Hey newbies!!!!!! So my name is Christina… if you want to learn more see my about me page 
So I know you guys might be freaking out about this 202 class, but take it from me, you will survive and this will probably be one of your favorite classes of college. Now my purpose is to help you guys navigate through this class, and I am really looking forward to working with you all, helping you create a great research project, and making this experience as stress free as possible. I am hoping to be in class with you next week, but until then…. best of luck with the beginning of your semester!
Course Assistan Introduction January 19, 2010
Publishing Your Research December 13, 2009
Once you have done all of your hard work and completed your research paper you want it to be read by your intended audience right? Well the first thing you should do is figure out where you want to get your hard work published. In order to narrow down where and who you want to send your research paper to, you must do a little more research and find the journal that your paper will fit in well with. Once you have found the journal that best matches your paper, you must locate the area on their website that gives specific outlines for you to follow in the process of getting your paper published. The following site is the one I sent my final product to- keep in mind each journal has different specifications that authors must follow, so what my journal asks for may not be what your journal asks for….
http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/title~db=all~content=t792303963~tab=submit~mode=paper_submission_instructions
Blog #17 December 3, 2009
Looking back to the beginning of this semester, I honestly didn’t think I would have had as much fun and drive to accomplish what I ultimately did. At the beginning, I was genuinly worried that I would not be able to manage my time effectively or that I wouldn’t be able to produce a peice of writing that I would be proud of moreless feel confident enough in that I would be comfortable sending it out for publication. The question asked is how I turned my worries into strengths throughout this course. I feel as though time management was my worst emeny, it was something that could really hurt me during this process, but I was smart enough to acknowledge this weakness I had and I turned it into somewhat of a challenge to myself. By acknowledging this weakness, I was able to force myself to work harder, work more in advance, and all of this lead me to becoming a stronger writer as well as a stronger student. By figuring out how to effectively manage my time, I was able to produce a more satisfying piece of literature- something I an truely proud of- and I was also able to decrese more than 50% of the stress that I would have normally felt. Learning how to manage my time also helped me outside of this english class, and I have better grades and stress levels in every aspect of my life thanks to overcoming that one little thing.
As of now I really don’t know what my future is as a research writer. I can honestly say I wouldn’t mind writing on another topic or expanding on the one I have already written on— wow I never thought I would hear myself say that! I know I want to further my education after graduation and research will most definetely be a part of that process. Having taken this course that challenged me as much as it did, I no longer fear any steps I have to take to be the best medical professional I can be.
The proudest moment I had in this course was by far reading my final paper. I have never once thought of myself as a great writer- I enjoy writing, but I have never written anything that could potentially effect other peoples lives. While reading my final draft, I was completely shocked by what I have learned and what I have been able to bring to others. With that being said, I think what will stick with me the most from this course is the fact that no matter how little I know about something, no matter how uncomfortable I am about trying something new, no matter how discouraged I get when trying to do something, if I give it my all, if I stick to my guns and never give up, anything is possible.
Blog #16 December 1, 2009
Reflect on the process of creating your research paper and answer the following questions. You will later expand on these in your portfolio cover letter: 1) What assignment/document was most useful to you during this proces? Explain your answer. 2) What was the most helpful feedback you received at any stage – why was it helpful? 3) What was most difficult for you during the drafting process? Easiest? WHY? 4) Where does your final essay best show your ability as a writer?
Hmm. I guess I would have to say the most helpful assignment we had to do was the peer editing work. I know this was done a little late in the research process, but for me it was a great way to expand my writing abilities by looking and learning about the different ways people write. By reviewing other peoples writing, I was able to grasp more of an understanding of what these writers, who are also my audience, are looking for in papers. It also helped me get past the bumps that I faced when trying to get through certain parts of my paper. The most helpful and beneficial feedback I received during this entire process was probably my first conference with Marlen. This was because i felt so overwhelmed about narrowing my topic down and figuring out exactly what I wanted to really write about. I had a strong idea of what I wanted to focus on, but by talking it out with someone I saw the flaws my thinking had, and I was able to identify the path I wanted to take- even if I did end up changing my focus about a million times through out the semester. I would definitely have to say the toughest part for me during the drafting process was creating my first draft. I know we stressed that we were supposed to have “shitty first drafts”, but being the perfectionist that I am it was hard for me to just let the words flow without stressing over how it sounded and if everything was grammatically correct the first time around. The easiest parts came after the first peer review because the feedback proved that I knew what I was talking about, people understood the points I was trying to prove to them, and although there were little things that needed to be changed, overall it was a success. Most people have told me that they really enjoyed my introduction paragraph and I would have to say I agree. I have always been good at hooking someone into my paper because I can format this section more like I want to and it doesn’t have to be as formatted as the other sections. I also got a lot of feedback that my literature review section was good, so that would be the second part of my writing that I feel the strongest in.
Blog #15 October 29, 2009
So I am not completely done with my peer editing yet, but am going to finish it up this weekend, but as far what I have learned to this point here it is…
What I have learned by editing my peers work is that everyone has completely different writing styles and I have gained a lot from that. There are somethings that I am not strong at when writing and by reading others work it keeps giving me ideas on how to add certain things in to make it interesting and what works and doesn’t work when trying to get my point across. Another big thing that I think is really going to help me is that my paper is geared toward the general public as the audience, and by reading my peers papers (who are the general public), I can kind of get an idea of the types of things they would like to read about… for instance if someone tells a lot of stories to back up their research, maybe they like to be entertained in that way. I guess in a way by reading others papers I feel like I am more on the right track with my papers than I had though… nothing is going to be perfect the first time around and I have to keep remembering that I am a college student not a professional researcher so this isn’t going to look like pure gold!
I usually hate editing, but this exercise was actually very beneficial to me and I hope my peers as well because when I look for specific things in their papers, I think about if I actually have those things in mine. And like I said before, by editing and helping my peers papers out, I am gaining more ideas on how to make my paper better as well as having a way to help other writers in areas of their writing that they might be having trouble with.
Blog #14 October 25, 2009
Results:
1. Writing up Research: Results
This site was very helpful to me before starting this section of my paper because it gave me pointers on things to do and things to look for when putting everything together. For instance, this section should include information that is easily accessible and understandable to your reader. If you are to include charts or graphs, make sure you thoroughly explain these charts so your readers will understand why you put your information in this format and how to read it, and that any raw data you collect is usually found in the appendix and NOT in this section. It also gave examples of two ways to compose this section- 1. all results then a discussion or 2. part of the results with a discussion, another part of your results and discussion, ect.
2. APA Style Guide: Psychology With Style
This was a very interesting site for me to be able to reference. What I liked the most about it was that unlike the previous site, this one included a bunch of information about what NOT to do when writing this section along with some good things to do. For example, the language you use hinders on who your audience is- if they are scholars, there is no need to define specifics because they will more than likely have a grasp on it already, but if it is the general public you are geared toward, some defining might be necessary. Also, they were very clear, like Marlen in class, that you are to not include any discussion what so ever- just lay out the facts. period. Another helpful fact that I will be implementing when writing this section is to first think about how I want to arrange and organize my results so this section flows well.
http://www.uwsp.edu/PSYCH/apa4b.htm#IIE
Discussion:
1. The Structure, Format, Content, and Style of a Journal-Style Scientific Paper
This was a helpful site because it broke how to write this section into three sections. The first one is function: you interpret your results and explain your new understanding of your problem, always connect it to your introduction and state how your study moved the reader further than where they had started based on the subject or your paper. The second section is style: always use effective voice throughout the section, be as clear and concise as possible so your readers can easily understand what you are interpreting. Finally, they discussed your approach: you should discuss each result in the same order you originally outlined it in the results section because it allows your reader to connect these two sections, and you should relate your work to that of past studies to see its effect. One big no no, is that you should never add new results that were not already included.
2. How to Write and Effective Discussion
This is by far my favorite article thus far. What I liked about it was that it was formatted exactly the same way as our paper should be and it gave me clear advice on the elements that this section should include as well as big things to avoid. Some examples of elements are to state your findings, explain your findings meanings, consider alternative explanations of your findings, discuss their clinical relevance, acknowledge your studies limitations, and give suggestions for further research. Some important things to avoid are overinterpretation, unwarranted speculation, inflating the importance of your findings, tangential issues, criticism of past studies, and unsupported conclusions.
http://www.rcjournal.com/contents/10.04/10.04.1238.pdf
Conclusion:
1. Conclusion- UNC
Conclusions along with your introduction basically frame your thoughts and bridge your ideas for your readers. It also helps your reader see how even after putting down your paper, the information they gathered through out the paper is still important to them and their lives. You should also leave your reader with a good taste in their mouth… basically you should be able to leave your reader with a good feeling once they are done. Some strategies they suggest is to play the “so what” game- you can use a friend or even play by your self, but it helps you get through times when you are stuck. By saying so what you make yourself think about what you are putting into your conclusion and if it is important or relevant. This site also gave me an insight as to what to avoid and one that stuck out that I hope I will not have a problem with is to not include evidence because that should be in the body of your paper already.
2. How to Write a Research Paper?- Part VI
This site pretty much said a lot of what the previous site did, but it gave me a better understanding of the importance of your conclusion. It is by far the most valuable single part of your paper- nothing you have presented up to this point means anything until you present the conclusion to your research. Other things that I learned that the other article did not state was that you can restate your thesis statement and show how everything adds up in the end and well as summarize everything and relate it back to the beginning or your paper… you should be able to make a complete circle and tie everything you have done together to make a well understandable piece or research.
http://www.tailoredessays.com/how-write/research-paper/introduction-conclusion.htm
Combining My Paper October 20, 2009
So at this point I really don’t have a clue where else to fix things, or make it better for the reader… thats why I’m really glad we have to do this peer editing thing. Well, about what I had to change or fix when combining my papers- there wasn’t too much for me to do, but one big thing that I hope I accomplished was keeping my focus the same through out each section. I am actually considering shifting my focus to sexual education more than teen pregnancy- so I think this was the most difficult part for me to stay consistent. I also tried to link my articles together, but I still have to go back and apply them throughout my writing and not just in one section. Basically, I think there is a lot of editing that still needs to be done haha… I am nowhere close to having a completed paper!
Blog #12 October 15, 2009
I’ve been thinking a lot about who I want my participants to be and I have decided that I want to focus most of my research on teenagers, but I also want to talk to some parents as well. Obviously I want to speak with the teens because I want to get some insight as to what they are thinking about what they are or aren’t being taught about sex, where they feel they have learned the most about sex and its consequences if not done safely, as well as what they think should be improved to better suit their needs. I am wanting to talk to parents to get their opinion on what they like or don’t like about what is being taught in their child’s school, how they feel they communicate with their child, and what they think their child should know at this point in their lives when it comes to sex- I want to use this part to see how closely they match up with the knowledge their child actually has. I have spoken to some adult students in my classes that have teenage children and have gotten some participants- I am hoping they will lead me to more at this point, but I think around 10-15 teens and their parents would be good, but I’m not sure if I will be able to obtain that many. I am thinking at this point I want to hold interviews- both separate and group with both teens and parents separately… this will give me good information to compare. I am also thinking that one on one interviews might be the best way to go to compare teen and parent more closely, but I’m still ironing this out
As for the protection and privacy of my subjects, I am planning on creating a consent form that outlines the purpose of my research and why I have chosen them. I will also be making up a form that each individual will take home that thanks them for their time as well as assurance that they will not be directly mentioned in my paper- each subject can rest assure that no other party, unless agreed to by them, will ever know who said what in confidence.
I am also considering using surveys that will give me a broader range of information. These will be passed out to freshman students around campus in order to see if what they were taught in their schools helped them, or if they felt they would have liked to learn more or had another source to turn to if they had questions. This research will mainly either back up my research or could prove that sex education in schools is sufficient. I am also going to include in this survey a question that asks how many students these freshman know or knew that ended up pregnant before graduation.
I’m still far from where I am wanting to be before I start gathering my information, but I think I am off to a pretty good start, but tell me what you think!!!
Methods and Research Designs October 8, 2009
According to the article Writing Up Research: Method and Research Design by the Language Center from AIT, the purpose of the methods portion of you paper is to inform your readers about how you collected your data and what it says about your topic. It was also very informative in the fact that it gave me guidance as to what I should and shouldn’t do when composing this part of my paper. For one, I should make sure I include not only how I preformed my research, but why I chose to do it that way. It is also important to point out that although your research may not go the way I plan it to, that I should include these hiccups as well. Now, what you shouldn’t do: don’t dumb your methods down- acknowledge that your readers are very well versed in research like yours, so treat them like they are. It is also very important to include everything, even though you may find it irrelevant, because it might actually be a big part of the total. The article further goes into where your method fits into your paper and also examples of types of research that you can use to collect your data.
Language Center of the Asian Institute of Technology. Writing Up Research: Method and Research Design. Retrieved
October 8, 2009, from http://www.languages.ait.ac.th/el21meth.htm
The site I found written by David R. Caprette of Rice University, Writing Research Papers gave me a lot of great information on how to compose my methods portion of my paper. It stated that although there is no limit of how long this section should be, you should still make sure you are as concise with the information you put in. This site told me a lot of things that the first article I read did, but one extra point I gathered, was that because you are writing about the particular steps you took to gather your research, you should make sure to not tell a story- don’t make things up.
Carpette, D. R. (2007). Writing Research Papers. Retrieved October 8, 2009, from
http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~bioslabs/tools/report/reportform.html
