Research paper

Today the second draft of the research paper is due. I worked really hard editing my first draft to get a good copy of my work. I needed to work on organization and focus more on IUP instead of nationwide colleges. I think I did a good job editing and am in good shape for the final. I learned alot by completing this paper. It is much different from a high school research paper and I know now what to expect when asked to write a research paper in college.

Plans For Research Paper

I have not blogged for awhile because I have been so busy with the ongoing projects,papers, and enormous tests to study for. So far for my paper, I have done research, collected material, and written a draft of my research paper. After receiving my draft back from Dr. Sherwood, I will now review his comments and make necessary changes to my draft. I also have to complete my fieldwork, which consists of interviewing a campus policeman discussing the issue of college drinking and what the police are doing to control it. After completing my fieldwork, I will insert the information into my paper and make further revisions necessary. Hopefully, after completing these tasks, my paper will be ready to turn in as a final copy.
I have learned alot so far in completing my paper. I am used to high school research papers that use a broad area of research and do not focus on one main topic. College research papers are more focused on a specific research question and do not contain alot of general information. This has been difficult for me to adapt to. In high school I had no problem developing a research paper because I could use alot of different information about a certain topic without being focused, but now I have to focus and am still trying to get used to this.

Front and Back Regions

After reading Goffman's "Front and Back Regions," I was able to find front and back regions in my area of study for my research topic, college drinking. The front regions, or the fake appearances and personalities we put on everyday of our lives can be found in my research topic. Some front regions of college drinking are: college administrators make it seem like they are totally against college drinking, but still allow homecoming feastivities, which include heavy drinking, to occur; alcohol distributors promote the selling of their products, but advise responsible drinking at the same time. Back regions or the reality or realistic personalities and appearances that occur in our everyday lives, also appear in my research topic. Some back regions of college drinking include: people can die from excessive drinking; criminal charges could occur as the result of drinking; rape can occur from drinking. Front and back regions are easily found in the topic of college drinking.

Evaluating Conversations

Name: College Alcohol Consumption
Class of Participants: college students
Forum / Genre: Websites and publications designed for those directly involved in college alcohol consumption.
R.Q.s: How much money are college students actually spending on alcohol? Are parents' money going towards alcohol without their consent? Is the reputation of college students actually as bad as it is made out to be?

Possible Research Conversations

1) Students (in favor of college drinking; want alcohol to be less expensive)
2) Parents (against college drinking; want a solution to the problem)
3) Students (against college drinking; want alcohol to be more expensive)
4) Police (against college drinking; want to put an end to the problem)
5) Parents (unaware that their child is using the parent's money to participate in drinking)
6) Educators (against college drinking; it causes a problem in the classroom)
7) Alcohol Sellers (want their company to prosper so they want people to purchase their alcohol)
8) College Publishers (want to meet the needs of their students but do not want to promote drinking)
9) Doctors (do not suggest drinking because of health problems that it causes)

Topic Paragraph

Theme: Consumerism
Terms: Subjectivity, Value, Ideology
Broad Topic: College Alcohol Consumption

Topic Paragraph: I am interested in college students and how much money they actually spend on alcohol. Is drinking or partying so important to them that all of their money goes towards intoxcation? Are parents aware of their son/daughter's actions, and are they unconciously paying for something that they do not agree with? I would like to know if the reputation that college students have is actually as bad as it is made out to be.

Research Topic

Theme: Consumerism

Terms: Ideology, Subjectivity, Value

Broad Topic: College Alcohol Consumption

Imaginary Fieldwork

Back in the day, it was normal for the woman to take care of the housework and children and the man to go to work to support the family. In today's society, with a completely different economy, it is common for the husband and wife to both work in order to support the family. Also, the chores around the house are shared in some households, whereas, others still do things more traditionally or old fashioned.
Gender roles are very interesting to me. I think it would be a fascinating subject to research. In order to do so, I would observe and interview families at their homes to see how the husband and wife run things. I would also take a survey asking if one or both spouses work and the different chores that they are each in charge of in their homes. It would be interesting to see how many families still run their homes the old fashioned way and how many work together to get the job done.
For this fieldwork, it is very important to use a number of different families to research. I would choose families from all classes, consisting of those less fortunate to those who are in a higher class level. I would also study different sized families, those consisting of three people, to those who are much more large with as much as eight people. By studying different families, and not just one type, I would be much more accurate in my research.