Research Paper Blog

I only have one research topic that. The reason is that I am dead set on writing about that and no other topics really seem appealing to me at the moment. So, obviously the one that I have is what I think is the best. I think that my research topic is the best one for me is because it is something that I am very passionate about and I want to learn more about. I know that I can find a lot of information on the topic and can also get quite a bit of first hand knowledge through interviews and things of that nature.

People had a lot of positive comments about my topic. They wrote how they could tell just from the page we wrote about the websites that it seems like I already am passionate about it and that there are so many questions that can be answered, that I don’t need to worry about running out of information for the paper.  They gave me a few more questions such as, “what exactly makes someone an addict?” They also made me consider if I think i should only write about one type of drug or if I should keep it generalized to all drugs/alcohol.

Two things that I found to be intriguing in other peoples writings were one persont that I read had three completely seperate topics, while another person had three similar ideas all from the same broad topic. I liked how both of the individuals I read from had their opinions expressed in their writings. I think I should try to make my opinion a little more out there, even though I don’t know many people who would have an opinion that supports drug addiction, I should throw it out there that I am extremely against drug usage.

I still think that my topic I have chosen is the best one for my researched essay. This is because I haven’t seen anyone else who is considering doing something along these lines, besides Tressa who may be writing about lowering the drinking age. That is the only thing remotely close to my topic, which I am very excited about. I want to do a topic that no one else is so that everyone can take in information about it. I think it will be good if the whole class has a variety of topics so that everyone can learn something. My approach was pretty similar to everyone elses, except I know that I need to include a lot more details than I had before, but I plan on doing quite a bit of drafts for this essay, so I am sure I will have a chance. I really want to do a great job on this because it is something I am so passionate about and want to share with others.

The Book Stops Here

I chose to write about the essay “The Book Stops Here” by Daniel H. Pink, the author discusses the accuracy of  the information that you find on Wikipedia.   Wikipedia is an online encyclopedia that allows users to edit the information on it. I know quite a few people who have tried to use Wikipedia to write essays and do projects and have run into some issues.  I feel this is a good essay for me to discuss because it is important to any student or person doing research to know the facts about this kind of site.

Pink gives a few examples of instances that support his argument of Wikipedia not being a very reliable source of information. He mentioned a few individuals of people who edited information on the site and claimed to be people who they were not. One of these people was Einar Kvaran.  Kvaran claimed on Wikipedia to be an art historian without portfolio. And he is actually unemployed in real life. He lives in a trailer in New Mexico. He has never published anything or even taught a college course. He reads everyday about American sculpture. The only way he gets to vent all the information that he takes in is by posting it on Wikipedia. And not all of his information is reliable. He is not a qualified historian by any means and doesn’t know everything that he is talking about.

This article just proves a point that I already knew. I knew that Wikipedia is a decent source of broad/general information but you can’t trust everything on the site completely.  In my opinion, any website that can be edited by the readers, is in no way a credible source. It is a good idea to share ideas, but it’s not good for retrieving trustworthy information.

 

strose prose

I picked the article titled “Psychology or Education, which major is right for you?”

I chose to write about this piece because I feel this is a good article that I can relate to a lot. When I was younger I used to want to be a teacher very bad. I would always pretend to have a “classroom” in my room and use my little American Girl Dolls as the students.  I would always ask my teachers in school if I could help grade papers and hand them out. I even drew on the board during recess because I loved the feeling of being in the front of the room. As time passed, my interests changed like most kids do. I started to gravitate away from wanting to teach and started to lean more towards the idea of being a psychologist because I love to help people and learn about how they think. Even though I am still an exploratory major, I have an idea of what I want to major in. I am either going to major in psychology, social work or sociology. Those three are pretty similar to each other in my opinion.

The writers argument is basically a common argument. She wants the reader to be aware of everything that they are going to get themselves into before they decide to declare a major. She makes sure to tell you that you should pick the major that you find to be the most appealing to you. Do something that you like to do, and don’t worry about the work that takes to get there. If you want to do it, it won’t seem like work it will seem fun and interesting. You need to know a a lot about the major that you decide on before you do, so you don’t waste your time taking classes that you don’t need if you decide to change your major. I think we should listen to the advice because it seems like she did a good deal of research on the topic.

I think one of the points that was made that makes this pretty convincing is the fact that she put in the information that she researched. At a few parts, she put very detailed information. There were points where she wrote what exactly you could do with a degree in psychology. She listed the amount of credits you need for that degree, which is 52. She also showed that she did research because she used parenthetical references in her writing.

I think what made this topic so appealing to me is that fact that I really don’t know what type of degree I am going to pursue for sure. I like how she put in a lot of different information and put the writing in a form that is directed towards the reader. She put questions like “do you like to help people?, do you cope well?”. I feel like she did a good job with making this reader friendly and interesting.