Juliedellantoniodjqp’s Weblog

I am so excited to be a course assistence for Marlen’s research writing class. My email is djqp@iup.edu so please contact me whenever you have any questions.

My research survey is posted in my links. Please take it!!

The most important thing i have learned about research writing is that it takes a long time. I am glad that we have had blogging homework that makes us start our research before the paper is due or else i would never have completed the assignment, in time. It took so much time finding all the information needed to back up my hypotheses.

I also learned how important it is to get feedback from others.  It really helped when other people read my paper who have new perspectives on it.  I was able to make changes to it and really focus on my topic.  It also helped reading and giving others feedback. I got ideas from this which in turn helped make my paper better.

I also learned the value of time away from my paper.  I used to write everything in one night and the next day edit it and turn it in.  I have now learned that i need to leave my paper alone for a day and when i get back to it i am able to see it more clearly.  I think it has helped my writing alot.

I think i can improve my mechanics in my paper.  I need to make sure that i am using the same tense throughout the whole paper.  I also can improve in my description of how i set up my survey and how i will get IUP students to take it.  I have touch on it already but i think i can be more specific.  I can state how i can keep bias responses from my paper.  I think my survey can be more specific, asking ages and ethnicities.

I had my meeting with Marlen yesterday and I finally narrowed my topic down.  My topic is now “What are the reseasons behind why IUP students recycle?” I want to prove that being taught early in life to recycle has a great effect on a person when they break out on their own.  Marlen told me to be really specific which will ultimately help me have better research and a more compelling final paper.  I now feel more confident about doing my research. Marlen suggested that i use the website surveymonkey.com and post it on our class website.  He said that he has more than 150 sudents and that combined with some of my facebook friends and other people i know on campus i think that i will have a big enough sample size for my research.  My meeting really helped me organize my thoughts on my paper and how i want to accomplish everything.  I can not wait to get started writing it.

My research subjects will be students at IUP.  I will do an online survey which i will post on the class website and i will also send the survey to my facebook friends.  I am hoping about 200 or more students will take my survey, and if i can get more than that it would be only better.  I think that will give me a big enough sample size to generalize about the IUP campus.  Marlen suggested in my meeting with him that i should use the website “surveymonkey.com” and this should protect my research subjects and make it very easy and quick for them to take it.  I do not think that this would endanger the participants at all.  Marlen said that he has used this website many times before so i feel very confident that it will be safe and effective for everyone.

What are the characteristics of people in Indiana who recycle?

Do people enthusatically recycle in Indiana? Is there a correlation between these people?

I think recycling is the most basic and easiest way to help save the environment. It is really important to do. I think that there is a correlation between people who take care of the health and are concerned about other things besides themselves and how much they recycle.  I really think this is interesting from a college age perspective because we are the future of America. America is known for over wasting everything. We consume and go through so mant things in only a day. My family alone who is made up of four people have six cars. Do we need all these cars? no; i think that by starting with recycling i can better understand people

My research topic is recycling, who does it and why? I am interested in this topic because I am very concerned with the environment, I make it a priority in my life to use less and conserve more.  I am curious on who typically recycles because i think it is interesting to know the characteristics of the average conservationist.  Are they rich? Educated? Do they do it because it saves money or because they believe in the power of recycling.  I really was drawn to this topic because i know some of my friends who do not really recycle.  They will have parties and if all the cans and bottles do not fit in the recycling bin they throw the rest in the garbage.  I think that recycling is the easiest and most basic way of saving the environment and if people can not even recycle then i can only expect the environment to get worst.  I think people who are more well off recycle more regularly than people who do not have money.  I also think people concerned more with international affairs recylce more often.  I also think that women recycle more than men.  I think that people who live in suburbs or in rural areas recycle more that people in cities.  I also think that people 25 years and older recycle more than college age people. At this point in my research i do not have a very narrow topic but i am leaning more towards narrowing the topic down to the correlation between eating organic and recycling.

Some research questions i have are: What are the charateristics of people who regularly and enthusatically recycle in Indiana?  Are there laws forcing people to recycle in Pennsylvania? Did the new garbage paying system discurage recycling?  Do people who regularly recycle eat organic? Do they buy eco-friendly products?  Do the use reusable plasic bags? What are their reasons for recycling? Do these people recycle everything that they can from plastic bottle to paper to electronics? Do they buy second hand things to better conserve? How extreme are they willing to go to save the environment?  Are the vegitarians? Do they work out all the time? Do they like to travel? What other things besides recycling do they do to conserve?

After doing some research there has been a lot done on who recycles and why. I looked on the library’s online journals to some peer review articles. The are also scolar websites off of a google search.  I think that from an Indiana PA persective my paper will bring something new to what is already out there.  I will also give personal experiences and stories that will go a long way to helping make the paper mine.

I plan to carry out my research buy making up a questionair that will have questions like: Do you recycle? How old are you? How often do you recycle? What items do you recycle?  I plan to give these questionair out to various student on campus, to people out go to my church, people i work with, and other various community members.  I also plan to interview somehow the manager of Indiana’s recycling Center to get her imput and experience.

Places to submit my paper to:

1. Heldref Publications- http://www.heldref.org/jeemanu.php

2. Elsevier- http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/503358/authorinstructions

3. ACS Paragon Plus Environment- pubs.acs.org/subscribe/journals/esthag-w/2006/mar/tech/kc_autorecycling.html

4. Inderscience Publishers – http://www.inderscience.com/browse/callpaper.php?callID=99

5. SpringerLink – http://www.springerlink.com/content/h7471l2173566472/

Topic 1: How Books are becoming extinct in Today’s society?

          I want to know more about how many students at IUP read for pleasure, even on their breaks.  I think this topic is important because it might show that not many students read whether it is required or not. I think I can bring something new because i will do it from an IUP student perspective.  I will also research the amount of time spent watching tv or surfing the net.  I think my research question could be Are the TV and the internet replacing books? I would survey kids around campus and i would also include so faculty by asking the the question, “have you replaced things you used to teach from a textbook to the internet or TV to relate more to students?” I came up with this topic because i know a professor who now teaches through videos and interactive activities online as opposed to a textbook.

Topic 2: Recycling – who recycles and Why?

      I want to know more about what kind of person wants to live a”green” life? Are they rich? College educated? I think it is important because through some research, I will be able to find out what charactaristics are typical of a person who is concerned about the envirnoment.  I would do my research from a western Pennsylvania perspective to bring something new to the topic.  My research question is What kind of person in western Pennsylvania is concerned about the environment? I would collect data from surveying people around the area to find out if they recycle, by earth friendly products, and use reusable plastic bags.

Topic 3: Difference in Today’s children vs. When i was a kid. Are the changes for the best?

    I want to know more about kids in Indiana, what they do, and how that compares to when i was a kid specifically the fact of playing outside.  I think this topic is important because it could be a reason why obesity is rising in America and also its interesting to know what has changed in only about 10 years.  I would bring something new by using specifically children in Indiana.  What are the difference in the recreational habits of children in Indiana Pennsylvania today versus ten years ago? I could interview families in the area ask about their childrens activities and habits.

Topic 1: How books are becomming extinct in today’s society

Topic 2: Recycling-who recycles and why? Why is it so popular?

Topic 3: Differences in Today’s Children vs. when i was a kid. Are the changes for the best?

Topic 4: Is a college degree really worth all the effort?

Topic 5: Today the public is even more interested in celebrities to the extent that news stations such as CNN cover celebrity breakups and hookups. Why are stations fluffing the news? How is it affecting the public?