Chapter 2 "Exploring and Focusing"

Chapter Two:

Chapter two discusses how to create a plan that will allow the researcher to explore their topic. One way to kick start your topic research is by discussing your topic with others. This can help you gather more information, and identify additional resources. Examples ranging from class peers, to librarians, and even your professor. Another way is by recording your results. Good recording will help you answer important questions about your topic. Once you have finished recording, go back and review your notes, paying special attention to issues related to your topic. Exploring your topic with the few examples provided, can help to identify an issue within your topic.

Chapter 1 "The Bedford Researcher"

Chapter One: 

Chapter one answers a few key points, as well as, creative research ideas, that allows one to begin their research paper with confidence. Getting started is never easy, but here are a few ways that will help out. First, Find a topic that your audience can relate to. Once you have chosen a topic, begin researching for sources using key terms. This will help you to locate your sources. Make note of sources that pertain to your topic. As well as sourcing your facts as you research. And, does your source locate more sources. These key points will help the researcher to understand and manage the writing process. To help you begin the writing process, you might want to generate ideas by brainstorming. Brainstorming involves jotting down ideas as they come to you. After brainstorming, generate ideas by free writing. This will help over come writers block, while producing raw material. Allow yourself a minimum of five to ten minutes of writing full sentences without stopping. Sentence starters are another way to generate ideas by filing in the blanks. Once finished, go back and reflect on your writing. This will help you generate topics for your research project.

Incorporating Sources Effectively

Incorporating Sources Effectively:

On the Brown University web page that features Joan Brumberg, the author of the Body Porject, notes that, “the female ideal, in the pressure to achieve it, have become unrelenting.”

On the Brown University web page, a recent study at Stanford University and the University of Massachusetts found that, “70% of college women say they feel worse about their own looks after reading women’s magazines.”

Joan Brumberg author of the Body Project, explains how adolescent woman are influenced by numerous outside sources which leads them to believe that the body imagery they are seeing, is what they should look like. She also notes that, in recent studies have shown that most women who are constantly worried about their looks are linked to diminished mental performance, low self-esteem, anxiety, depression and eating disorders. 

Work Cited:

Balcetis, Emily, et al. "Searching Out The Ideal: Awareness Of Ideal Body Standards Predicts Lower Global Self-Esteem In Women." Self & Identity 12.1 (2013): 99-113. Academic Search Premier. Web. 22 Oct. 2015.


De, Sonali, and Rituparna Chakraborty. "Body Dissatisfaction Among Female University Students: Metacognitive Awareness." Psychological Studies 60.3 (2015): 257-264. Academic Search Premier. Web. 22 Oct. 2015.


Mooney, E., H. Farley, and C. Strugnell. "A Qualitative Investigation Into The Opinions Of Adolescent Females Regarding Their Body Image Concerns And Dieting Practices In The Republic Of Ireland (ROI)." Appetite 52.2 (2009): 485-491. Academic Search Premier. Web. 22 Oct. 2015.


Pritchard, Mary, and Brooke Cramblitt. "Media Influence On Drive For Thinness And Drive For Muscularity." Sex Roles 71.5/8 (2014): 208-218. Academic Search Premier. Web. 22 Oct. 2015.

Ferguson, Christopher J., et al. "Mirror, Mirror On The Wall: Peer Competition, Television Influences, And Body Image Dissatisfaction." Journal Of Social & Clinical Psychology 30.5 (2011): 458-483. Academic Search Premier. Web. 22 Oct. 2015

Scribe Notes

Scribe Notes:

            Ken: A lot of the research I am finding pertains to the broad spectrum of my thesis, it is not very narrow or clear. For the most part, the evidence is very clear and precise.

Miranda: Going onto google, the articles are more opinionated than the scholarly articles. The scholarly articles provide statistics, in depth evidence and more supporting details about the topic.

Joshua: The journals have more accurate validation than the five W’s. Most the evidence after a few years has been outdated.

Negatives: The research process has been a little frustrating for the most part due to inaccurate findings from google, or other opinionated sites. Most of the evidence we find through Academic Research Premier, the scholarly articles are hard to read and identify evidence because of the amount of detail put into these articles or journals. It’s hard to trace sources and back date.

Positives: Were still in the process of getting started, so most of our findings are hard to depict because of the scholarly language being used. But we view these challenges as a positive. There is a lot of great evidence/findings that are very detailed and broad which allows the reader to ask more in depth questions that could lead to a great thesis. 

MLA Work Cited - Basics

MLA works cited – Basics

       

Why do we start with the article title, and why is it in quotations?

1.      We start with the article title because this article does not have an author. The quotations are used to show that MLA citing is taking place.

Why is Environmental Defense Fund listed twice, but only once in italics?

2.      The Environmental Defense Fund was listed twice to show the website title. The second, represents the publishing site.

What are the last 3 items in the citation?

·         Publishing Site

·         Date the article was published

·         Date the article was viewed

Now, take a few of your sources, and copy and paste their bibliography information into your Word document.

Scott, Elizabeth S., And Robert E. Emery. "Gender Politics And Child Custody: The Puzzling Persistence Of The Best-Interests Standard. “ Law & Contemporary Problems 77.1 (2014): 69-108. Academic Search Premier. Web. 6 Oct. 2015.

Scholarly

Elizabeth S. Scott & Robert E. Emery, Gender Politics and Child Custody: The Puzzling Persistence of the Best-Interests Standard, 77 Law and Contemporary Problems 69-108 (2014). Duke Law

Article website

Smart, Carol. Child custody and the Politics of Gender (Sociology of Law and Crime Series). New York, Routledge, 1989. Print

Book

Fineman, Martha L. "Custody Determination At Divorce: The Limits Of Social Science Research And The Fallacy Of The Liberal Ideology Of Equality." Canadian Journal Of Women & The Law 3.1 (1989): 88-110. Academic Search Premier. Web. 13 Oct. 2015.

Periodical

5 Scholarly Citations

5 scholarly citations:

1.      SCOTT, ELIZABETH S., and ROBERT E. EMERY. "Gender Politics And Child Custody: The Puzzling Persistence Of The Best-Interests Standard."Law & Contemporary Problems 77.1 (2014): 69-108. Academic Search Premier. Web. 6 Oct. 2015.

2.      Woody, Robert Henley. "Sexism In Child Custody Decisions." Personnel & Guidance Journal 56.3 (1977): 168. Academic Search Premier. Web. 6 Oct. 2015.\

3.      DiFonzo, J. Herbie. "From The Rule Of One To Shared Parenting: Custody Presumptions In Law And Policy." Family Court Review 52.2 (2014): 213-239. Academic Search Premier. Web. 6 Oct. 2015.

4.      Harris-Short, Sonia. "Resisting The March Towards 50/50 Shared Residence: Rights, Welfare And Equality In Post-Separation Families." Journal Of Social Welfare & Family Law 32.3 (2010): 257-274. Academic Search Premier. Web. 6 Oct. 2015.

5.      Dutton, Donald G., John Hamel, and Jon Aaronson. "The Gender Paradigm In Family Court Processes: Re-Balancing The Scales Of Justice From Biased Social Science." Journal Of Child Custody 7.1 (2010): 1-31. Academic Search Premier. Web. 6 Oct. 2015.

Selecting & Narrowing Topic's

List 5 requirements for the final paper:

1.      Be in your own words

2.      Be 3,000 + words in length, not including Works Cited Page or extended quotations

3.      Employ correct grammar, punctuation, and MLA-style formatting

4.      Employ parenthetical citations, a Works Cited page and copious signal phrases to avoid plagiarism and identify and contextualize the authors, sources, and debate you’re engaging in

5.      Convincingly argue your thesis through a combination of rational and affective appeals

 

List 5 criteria for success on your final paper:

1.      Time management

2.      Follow the syllabus outline

3.      Peer reviews

4.      Up to date sources

5.      Scholarly sources

List 5 topics you brought in for discussion:

1.      Fathers should be allowed the same treatment as mothers in family court decisions. Too many times the mother is favored because of the "nurturing" stereotype.

2.      Is gun control an effective method of reducing crime?

3. Physician-assisted suicide should be legal in cases where death is certain and consent is from the dying (in writing).
4. All animal experimentation (including cancer research) should be outlawed as advances in technology have made animal testing unnecessary.

5.      The classroom size of grades K through 5 statewide should be set at a maximum of 20 students.

Notes:

Pro’s:

·         Good topic choice but should a side be favored?

·         Broad topic, very detail oriented topic.

·         Narrow your topic down.

Con’s:

·         How broad is too broad?

·         What’s the hidden message?

·         Are sources going to be credible?

·         More in depth of a topic sentence.

5 research questions:

1.      What rules and regulations could be more lenient and or stricter for gun control?

2.      What evidence shows why women are more nurturing then men?

3.      Do we need any more rules or regulations added to the gun control policy?

4.      Do children get a chose when parents go through divorce?

5.      How to appeal physician assisted suicide?