Blog Entry #17

I had switched into this class right at the beginning of the semester and really didnt kno wwhat I was getting myself into. There were times when I was really skeptical about how I would get through it and if all the late nights and hard work was worth it. After being warned by Marlen, that this would be the hardest class I’ll take in college with the most work I’ll ever have to do, i’m surprised I stuck it out. When Marlen guaranteed that we would get an A in this course, I think that made me really want it and work hard to get it. Because it was so much work and so time consuming, I put my best effort into it. I really wanted to be successful and get the best product I could out of my paper. I think my proudest moment thus far was when I printed out my revised copy for peer review. It was all done. All it needed were some revisions. I was holding what I think is a pretty well written paper that I worked on for the past almost 4 months. It felt pretty good.

Add a comment April 26, 2010

Blog Entry #16

Reflection

I think the most helpful document in writing my research paper was doing all of the blogs and looking up how to actually write the different sections of the paper. I was pretty lost as to how to write most of it until I did the research and I referenced my blogs throughout the whole process.

I think the peer review projects were really helpful. Coming from another student in the same situation doing the same assignment, it helped to get their feedback. It also reassured me that I was on the right track in my own paper by looking at other’s work. I also looked for things in my paper that I found in others whether they were mistakes or things that were needed in the paper.

I think the most difficult part was doing all of the research and writing the lit review.  It was hard to find information that pertained to my topic and organize it in a way that would make sense. I tried to fill holes in the resarch when I was doing my own and that was also hard to do. It was hard to find exactly waht I wanted to do with this paper. The method section came the easiest for me. I think once I knew what resarch question I wanted to answer, i knew exactly how I was going to answer it and how I was going to go about finding my information.

I cant think of one speicfic area that shows my best work. I think my conclusion and discussion section is pretty well written. i think I organized it well and it flows nicely.

Add a comment April 26, 2010

Blog Entry #15

What I Learned From The Peer Review Projects…

Doing the peer review projects helped me a lot both in writing in general and my specific paper and topic. In highschool when I did peer reviews, I always looked at grammar and spelling and all the little details. I learned to look beyond that and look at the paper as a whole. Although I am one of those people who finds it hard to not nit pick at a paper, I found the whole process more enjoyable by not doing that. It helped me a lot looking at the positive and negative responses on my own paper as well as writing them for others. Reading and commenting on other student’s work helped me find strengths and weaknesses in my own. I didn’t find the rubric as helpful as the personal comments. It was hard putting a number on things and I just felt like the comments gave a lot more insight in correcting and looking at the responses on my own paper. There were some things in my paper that I thought were weak and that I thought were strong and for the most part my reviewer agreed with me. This clarified alot and helped me focus on weak points in my paper during the revision process.

Add a comment April 5, 2010

Blog Entry #14

Results/Discussion/Conclusion

How To Write The Results Section

According To The Language Center At The Asian Institute Of Technology…

• Results Are a statement-easily read
• Can use graph, table, text format
• Explanation/Focus og what is significant
• Dont just repeat information-provide explanation
• 2 ways to organize: present all results; discuss or present some; discuss; present discuss…etc.-depends on what works best

According To Writing The Results…

• Direct line to observations in research
• Dont discuss how, why…
• Simply present findings

How To Write The Discussion Section

According To Bates College Biology Dept…

• Connect results to already know information-intro and lit review, question and hypothesis considered/included
• Do your findings provide answers?
• Agree with others?
• Provide new understanding?
• What’s next? Suggestions for other researchers
• Use active voice and dont be too wordy
• Discuss experiment in order it was presented in the results
• Reference other works
• Do not intro new results in the discussion section
• Acknowledge any outside help in research
• Use an appendix if needed

According To The Language Center…

• Comment and explanation of results
• Reasoning based on results
• Put results in context
• Minimize repetition
• Different focus than results section

How To Write The Conclusion Section

According To UNC..

• Last words-final say, summary of thoughts
• Make the readers glad they read your work
• Ask yourself, ‘So what?’ to help get more out of the conclusion
• Don’t use overused, tacky phrases; in conclusion… in closing…etc…
• Don’t just restate the thesis
• Don’t state the thesis for the first time
• Dont’ use too much emotion
• Don’t throw in new information

According To The Language Center..

• Summary of what was learned
• Don’t make it too long, too much detail
• Go from general to specific
• Don’t ignore the negative
• Match objectives of the research-answer question, thesis

Looking up information on these sections of the paper and how to write them helped me a lot. I wasnt sure what to include in each part and this clarified it well for me. I will be referencing this blog entry when doing my own R/D/C section.

Summary Content Provided By:

“Conclusions.” Handouts And Links. University Of North Carolina At Chapel Hill, 2007. Web. 5 Apr 2010. <http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/conclusions.html>.

“Discussion.” How To Write A Paper In Scientific Journal Style And Format. Department Of Biology, Bates College, 25 09 2008. Web. 5 Apr 2010. <http://abacus.bates.edu/~ganderso/biology/resources/writing/HTWsections.html#discussion>.

“Writing The Results.” EEES, n.d. Web. 5 Apr 2010. .

“Writing Up Research: Conclusions.” Language Center. Asian Institute Of Technology, 2003. Web. 5 Apr 2010. <http://www.languages.ait.ac.th/EL21CONC.HTM>.

“Writing Up Research: Discussion.” Language Center. Asian Institute Of Technology, 2003. Web. 5 Apr 2010. <http://www.languages.ait.ac.th/EL21DISC.HTM >.

“Writing Up Research: Results.” Language Center. Asian Institute Of Technology, 2003. Web. 5 Apr 2010. <http://www.languages.ait.ac.th/EL21RES.HTM>.

Add a comment April 5, 2010

Blog Entry #13

Cohesive Writing

I am having some trouble in this area and will probably get further help with it. I was told in my peer review that this is a weak point in my writing, however, I have done a few things to help my paper flow.

At the end of my intro, I tie things together and leave a few open questions which will be answered in the rest of my paper. I think this helps lead into the lit review which is where alot of holes are filled and things are explained.

At the end of the lit review I tied things together by talking about how all of the literature helped me in guiding my topic and answered alot of questions for me. I also talked about where I wanted to go in my own research based off the lit review. I think this helps go into the method section because that is where I talk about how I will go about doing my own research on my topic that I have been discussing throughout the beginning of my paper.

Add a comment April 5, 2010

Blog Entry #12

Research Methods

Participants: I hope to have six participants. 3 of whom are in relationships currently and 3 who are single. I hope that this gets a balanced view of what guys want in relationships from the single and taken perspective. I want them to be guys that I am acquainted with but not that I have a personal relationship with. I think this will leave otu possible bias in the answers but also make them feel comfortable. I will not include names in the paper rather just age and status to protect their privacy. I will let them know entirely where and how their information will be used prior to questioning them.

My research will be gathered through email surveys. I think that this topic would yield better results not done in person and to make the participant the most comfortable.

The surveys will include a few questions getting the age and relationship status of the participant and then some more in depth questions regarding what they look for in relationships. There will be about 10 questions all together and should only take around 10 minutes to complete.

Add a comment April 5, 2010

Blog Entry #11

Writing The Method Section

According To “Writing Up Research”…

• Methodology section asks two questions: How was data collected? How was it analyzed?
• Method Affects Results-helps reader understand
• Reasoning-why chose?
• Methods (appropriate to objective)
• Readers replicate methodology
• Problems with methodology are irrelevent details and unneccessary explanations
• Keep purpose of method section in mind

According to “How To Write A Method Section”…

• Method sections should include 4 parts; participants, materials, design and procedure
• Participants-who? how many? how selected?
• Materials-measures, equipment, equipment used in experiment
• Design-what are the variables?
• Procedures-used in experiment

Tips On Writing The Method Section…

• Always write in past tense
• Provide just enough detail
• Proofread!

Summary Content Provided By…

Cherry Kendra, . “How To Write A Method Section.” About.com. New York Times, n.d. Web. 15 Mar 2010. http://psychology.about.com/od/psychologywriting/ht/method.htm.

Writing Up Research: Method And Research Design. 15 3 2010, Language Center Asian Institute Of Technology. Web. 15 Mar 2010. http://www.languages.ait.ac.th/el21meth.htm.

Add a comment March 15, 2010

Blog Entry #10

What is a lit review?

• A lit review is not about whether or not you liked the sources.
• Discusses info on a subject area
• summary and synthesis combo

What’s The Purpose Of A Lit Review?

• argument of the sources, not your own argument
• ‘Guide’ to the topic
• Provides background and organization
• Furthers the researcher’s knowledge

How To Start The Lit Review?

• Decide how many sources, types of sources, how to discuss/evaluate
• Look at other lit reviews for help
• Evaluate sources-current? reliable?

How To Write The Lit Review?

• Find A Focus
• Construct thesis-perspective on material
• Organize-intro, body, conclusions/recommendations
• Use evidence, be selective about quotes, use your own voice
• Revise

• A literature review is a summary of previous research
• The purpose is to convey to the reader the knowledge established on the topic, the strengths/weaknesses on the topic and to familiarize the reader with the topic

Questions you should ask when writing a lit review….

• What is known?
• Are there any gaps in the research?
• Further research?
• Areas of debate?
• Methodology to use based on lit review?
• Status of current research?
• Usefulness of sources?

Summary Content Provided By:

“How To Do A Literature Review?.” T.D Bluford Library. 2003. A&t State U, Web. 2 Mar 2010.  <http://www.library.ncat.edu/ref/guides/literaturereview03.htm.>

“Literature Reviews.” UNC Writing Center. 2007. UNC, Web. 2 Mar 2010. <http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/literature_review.html>

*I made a rubric with Kyle Callahan…it is on his blog

Add a comment March 1, 2010

Blog Entry #9

The Happy Couple

Paragraph 1) There is an introduction to promoting the positive in marriage.

Paragraph 2) Source is used. There is an intro on the study of happy marriages

Paragraph 3) Psychology researcher gives his thesis on happy couples. Those are one who accentuate the positive in relationships.

Paragraph 4) Supports thesis. How couples handle good news and how much it healps a relationship. New idea introduced: Cultivating Passion

Paragraph 5) Another psychologist’s opinion. Studies that used to be.

Paragraph 6) Explanation of a study looking at couples discussing positive and negative exents and how they reacted to them.

Paragraph 7) Results of study- How couples couples react to positive news can be so much more of a factor in a positive relationship than how they react to negative news

Paragraph 8 ) More support of paragraph 7- Passive constructive vs. active consructive

Paragraph 9) Positive events come up more often than negative ones. A study reports that on days when couples told their partners about a happy event created stronger feelings between them.

Paragraph 10) Another psychologist’s opinion: Looking at the big picture prevents small things getting in the way. Includes quote, “As positivity broadens ur mind, it shifts your core view of people and relationships, bringing them closer to your center, to your heart.”

Paragraph 11) Successfull marriages often have a 5:1 ratio of positive to negative feelings.

Paragraph 12) Includes source. Discusses why gratitude is an important emotion and vital to a successful relationship

Paragraph 13) Talks about a study done on how gratitude effects how long a relationship lasts

Paragraph 14) Intros passion in relationships. Too much is worse than none at al.l

Paragraph 15) A certain amount of passion is beneficial as long as boartners are still their own people and obsession doesn’t take over.

Paragraph 16)   Tips on healthy passion in a relationship

Paragraph 17) Tips on expressing positive emotions

Paragraph 18) ips on including activites in your day with your partner that create positive emotions

• Article ends with survey of how positive a person you are

In what way is intro different from the lit review? The intro states the purpose/question and the lit review is more in depth.

Hook? conversation in small story about the topic

Purpose? Explain how to promote happiness in relationships (paragraph 1)

Significance? How much happiness among couples promotes healthy relationships (paragraph 4)

Question? What promotes happiness and success in couples? (Paragraph 1)

Methods? Surveys, professional opinions (throughout)

Conclusion? Couples who accentuate the positive and have a good amount of passion have healthy successful relationships (throughout)

Acceptability Of Marital Violence Among College Men And Women: Does Gender And Current Relationship Status Matter?

Paragraph 1) Purpose of study-gender and status-acceptability of abuse. Thesis stated.

Paragraph 2) Explanation of purpose.

Paragraph 3) Importance of looking at attitudes towards marital violence espescially among young adults.

Paragraph 4) Violence before marriage and reasons for occurence

Paragraph 5) How the research will help/what it will show and prove

Paragraph 6) Sex roles in violence

Paragraph 7) How much is accepted men towards men vs. men towards women

Paragraph 8) Violence on relationship status and when it occurs

Paragraph 9) Sample and procedure in research/study

Paragraph 10-14) Explaining table shown in researchat the numbers represent

Paragraph 15) Conclusions of study. who is more accepting of violence in what cases

Paragraph 16) Explanations of why the researcher thinks these conclusions came about

Paragraph 17) Impact of study on other aspects of relationships

Paragraph 18) Conclusion-other views, further research

• Demographic characteristics of participants
• Tables showing results of study
• References

Diff between intro and lit review? The intro is very broad and the lit review is alot more in depth with the sources and reasoning.

Hook? Stating of purpose

Purpose/Objective? Show what affects acceptance of abuse mostly in regards to sex and relationship status (paragraph 1)

Significance? looking at attitudes towards abuse and how it effects relationships/prevention( paragraph 3,5 and 13)

Question? How does acceptance of abuse differ among men and women and different relationship statuses? (Paragraph 1)

Methods? Survey of people they specifically wants to look at (throughout, actual charts @ the end)

Conclusion? Single women are more acceptant and girl on guy violence is more accepted. Further research in the topic that is suggested in the topic is more in depth conclusions and qualitative datasking, “why?” (Paragraph 14)

Works Cited

Merten, Michael J., and Amanda L. Williams. “ACCEPTABILITY OF MARITAL VIOLENCE AMONG COLLEGE MEN AND WOMEN: DOES GENDER AND CURRENT RELATIONSHIP STATUS MATTER?.” College Student Journal 43.3 (2009): 843-851. Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection. EBSCO. Web. 23 Feb. 2010.

Pileggi, Suzann. “The Happy Couple.” Scientific American Mind 20.7 (2010): 34-39. Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection. EBSCO. Web. 18 Feb. 2010.

1 comment February 22, 2010

Blog Entry #8

The Introductory Paragrah

The intro paragraph is the first impression for the paper. It has to start with some kind of hook to get the reader  interested in your piece at first glance. This is very important because alot of people judge work off the first line and wont read it if it doesnt draw them in right away. A few ideas they have for the hook are a surprising fact, a quote, something funny or a quote. It all depends on the context of your paper and what is most appropriate. The next few lines of the intro explain your subject a little bit and ends with a thesis statement.

A Proper Introduction

In this article, what not to do in an intro paragraph are explained. The examples they give are as follows:

1. Do not apologize or be unsure about your piece
2. Do not announce your paper like “In this paper I will…” or “I will be explaining…”
3. Do not use a dictionary are webster definition
4. Do not add to much fluff or dance around your topic

When they talk about the first line of the intro, a different suggestion that is given is quoting someone famous.

It was helpful looking at both of these articles. It was very clear what to do and what not to do when I write my intro. I liked the suggestions both articles had about what to use for the first line of my paper. I will definately look into these options.

Summary Content Provided By…

“A Proper Introduction.” Guide To Grammar And Writing. CCC Foundation, Web. 18 Feb 2010. <http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/GRAMMAR/intros.htm>.

Fleming, Grace. “The Introductory Paragraph: Start With A Great First Sentance.” About.Com.2010. About.com, Web. 18 Feb 2010. <http://homeworktips.about.com/od/paperassignments/a/introsentence.

Add a comment February 18, 2010