Alwoodaysafgbq's Blog

A new research =)

alwoodaysafgbq — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 18:55:52 +0000

These are a few points I’d like to cover in my next research project which I will be doing internet and book research but mostly interviewing and questionnaires.

-What makes females want to engage in dangerous drugs?

-What are the most effective ways in which we can help our female youth with not becoming involved with “dangerous” drugs?

- Who may be the largest influence on females when it comes to drug use.

- What makes a female chose what type of drug?

-How can we help them?

I want to do research on this topic mostly because my friend has recently been involved with drugs and the only way I can learn how to help is to research the topic and take it from there.

-If you have any helpful tips please let me know!

Blog # 17

alwoodaysafgbq — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 17:00:55 +0000

Wow, where to begin with my fears about coming into this course.. well the first day I was very scared of Marlen and believed that this was going to be one of the hardest if not the hardest class I have taken yet at IUP, I believe it was the hardest for the fact that I couldn’t bull shit anything and it was very time-consuming. I was really worried that I wasn’t going to find a topic at first that I was really interested in, then I felt that I wasn’t going to be able to bring out what I wanted to in my writing. But after all my work load started to build up this class really pushed me to work harder and achieve something, because of how Marlen would push us and tell us this was going to be published and after this class maybe we would be known as an author/researcher. So I somewhat learned to not procrastinate, yes I still do it time to time when I have other things that are more important then a homework assignment but I now get my work done.. on time, usually. After this class it was really the last straw i needed to know that i did want to change my major into something english related. I have decided to change my major into Journalism and minor in communications, where I can hopefully enjoy the major and make a career out of it. My proudest moment in this course was honestly loving this class so much I only missed two days and if I didn’t have to of missed them I wouldn’t have, I’ve never only missed two classes in any of my other classes, which showed to me I enjoyed english and I enjoyed coming to class and participating. I think the thing that will most stick with me the most is Marlen for being such a great teacher and really believing in all of us Thanks Marlen!

Blog # 16

alwoodaysafgbq — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 16:53:52 +0000

During my process of research body image in the media I came across a lot of new knowledge and arguments that I haven’t even thought of, I found that people don’t only blame the models for eating disorders but also the government which is true once I thought about it. The most useful assignment for myself during this whole project was doing the Anno Bib which made me look up resources and explain them in a short summary in my own words, which later helped a lot with writing my paper. The most helpful feedback so far was my classmates and Marlen, for the fact that they gave me inspiration when I saw what they were doing and how they were going about different things it really pushed me to do the same, and Marlen well just gave me great ideas and believed that I was able to get my point across in this paper, which is why I really hope it is a great paper because I’ve worked really hard on it. The most difficult process with drafting my paper was when I switched from a 15 page paper to a multi media paper, it wasn’t that difficult but it wasn’t very easy either because now I also have to add-on a short film with my paper. The easiest was nothing, I don’t think anything was easy but it was a learning experience. I hope the entire paper shows that I can research and bring a new idea to the table with my topic.

My Paper…

alwoodaysafgbq — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 17:15:27 +0000

the whole damn paper 2

Blog #15 :)

alwoodaysafgbq — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 20:31:19 +0000

After doing my first peer review I found that reading another persons writing helped me realize how I want my paper to look and how I want my readers to feel after reading my paper. I learned it is much harder to edit another students paper, merely because I’m not interested in the same things as my classmates, so it was a little difficult to get into some readings. I have to say that I actually do love writing though and this class really pushed me to my limit with that, I enjoy learning about new things and bringing awareness to causes that I believe are very important and need to be researched, even if they were already researched a million times, there is always a way to do it differently. I do enjoy editing also, I believe I enjoy editing my own paper more though because I see the mistakes that I made and I am able to fix them because others do. My research project has grown so much since the first day I started it, at first I was writing a 15 page paper about how the media effects a female college students body image. Even though my research question is still the same I am looking at it from a whole different perspective, I want to know how women look at other women because of media, specifically magazines because a magazine is what tells us who we need to look like and how we need to dress ourselves. So overall I am very excited about my research and am so ready to do my focus group with a group of female college students and really open their eyes to see that even though they be told by magazines they aren’t beautiful, I’m sure another girl if not all of them will think in some way that she is a beautiful girl.

Blog 14 :)

alwoodaysafgbq — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 20:20:17 +0000

After reading about results I found that it is very important to make sure that the reader can fully understand what the writer found out with their information. Which may mean that the writer needs to include a graph or table to fully show the results of their research. There are also two different ways in presenting the writers results, the writer can either give all the results then discuss or give results and discuss each one through the paper. I believe that I will be giving my results with a discussion after each. With the page I found on results, I found that you should start off with first restating what the writer wants to find, with the research question and then reporting on that questions with all the information that has been found. This article also explained that if the writer uses a graph or table they need to fully explain what that graph or table represents and means to their research. I also found that this article says to simply present the results and to not explain them, which I found to be new information because I thought the writer should give the results and also explain them. With the discussion section I found that this is where the writer will discuss and explain their results. The article stated that it is okay to use first person but to be aware of how much the writer actually uses it because it can distract the reader from main points in the writers argument. The writer should also explain and recognize other researchers work specially if it is involved with what the writer is doing. The writer should also not introduce new results in the discussion the results page is the only page where the reader should be able to find all of the results found. The other article I found explain discussion had the same advice and stated that the writer should discuss their findings, explain if their findings support existing theories, explain why the writer believes they found the results that they did and to lastly give any reasons why the results came out the way they did. Lastly I read about the conclusion, the conclusion is the writers last chance to write about what they need to say. This is their last chance to give anymore ideas which can show the reader that their research is effective and was well researched. In the conclusion the writer should play the “so what” game which allows the writer to think about their research from a readers point of view. Doing this game will ensure that the writer is answering most if not all the questions the writer believes needs to be answered about their research. Lastly this article stated to not start off the conclusion with, In conclusion or In closing, the conclusion is only be the conclusion and nothing else because the writer is ending their paper. With the additional article I found on conclusions I found that the writer should restate their thesis statement and everything that adds up to that. Also analyze and evaluate all the main points found in the writers paper. I also found that the conclusion is “original” contribution that the writer has to give in their own research paper, so it should be strong with much evidence that the writer has a firm grasp on their own research.

http://www.statpac.com/research-papers/research-proposal.htm

http://www.tailoredessays.com/how-write/research-paper/introduction-conclusion.htm

^^ Will cite later.

Blog #13 :)

alwoodaysafgbq — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 20:11:48 +0000

After combining my paper I read through the whole thing to pick out what needed to stay and what needed to go, I also added in more information where I thought it was necessary. I felt for the most part that my papers ran together well but I won’t know for sure until after the peer reviews. The information that I did take out was information I already used, and words that just didn’t need to be there. I also eliminated a lot of sentences that said, Also in this article I found. In stead I just went right into the information. I believe my paper is pretty damn good but I still need another persons point of view. I know I will need a lot of work on my grammar for that fact that when I write I just write and I go back to fix everything later. Now that I am done with my intro, lit and methods it is now time for me to start going out and collecting the data I need from the females on this IUP campus so that my paper can finally be complete

Blog # 12

alwoodaysafgbq — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 19:02:53 +0000

Begin thinking about your research methods; Participants – Who will your research subjects be? How will you find them? How many will you need? Are there any potential dangers to your participants in undertaking this research? How will you protect your participants from harm and safeguard their privacy? What questions do you have about methods and data collection at this time and how will you answer them?

For my research my participants will be female college students attending IUP. I will find them by asking class mates and friends that I know around campus. I will use people who I know and that are familiar with me because I feel that it will be easier for them to open up and give me a more honest opinion. I will interview about 10 females so that I will have enough variety in my research. There will be no potential danger for my participants because i will only be asking them about how they feel on their body type, what influences how they feel on their body type, and what type of things they do to keep their figure, also if they would like to change their figure and how. Lastly I would also like to ask their weight and height and if they believe that their weight is a heathy weight for their own body type. Their will not be any danger to my participants because I will not give their names out, the only thing that I will release is their age and grade in college.

The only questions I have with data collection is having a set number of questions I will ask and knowing how many to ask, I also haven’t come up with a set of questions that I will be asking to each participant yet. I will answer these questions by looking up methods and other studies and seeing how many questions another writer may have used in an interview. I also am not sure with how many participants I should use, as of now I will be using 10 but I may increase that so I can receive better results.

Blog 11

alwoodaysafgbq — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 17:09:33 +0000

First Article:

The first statement in this article is stating that the Method section is one that states, How data was collected or generated also how it was analyzed. It basically shows the reader how the writer obtained the results they received. Weather they got them from someone elses research or they did their own research like a questionnaire, if they did do their own research they need to explain the questions that were asked, and the answers. The writers methodology should explain the a clear reasoning on why the writer chose what type of research they did. The methodology should also explain any problems the writer may think they may encounter and explain the steps taken in preventing any problems. This article also stated that the writer has to keep in mind the they are not writing for beginners but for readers who are experts in their fields, the writer should assume that they are familiar in the field they are writing about. This article shows an over view of how a method should fit into the thesis. The writers method section should come in after their lit review and before their results and discussion. Lastly this article explained how to start a method section, first the writer needs to keep in mind the their purpose for writing a methods section. Another helpful hint is to keep notes of what the writer did, how they did it and what happened. This article stated that some researchers keep a research diary which will then help the writer pick what they want in the method section. The writer should also always keep in mind their audience and who will be reading their work. Lastly using the words “I” and”we” should be avoided unless the writer actually did work with more researchers.

Article 2:

This article stated that the method section is the most important part of a research paper, this is where validity of the study is judged. Therefore the writer must be very clear and precise with its descriptions of how each experiment was done. Formally the methods section was called the “materials and methods,” this was so that writer would know to include what was examined with its treatments also the instruments used in the study. Then the methods part was to tell the reader how the subjects or objects were used to answer the research questions. This article gave five steps for a writer to follow which can be helpful when structuring their method section. These five steps are as followed, first the writer needs to explain the materials used in the study, then explain how the materials were prepared, describe the research protocol. The writer then needs to explain how measurements were made and what calculations were performed and lastly the writer should state which test were done and analyze the data. Another thing this article stated was the fact that the writing should be direct and precise and in past tense. In the method section the writer also needs to discuss their subjects with their age, gender even their racial composition. Lastly the writer needs to be very direct and explain as well as possible so that any readers are able to understand where the writer has found their information.

Kallet, Richard. “Writing the Method Section of a Medical Study.” Publish on Perish. 3 March 2010.

After reviewing both of these articles I found that being very clear and percise is very important with writing a methods page. The writer also needs to be able to explain everything from who they did the research on to that persons background, also all of the questions and answers that were asked in any interview or questionnaire. I also found that the methods section is the most important to a research paper, which means it has to be the best part! Another thing that I found was important, was that the writer needs to keep in mind the audience they are writing for.

Blog # 10

alwoodaysafgbq — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 20:14:15 +0000

English Rubric

My English Rubric to Why are killing rampages Increasing?