhood being filled with fantasies, imaginations and impossibilities from cartoons about flying characters, villain bashing mutant teenagers and ‘super saiyan’ extraterrestrials. Unlike other kids who were persuaded by the cartoon characters that they possessed the ability to leap down a flight of stairs without any physical harm (recollection of my cousin breaking his arm after an episode of The Power Rangers), I was fully aware of the consequences of such naivety as a child. By doing the research, a question I’ve been longing to have answered is what shielded me from being vulnerable to the fallacious idea of reality and perception depicted in cartoons despite being heavily immersed myself.
I’ll continue to refine my ideas and possible approach for this research question as well as identify ways of effectively conducting the study; as mentioned before, it’s only a start of an idea that needs polishing!
Blake Anderson
ReplyDeleteInitially, when I became aware that I would have to create an inquiry based research topic I was somewhat confused. I was worried about how easily this would be accomplished mainly because I wasn’t fully aware of what an inquiry based question was.
After Thursday’s class and reading to example papers, I became more familiar with the topic and understood more. However, this didn’t make the decision process any easier; I am still having a difficult time decided on the subject I want to conduct my research on, let alone the exact topic question.
Before reading the subject papers, I had a mere idea of a subject with a secondary meaning or underlying result. I’ve always been interested in stories or phenomenon that aren’t always what they seem to be. After reading the research paper on Dr. Seuss’ directed audience, I was almost 100% confident that I wanted to have this idea represent my general idea. I found this paper to be very interesting, not only because it relates back to my childhood, but it reveals things of my childhood that I had never realized before. As vague as this idea may be and as expansive its potential subject pool is I would really enjoy and be fascinated by an inquiry question of this sort.
Because of my extremely vague subject, I am looking deeper into my possibilities by researching my interests. I have researched fields I am familiar with such as video games, exercise and longboarding. Individually, I try to learn everything I can about the activities I par-take in so I feel that I would be appropriate to answer a question pertaining to something I enjoy learning about.
Nick Borimonoff
ReplyDeleteWeek 3
As a film major, I began to look into possibly doing my research with a film related topic. In class, I thought of researching the affect Academy Award nominations has on the box office grosses of each film nominated, but then I thought this research was not challenging enough. Other questions I have thought of researching, but still have not satisfied me, were “Do silent films take more concentration for adolescents to watch than grown adults?” and “What truly makes a scene great?”
I feel these questions need to be elaborated on, but I’m having trouble with actually elaborating them. Also, I would not mind writing about how certain films affect a person’s perception on a particular topic or if a specific genre of cinema alters the behavior of people.
Natasha Minoso
ReplyDeleteI'm really indecisive about what to write for my research paper, so for now I will stick to something I'm passionate about - music. I'd love to look into why the radio plays the same 5 songs on repeat, whether it is because it is actually good quality music or because it is what society demands. I find it bizarre how the music played on the radio is based on what's "in", instead of actual raw talent.
Many artists that are extremely talented and passionate about their music are overlooked because of their image, which seems to be the only thing selling nowadays. An example of this could be Maroon 5, who had top notch quality sound before selling out and becoming more pop. They completely changed their sound to sell records (at least, that's what I believe).
Hopefully this topic can cover loads of interesting points dealing with actual talent, selling an image, and selling out. For now, this seems to be a good research paper topic to look into and interests me.
Amanda Mills
ReplyDeleteI'm not quite sure how to develop an inquiry based question. I have been brainstorming different topics I would like to research about, but am having difficulty developing a study.
One topic I find very interesting is Sharks. They are my favorite animal, and I see them as beautiful misunderstood creatures. Everyone despises them and views them as horrible creatures, when in reality we are the horrible people in the situation. Sharks only kill 5 to 13 people a year, and we kill up to 12 million sharks a year. We fin them for soup, and throw them back into the ocean alive to slowly die a painful death. I really love researching about sharks and this topic, I'm just not sure how I would perform a study. I was thinking about figuring out what shark species are being harmed the most and what exactly that would do to the marine food web and ocean as a whole.
Another topic I love is gymnastics. I trained/competed for over 11 years and basically lived in the gym. I now teach gymnastics to kids at Orlando Metro gymnastics. If I could perform a study with gymnastics it would also be interesting to me.
I'm going to keep brainstorming these two topics to figure out the perfect inquiry based research topic for me!
Alexis Dickison
ReplyDeleteENC 1102
At first I wasn’t sure what I wanted my topic to be, but then out of nowhere it hit me what I think I should write about. I think it would be really interesting to write about interracial relationships. I want to write about how they have changed over-time and how they are more accepted in present day America than they were in the past. I also want to touch on how biracial kids are affected, if at all, because of their parents being two different races. I want to do more research about this because I know how I feel about being biracial, but I would like to get others’ inputs as well.
When one thinks about interracial relationships, they automatically think of an African-American male and a Caucasian female. People need to realize that times are changing! We live in a country where you can see more and more of it being the opposite. Interracial relationships span more than just the black and white spectrum. I think that that is important to talk about as well. I could bring religion into this as well, but I truly believe that would be too much of an information overload for the reader. I want the reader to enjoy the paper, not have a headache.
There are a few methods of research that I’ve been thinking on how I can conduct. One of the obvious ones will be in the interview form. I will not just write in interview format, I will tie the answers I get into my paper. Some people I was thinking about interviewing were obviously my mother and my father. I know quite a few biracial people that I would like to interview as well. I would also like to talk to a white male who is either dating or married to a female of a different race. These are just a few of the ideas that I have.
There are so many different topics that I feel I would be able to write about in this paper. I would just need to find a way to figure out how to bring all these topics together to make a paper that is a smooth and easy read, as well as make it enjoyable and enlightening.
I am not the best at coming up with these things off the top of my head but one subject I really would like to focus on is music. I am so passionate about music and I feel like most people can relate. The topic I wanted to look into was if listening to music while a student was studying would either benefit the student or hinder the students progress. So many people claim that listening to their favorite genre of music helps them to sit and focus on their study tasks. I personally can not focus as well when listening to music, but I know so many others who claim the opposite. Along with this study I would also dive deeper to see which music would be best to listen to when studying. I would test genres such as classical, metal, rock, pop, dubstep and more. I would be so excited to see how this research pans out to see if i have either been listening to the wrong genre of music or if I should not be listening to music at all. I think this study would benefit all students because it would help further their study patterns.
ReplyDeleteOne topic of interest of mine is the family unit and how it works. I am a psychology major and in taking a couple of courses in the subject I have seen just how much one member of the family unit can greatly impact the others. For this reason one of the topics I have considered writing about for my paper is the effect that a divorce takes on the entire family unit. There have been a lot of studies done that show how this effects the children and in reading some of them I have become more interested in further researching this area. The only issue I am having with this topic is that besides research that has already been done, I am not sure how I would go about getting new information. Im still trying to tie all of these lose ends together so i can focus just on one thing but I am not quite sure what to do yet.
ReplyDeleteMerley Michel
ReplyDeleteBlog 3
Gender roles and identification is a real topic that fasinates me. I like learning about why women seem to be from venus and men seem to be from mars. This topic of course contains a lot of subtopics, ranging from roles in the work place, to role in the household. I think the essential difference may come down to just how we perceive the opposite sex and how we communicate with them. So i want to research " How gender role identification effect communication?" i believe this is a narrow enough topic that can bring up a very interesting conversation. Research in this inquiry would be socially base, such as interviewing individual with set of questions and seeing how they respond to them. There could also be a group base conversation in which i could gather an even amount of each test subject and give them a conversation topic and see how the conversation develop. The research can dive into how these communication are effect even across gender-race-cultural lines. i believe this would make for a very interesting research.
I also might want to some other inquiry base question as far as gender roles, and sexual abuse but i have not figure out how i would research that topic because its a very sensitive topic.