Monday, March 22, 2010

My Research Project Research. =)

My research question is this: “How does the American Dream affect our morality?” This question interested me very much because I have always been interested in figuring problems out that exist in today’s society. And often it comes back to morality. We are on a moral decline and I would like to pinpoint how this affects our morality and vise versa. I am very interested in the moral aspect of the American Dream.
I am not one hundred percent sure what I will find in my research. I know that the pursuit of the American Dream has led to a decline in American’s values, but I do not want to be too biased going into this project. I want to have an open mind, as any good researcher would.
I will probably start my research online, honestly. I will check out websites like http://www.bls.gov/ and http://news.cnet.com/American-workers-Lazy-or-creative/2008-1082_3-5847422.html . I will then continue on into the library and interviews.
I do not have a backup plan because I am confident that this one will pan out. This will not backfire because I am very interested in the subject. I have always been a flaneur and this topic is one that I have observed steadily.
~Laurel May~

Monday, March 15, 2010

My Research Project

I am very excited to start this research project. I think it will be an educational paper to research and write. I will write about the moral aspect of the changes in the American Dream. Attitudes that circle around money, people with lazy attitudes, the selfishness of our society today, those who feel victimized by society, the changes in women in the workforce. These things will be some of the moral viewpoints that influence the AD that I will write about. I would like to touch on how America likes to push our perfect American Dream down on other countries, wishing to change cultures worldwide. I think that this will be of interest because the moral downgrade of our society is something that affects everyone.
Since this is a research project, I am becoming aware that I will learn most by doing a variety of research. I plan on spending time at the city library researching stories. I will use the internet to find statistics and recent news stories. I hope to conduct a few interviews as well, with some different age groups.
I would think that any good research project will give both views of the topic. I hope to erase any bias I have by talking with those who oppose my views, and researching the opposite topic online. I know that I must substantiate my points with different sources, because this gives the point much more credibility.
I am extremely excited to start this project. I will try to take on an attitude of a detective working on his most recent case. I have concern because I do not have a whole lot of experience writing a research paper, but I know I can, and will, get over it.
~Laurel May~

Sunday, March 7, 2010

The Writings of the Paper

I got a late start on the paper assignment for this week. The paper was based on "The Working Poor". David Shipler is a very interesting person, and thus, an engaging author. I enjoyed writing the paper and tried to use previous constructive criticism to better my paper.
I had fun researching Mr. Shipler. I sort of felt like a detective, trying to discover what I can about the author. I did not have time to go to the library and research the author, even though it was part of the assignment. But I found plenty of information online, cross referencing the information for credibility. I used a lot of internet resources to write my paper.
I wrote the three sections together, trying to make them flow as I wrote them. I thought this approach would be more ideal, rather than writing each section separately, and trying to make them flow afterward.
When writing papers and the like, I tend to write too many words. If there is a minimum of 1,000 words, I will often write more like 1,600 words. Not in this case. I had trouble filling the 2 pages of the middle content! I thought this was interesting.
All in all, it was a good assignment. I like how Ms. Jordan graduates each assignment with more words and more thought processes.
~Laurel May~