-Read Leedy & Ormrod: “What is Research?” from Practical Research: Planning & Design (Course Reader)
-Read Boix Mansilla: “Assessing Student Work at Disciplinary Crossroads." <---That's a way illegal link with the file in it.
-Read Graff and Birkenstein: Introduction and Chapters 1-4.
-Turn in Background Survey if you didn’t finish it in last week’s class.
-Complete Research Log #1 on course blog by Tuesday at 22:00. Research logs are meant to suit your project’s development, so there are many possibilities: post a comment about a potential idea, a potential source, an assigned text, your feelings about your progress or lack thereof, or post a question, tip, or response to another student. Aim for about 100 words but feel free to post more, or to post additional entries. Cross conversation is encouraged, though please be respectful of other students.
-Complete an initial one page Statement of Interest about a potential research topic and post it here on this blog entry by Wednesday at 18:00. (Or email it to me.) Be as specific as possible. What topic interests you and why? Which disciplines inform this topic? What do you already know about it? What are you curious to learn or analyze about the topic? Why is it something worth thinking about?The “Finding Topics” and “Checklist for Understanding Your Readers” sections of Booth’s Craft of Research will probably be helpful for developing your statement.
In case I forget, here is a little research narrative of my own about the Boix Mansilla essay. I believe the course director intended this to be a scavenger hunt so that you would be forced to find it yourself and thus get exposure to some of the library resources you'll need later in the course. I decided you had enough to do and promised to find it, but then I forgot (many excuses but the main one being that I had already hunted down another Boix Mansilla essay for 490 and got them bollixed up... or I guess boixed up). Putting myself in the lazy student's position, because I am one, I went straight to Google for the article citation. I knew I probably wouldn't be able to get the article itself, which would likely be a paid library resource. So the third hit on the article title appears to be the one, and I get this citation: Change, v37 n1 p14 Jan-Feb 2005 . The first two seem to be earlier versions of the article that might have been given as conference speeches. I'm guessing Change magazine refers to its purpose rather than its cost, but that could work either way, ha ha. OK so now I know which magazine/journal I need, so now I'll go to the main library page (library.gmu.edu). I clicked on e-journals because I'm optimistic and then typed in the journal's title and hit search. It appears to be that first one, published in New York. So then I click on the JSTOR link, which is a database service university libraries pay for, then I get a password prompt (which is way easier than this process used to be at my old university). Then I've apparently been granted access by GMU's electronic library elves. Now I'm stumped, because this access stops at volume 36, or year 2004. But wait, why did I look for it on JSTOR when it was available in several other places? Now I'll go back and try Education Full Text, which sounds like what I'm looking for and purports to cover until "present," which should include 2005 unless there is some kind of hot tub time machine involved. Eureka. Now I'm into Volume 37, Number 1. I click full text PDF for the article I was seeking. I save it under a silly filename to my desktop, and then blah blah blah I put it on the blog. Lather, rinse, repeat that process about 10,000 times with more frustration, dead ends, work, and pressure, and that's your research project.
-Read Boix Mansilla: “Assessing Student Work at Disciplinary Crossroads." <---That's a way illegal link with the file in it.
-Read Graff and Birkenstein: Introduction and Chapters 1-4.
-Turn in Background Survey if you didn’t finish it in last week’s class.
-Complete Research Log #1 on course blog by Tuesday at 22:00. Research logs are meant to suit your project’s development, so there are many possibilities: post a comment about a potential idea, a potential source, an assigned text, your feelings about your progress or lack thereof, or post a question, tip, or response to another student. Aim for about 100 words but feel free to post more, or to post additional entries. Cross conversation is encouraged, though please be respectful of other students.
-Complete an initial one page Statement of Interest about a potential research topic and post it here on this blog entry by Wednesday at 18:00. (Or email it to me.) Be as specific as possible. What topic interests you and why? Which disciplines inform this topic? What do you already know about it? What are you curious to learn or analyze about the topic? Why is it something worth thinking about?The “Finding Topics” and “Checklist for Understanding Your Readers” sections of Booth’s Craft of Research will probably be helpful for developing your statement.
In case I forget, here is a little research narrative of my own about the Boix Mansilla essay. I believe the course director intended this to be a scavenger hunt so that you would be forced to find it yourself and thus get exposure to some of the library resources you'll need later in the course. I decided you had enough to do and promised to find it, but then I forgot (many excuses but the main one being that I had already hunted down another Boix Mansilla essay for 490 and got them bollixed up... or I guess boixed up). Putting myself in the lazy student's position, because I am one, I went straight to Google for the article citation. I knew I probably wouldn't be able to get the article itself, which would likely be a paid library resource. So the third hit on the article title appears to be the one, and I get this citation: Change, v37 n1 p14 Jan-Feb 2005 . The first two seem to be earlier versions of the article that might have been given as conference speeches. I'm guessing Change magazine refers to its purpose rather than its cost, but that could work either way, ha ha. OK so now I know which magazine/journal I need, so now I'll go to the main library page (library.gmu.edu). I clicked on e-journals because I'm optimistic and then typed in the journal's title and hit search. It appears to be that first one, published in New York. So then I click on the JSTOR link, which is a database service university libraries pay for, then I get a password prompt (which is way easier than this process used to be at my old university). Then I've apparently been granted access by GMU's electronic library elves. Now I'm stumped, because this access stops at volume 36, or year 2004. But wait, why did I look for it on JSTOR when it was available in several other places? Now I'll go back and try Education Full Text, which sounds like what I'm looking for and purports to cover until "present," which should include 2005 unless there is some kind of hot tub time machine involved. Eureka. Now I'm into Volume 37, Number 1. I click full text PDF for the article I was seeking. I save it under a silly filename to my desktop, and then blah blah blah I put it on the blog. Lather, rinse, repeat that process about 10,000 times with more frustration, dead ends, work, and pressure, and that's your research project.
Research log#1
ReplyDelete(I am very new to blogging and I hope I am blogging this in the right place)
I am very interested in the housing epidemic in this country. I would like to do a lot more research on ways we can make it better by researching and revising some of the codes and regulations that are currently in place. A potential source is the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development(HUD). I believe that there is a wealth of information that they can provide that will assist me in finding ways to help people with problems such as avoiding foreclosure, providing citizens with rental assistance that meets the needs of their family. HUD is a great potential source because they are the ones who take the lead and have to answer to congress when it comes to today's housing market and the challenges it face. Another potential source may be the Military Housing Privatization Initiative. The Department of Defense has been tasked to work with the private sectors to revitalize the military housing market. Looking at the housing situation from a military perspective will be very interesting. Military service men and women are constantly on the go and often times have to leave their homes behind. This puts them in a position where they have to either sell their homes or find someone to rent it until they can return. Army pamphlet #210-8 which is the Housing Utilization Pamphlet is a good source to find out about housing for soldiers in the Army and P11101.31A provides the housing regulations pertaining to the US Marine Corps. The military housing privatization act protect tenants by the same state and federal housing laws as their civilian counterparts and therefore are in a better position than they were before privatization. There are many more resources to consider and many topics that I have not touched upon. I am still in a research phase at this moment and hope to narrow my topic down very soon.
Shareen
Aaron,
ReplyDeleteI posted my one pager in Google docs and shared it with you. Hope you can see it. If you don't I will e-mail it.
Thanks,
Laura, I got it. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteStatement of Interest Assignment
ReplyDeleteMy interest in researching Counterfeit Material in the Aerospace / Military industry originally came from a presentation that the FBI gave to my company early last year. Though I have been in the manufacturing or business world most of my life, I have always had a strange infatuation with the criminal aspect of business. What drives criminals to do the things that they do and how has this changed the way people do business. What government agencies, laws or industry standards have been implemented to help attacked this situation. Purchasing material and building product, product that will end up in space or in defense weapons has brought the topic of counterfeit parts closer to home for me.
I believe that both of my disciplines influenced this topic of research, with the business side helps me pin point a topic (actually working in the field) and the criminal justice side helping me explore the legal ramifications of counterfeiting and where businesses can turn to report these crimes.
I have little knowledge on counterfeit components; I believed at one time that counterfeit only referred to money or street knockoffs, not building high tech devices. Recent articles in the NASA news and the SPACE news about real cases of counterfeit parts showing up in the manufacturing process. Parts or components become obsolete and in short supply, counterfeit operations begin to form by altering standard components or changing the lettering on a component passing it off as a better or space level component. Created by more and more overseas manufacturing or scrap recovery process and less components being produced under US guidelines opens the door for more counterfeiting opportunities. If manufacturers are not due diligent in their inspection or testing process, these parts can end up on satellites or defense equipment. I would like to explore the meaning of counterfeit, look at what evens happen to create this need for counterfeiting, explore what economical and business impact this crime has on the business and the world – concentrating on the Aerospace / Military Industry. What measures are companies putting in place to combat this problem, how or what government agencies are part of the counterfeit prevention task force. I believe the problem has been identified and it’s up to the individual companies to make sure measures are in place to identify and prevent themselves from becoming a target of counterfeiters.
Counterfeiting in the Aerospace / Military Industry is worth researching in that this is not just an economical or monetary issue but has moved into a national security / defense issue that will at some point affect everyone.
Statement of Interest
ReplyDeleteI am interested in many topics to study based on the disciplines of Theater and Film and Video Studies. In reading Booth, Colomb, and Williams’ book a little, I found that I too came across a subject matter that I thought to myself might not be right for the audience involved. I had read through a scene of a short play I was looking at using for this project and then, I realized that this audience may not appreciate it because it was a very risqué subject matter. However, the authors of this book do a nice job of letting us know that it is alright to present an argument as long as there is a counterargument. I was thinking of finding out which students intend on taking BIS 490 next semester and doing a survey of what kind of films each of them enjoys watching and what kinds of films they cannot stand watching and base my research on this since, they are my target audience for this project.
I guess I know a little on the subject already as I have been studying Film and Theater for the past four years, however I would not call myself an expert. I would probably look at different acting techniques and why each is used in different settings or by different actors. I am not dead set on this yet, so I am still in the planning stages of this part of my research. This is something worth learning about because it would be surprising to some people to know how their favorite actors learned their techniques and from whom they were taught and how old or young acting actually is. This would be something that would fascinate me, of course it is something I have been studying for some time too, so now I just have to figure out how to make it interesting to everyone else as well and that is where the research subject matter has gotten tricky on me.
Statement of Interest
ReplyDeleteThe areas I am interested in are Communication, Government and Law. What I would like to focus my research on is why communication lacks or is difficult in the Law, and specifically when it comes to contracts. Through my work as a project manager I have been more and more involved with reviewing and writing contracts and have developed an understanding and appreciation for what they contain. Prior to this experience I was quick just to sign anything to make the contract go away and rarely knew what I was agreeing to. During my course work in communication I have studied why and where communication breakdowns happen and some of the main causes are a lack of understanding of the subject matter, and also the way in which the subject matter is presented. This was certainly the case for me; I had convinced myself that I wouldn’t be able to understand what was in a contract so it wasn’t worth it for me to review it before signing. The government aspect here is related to the formation of laws and the basic procedures and requirements for the transfer of property and rights. Contracts all include the transfer of something from one person to another so it is important to know where the rules and regulations governing them come from.
The focus of my research would be to examine if there really is a lack of understanding of legal communication or if that is just my personal impression. My fear is that the available sources and previous research on his topic will be very limited. My goal from the research would be to come up with ways to overcome the lack of understanding and maybe prepare some sort of guide or checklist for people to use.
Statement of Interest
ReplyDeleteI am interested in water rights and conflicts as an emerging study in human rights and environmental rights. I am fascinated by this topic because of its increasing importance as our fresh water supplies dwindle and as transnational corporations see increasing opportunity to privatize and make profitable a sector that has traditionally been a public utility in most nation states.
Water conflict has four dimensions: social, political, economic and environmental. The complexities of the problems many nations face must be approached with resolutions that address needs and interests in all of these dimensions.
The limited amount of reading I have done on the matter has included conflicts on three levels:
1. The privatization of traditionally public water infrastructure; serious conflicts that emerged in Bolivia and South Africa over subsequent inaccessibility of potable water to citizens once transnational corporations ran water infrastructure as a profit enterprise.
2. The environmental abuse and exploitation of transnational corporations in attempts to capture fresh water to sell for profit; communities have been ecologically and economically devastated.
3. Violent conflicts emerging in intrastate and interstate struggles over rights to water supplies.
I am curious to better understand the topic more globally; I have studied conflicts in 5 or 6 nations only. I am interested in exploring conflicts in other nations as well as exploring what models are working well for possible replication.
This is something worth thinking about if there ever was anything worth thinking about. What more fundamental need is there than water? Growing up in California, I vividly remember water shortages and the nominal effect that pales in comparison to shortages elsewhere. This issue is only going to get worse and must be explored now.
[RL #1: Karen Bontrager] I am very thrilled and scared, at the same time, at the prospect of going through a human subjects review board to have my project approved to conduct ‘real live’ research at George Mason University.
ReplyDeleteSo you won’t be in the dark, I am interested in studying why 16-24 year-olds have such high rates of violence in their dating partnerships. I thought the ideal place to study this phenomena would be here on campus. If any of you are interested in conducting one, I will be more than happy to speak with you about it.
Thus far, the process has been a bit intimidating, however, I am getting through it. First, you will need to find a faculty member, who is interested in sponsoring you. Next, you have to go through human subjects’ training. They say it takes about six hours, but I believe it takes more like twelve, especially if you are unfamiliar with the research process.
Let me know, if you are interested.
I believe this class will change many lives.
Sincerely,
Karen Bontrager
I just posted my RL#1 but can't see it. I wonder what happened. Of course I did not write it into a word doc at first. Oh no.
ReplyDeleteOk, one more time........
ReplyDeleteResearch Log #1
My concentration disciplines are Art and Psychology. I am a trained interior designer and I feel that these two disciplines are intrinsic to interior design. You might wonder why that is. Have you ever experienced an environment altering your mood? This is a psychological phenomena: maybe it was the awful lighting that drained you of your energy or the color on the walls that left you feeling completely irritated. Often these things happen on an unconscious level. The same happens when the environment (the interior of your home for example) makes you feel happy and you engage in conversation and express yourself in positive ways. Again, you are responding directly to your environment. I would like to get to the source of what exactly it is that makes us feel a certain way. We know intuitively that color, light, aroma, or a piece of art for example have strong affects on us. Besides style, trend, placement of furniture and structural detail there needs to be more than meets the eye.
Ok, I finally got the blog up and running and will post shortly both the Research Log#1 and Statement of Interest.
ReplyDeleteResearch #1
ReplyDeleteThis is the first time I have used a blog and it has taken me awhile to learn how to use it. My project in BIS will eventually revolve around my current and fledgling new business in Move Management. Ideally, my past business experiences (from estate management, marketing and sales, property management and interior design)helped jump start the idea, but through the last four years the business has catered more toward an elderly clientele and their grown children. I have grown with the business, and through my studies, I have learned more about the adult development of the aging population in addition to the eldercare business in our country. The only idea I have come up with is working with the elderly population and their lifestyle transition options, but I have not thought about this project much yet, as I am a business owner who stays very busy with my obligations both as a student and the day to day operations and marketing of the business.
I want to add a comment regarding Iris's log #1 written above. As a stager working with realtor's for our elderly clientele, I totally understand what is driving Iris to pursue the two disciplines of psychology and art. In the business of staging someone's home (to sell or buy) is big business. The reasons are simple, it isn't simple at all. You have to tap into someone's deep underlying psychological needs and wants when it comes to being a homeowner.
ReplyDeleteThank you for that comment, Bagt. It is very encouraging to me. -iris
ReplyDelete