Inquiry Questions (First posting due by 11:59pm on Jan. 20; response postings due by 11:59pm on Jan. 23)

Considering Greene's criteria for generating inquiry based research questions, write an open-ended research question that you are interested in pursuing for the rest of the term.

Greene's Criteria:
1. The question can be answered with the tools you have
2. The question conveys a clear idea of who you are answering the question for
3. The question is organized around an issue
4. The question explores "how," "why," or "whether," and the "extent to which."
5. There are no prepackaged answers for the question
6. The question grows out of some issue or fundamental tension

After you write your research question, you are required to deliver some feedback to at least three of your peers. Your job as a reviewer of your peer's questions is to aid in the development and progression of the person's research project. How can the question be phrased in a better way? Are there offshoot questions that might help the person consider another angle to the question? If the question doesn't meet some of Greene's characteristics, what can be done to help? Might there be an interesting research method you could suggest? When you reply to a peer, you must reply to a peer who has less than three responses. It is important that everyone get responses from at least three people.

What is most important to me is that you are pursuing some subject that interests you. If you are really interested in your research project, this class will be much more worth your while. If you need inspiration, look at some of the videos I have posted on the course home page. Go to Ted.com and watch some of the world's best speakers. Read the opinions of bloggers and or the editorial sections of some online news papers. You might also check out some of these presentations:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6XAPnuFjJc
The Dynamism of Motivation

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3oIiH7BLmg
The Psychology of Time

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBmJay_qdNc
The Truth About Dishonesty

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BG46IwVfSu8
The Power of Outrospection

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5um8QWWRvo
Smile or Die

The question you develop here should change and develop as the semester goes forward.

159 comments:

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  2. How does gender and race play a factor in whether a person is for or against the Stand Your Ground Laws?

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    1. I like the view of the question that you posted here, but would it have been better to use ethics instead of gender and race, or simply one variable? Gender refer to physical characteristic (male or female) where race cover a wide range of culture, ethics, and genetic. In the process of the research, there's a good chance that you might get confuse gender and race that would result in the wrong conclusion. It might be better to just go with one variable ( probably "race") as to multiple variable.

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    2. Hi Lexie! Your project is very relevant in today's society, especially with the recent Trayvon Martin case. Your project could also tie in how race and gender could possibly be a factor as to whether they are for or against guns in general, since that is also a very big issue today.

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    3. Wonderful question! One tidbit that I'd like to throw in would be perhaps you could also look into how gender and race influence the likelihood of a person to even use the Stand Your Ground Laws. That could help shed a new light on how they feel about them.

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    4. I think that this question is extremely relevant and a good one. You could go many directions with this. For example you can go into each race you explore then further compare gender views within that race then expand and compare different race views.

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    5. I like your question. For your research you could also try and see who's enforcing these laws and who's formed them

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  4. How have peoples' views on the cruel versus humane treatment of animals changed over the years?

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    1. This is a very good ethic question to research about. Different culture can treats different animals in varies ways, such as some culture find cats as a lucky animal and in turn treats them like high class anime, whereas other would view cats as dirty and annoying therefore does not like cats. It is also good to look into different animal shelters and animal hospital, how they change over times as compare to actual hospital. There are also few new laws that has been made that could benefit in this research.

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    2. This question tests peoples view about ethically handling stray animals. You can research animal treatment in humane societies, pounds, animals farms, etc. This topic could be very graphic but very educational.

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    3. You question is very ethically based. This can get to be a very broad question to answer with the opinions of cruel versus humane treatment. Then you can start going into facts on the cruel treatments and humane treatments. Are you planning on keeping it within the USA or are you extending it internationally? I believe that your question answers most of the things that you plan on looking up and watching the time progression over the years can definitely be really cool to look at.

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    4. My roommate was just talking about that movie "Black fish" and how she felt so bad for the whales and then talked about what happened at sea world when that trainer died. It could be interesting to tie in the treatment of animals at aquariums.. especially such a big named one- Sea World.

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    5. I think it would be neat if you could kind of relate your topic to around the world and how different cultures view animals. You could also tie your topic into endangered animals and how their rates in the wild have changed based on human production.

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  5. What contributes to the differences in the way women communicate versus the way men communicate?

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    1. I am also doing somewhat of the same area that you have brought up (mine is about the human body language) so I think this question can be approach in varies ways. If you want to know how women or men communicated do actual, physical research might be a good method. What I mean by that is actually go to a bar, or any social gathering places, and observe how men talks to each other and how women talks to each other. You can also do research on how women communicate in a relationship (e.g. how they talks about their relationship to their friends) as compare to men. Furthermore, the word "contributes" and "communicates" plays a large role in your research because you are trying to find what causes the behavior between women and men (or at the very least that's how I interpret the question).

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    2. Hi Sarah! I think this could turn out to be a very interesting project idea. Since men and women communicate so differently maybe you could look into why there are miscommunications between the two genders and how that effects relationships in general. Good luck with your project!

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    3. this topic is very interesting! I have heard of several studies on how men and women communicate differently especially in different relationships (romantic and platonic).

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    4. We learned about this in Communications and it was really fascinating. Women tend to read into a lot of nonverbal cues and men do not really pick up on them. You could narrow down the differences and search just the psychological communication barriers or behavioral.

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    5. I think this will be very interesting to research. Not only will you find a lot of information on the internet, but you can also find a lot doing field research as well.

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    6. I love this question! I have always been interested in this especially considering I grew up with a twin brother so I have seen these differences first hand growing up. You can research the social way and the biological way the genders are influenced or you could just pick one.

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    7. I think this is a really interesting and informative topic. You should be able to find of different research and through that research add variety to your question

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    8. I really like this question! I definitely feel like guys and girls communicate so different and it'd be interesting to see what plays into it.

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    9. maybe instead of being so broad with this research question you could narrow down your possible research criteria to a specific means of communication, like relational, or something more specific

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  6. Is being able to read the person(e.g. micro-expression and body language), the same as knowing the person?

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    1. I like your project idea. Sometimes body language can convey the wrong message that the person is actually trying to show. Knowing someone can possibly help you interpret their body language and expressions better, but it can also be a useful indicator if you aren't very familiar with someone all that much. Good luck on your project!

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    2. this is a really cool idea for a project! I think the body language assignment we did previously in class was interesting and there are many sides and perspective when it comes to reading body language! Your question may only have subjective answers though which Im sure is fine for the assignment. Doing personal research and surveys for this question sounds like fun if it interests you!

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    3. Wonderful project idea! I would recommend doing personal research on your own for this project. Like Lauren stated, I believe the answers may turn out quite subjective if you were to look them up. Doing your own research may help even things out.

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    4. This is definitely pretty cool to research. A few of my friends are very outgoing but in the classroom their non verbals say otherwise. You could observe people as a form of research- like your friends

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    5. This can lead to some really interesting research! I definitely feel like body language unconsciously give away a lot of information! I agree with Lauren and Jared you may have to do some surveys since its a very subjective topic.

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  7. To what extent does studying in a foreign country shape who you are as an individual?

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    1. This is a very interesting but board question. You can definitely compare other countries cultures to your own and how you were raised. Maybe you can be more specific about which country and apply it to yur culture instead of an individual.

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    2. This is a great topic because you can look at studies done for students who have studied abroad and see how that affected them. The student could have learned about new culture, individualism, their personality, and their psychology (if the country speaks a different language and how that affected the person's mind because of the stress/no stress they received while staying). Is education taught with a different system, that made it convenient for the individual? Depending on which route of "shaping" for the individual you plan on taking, there can be quite a bit more things that you can look at.

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    3. This is an interesting topic that you can do a lot with. If I were you I would read articles about other countries and their cultures and think about how they are different from American culture then think about how they could affect a person who goes and studies abroad. I would also talk to some people who have studied abroad and ask them how it changed them? Are they less close-minded as an individual now that they have experienced a different culture?

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  8. How has history influenced to adoption of tattoos in today's society? and what drives people's dislike or liking of tattoos?

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    1. Good question. You could even look into how stereotypes of people with tattoos have changed over time or if they have. Do "good" people have tattoos? Does the number of tattoos matter? Have certain jobs adapted to the cultural change? Do people with tattoos face discrimination and is there anything they can do? Is it more accepted for men to have tattoos than women?

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    2. Great question. You can discuss how society now has accepted tattoos more often but some professions still look down on it. Also reasons why most people choose to get tattoos.

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    3. Hello Emily. I like your research question, it definitely relates to your audience: your peers. You could also look at how tattoos have been used over the decades. Have they always been used for the purpose of style, or do they/did they have another purpose now/before? You could look at how they might be used in other cultures outside of the United States and compare them how they are used in the United States.

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    4. I think your question is very good. You could go into more detail by talking about how the societies view tattoos has changed. It might be interesting to broaden your research and see how tattoos are viewed in other parts of the country too.

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    5. This is a very interesting question. Tattoos have become more accepted in the workplace more recently, but they still seem to hinder some opportunities. This is a question many people would definitely be interested in seeing the answer to.

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    6. Tattoos are also interesting to read about, so I love the project idea. I think it'd be interesting to maybe interview people who have tattoos as part of your research.

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  10. Would the abuse of drugs be less prevalent if we addressed the issue as a public health problem instead of criminal justice problem?

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    1. Are you trying to make drugs less of an issue in the country (or world)? How would drugs be less prevalent, in general? People will always bring up drugs even if it starts being addressed as a public health problem. What is a public health problem? Is it the psychology of the person and their dependency on the drug? Is it the person's personality that has become something different than what it was before? Maybe "Should the abuse of drugs be addressed as a public health problem instead of a criminal justice problem?" Then you could extend into your research the relevancy of the topic and how each problem has it's own spotlight.

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    2. This is a good question but I think that it's worded kind of confusing. Don't most people in the general public already know that drugs are health problems and that is why they are illegal. Generally people who use drugs don't care about the long term effects of them and if they do there's nothing they can do because they are already addicted to the drug. This might be hard to do research on if you wanted to observe an actual person. I agree with the person above me with the question "Should the abuse of drugs be addressed as a public health problem instead of a criminal justice problem?" This might help make the question a less broad and you can focus your research on something more specific.

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    3. This is a great question and one that you can defiantly enjoy doing research for! I do think that you could address the same point in depth more by saying what could be done instead. Also I think this topic is appropriate because its relevant and something you can put your own input into.

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  11. ENC 1102-Section 0048

    How has different types of crime programming affected the thought process and psychological well-being of the public through its depiction of crime? How has it affected their view of crime in the United States?

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    1. Good question. You could even look into the affects of fictional shows vs shows that are based on actual events.

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    2. Hey Nicole! You can also try to explore why might some of these crime programmings are being aired on television? What are the restrictions for certain types of crime programmings to be aired on TV? Are there any limits? How has fear/paranoia contributed to the high crime rates in the US?

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    3. Hey Nicole! Wow solid question, really don't have much to critique. I think you'll find a lot of interesting data from the research you do. I think it would be interested to compare the views of "crime" from different generations, like maybe our parents vs ourself or something. Good luck!!

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  12. ENC 1102-0048

    How does social conformity correlate with culture loss in a person?

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    1. I really like this topic. There are a lot of ways you could do research for this question. You could start by reading articles and previous studies that have already been done. Why do you think people conform in general? You could observe someone you know or maybe you could lurk someone's Facebook/Twitter/Instagram and see how they have changed and conformed over time. You could also interview people.

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    2. This is a very interesting question! It might be hard to relate the two though because they don't have any specific measures other than feeling. I think you could also say something about how social media has contributed to culture loss in many people, and then explore why that is.

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    3. Hello Vicky. I like your research question, there are many ways that you could approach this. To help kind of get some background knowledge on social conformity and culture as it relates to the study sociology, you could maybe interview an expert in the field, such as a professor here on campus, with questions that you may have about the subject matter. With some possible information from an interview, you might have some interesting information to help angle your topic.

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  13. How can multiple fields of psychology be applied to determine whether or not the "Law of Attraction" truly has impact on our lives, and to what extent.

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    1. I think topic is good because you can approach it from many angles. It also has a lot of relevance to us as college students. However, I do think that this topic might be difficult to write a research paper about, only because it is a yes or no question. It would be cool if you were able to drawn comparisons about the "Laws of Attraction" and how it impacts different personality types.

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    2. Hey Jared! I think your idea is great, however I would tweak the wording from "How can" to "what extent do fields of psych..." and then take out the "to what extent" at the end. And you could also introduce the notion of culture and how culture impacts one's perception of "Laws of Attraction." Is this more of a law or has it evolved into a psychological norm nowadays?

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    3. Interesting topic definitely worth exploring. Since the concept of "Law of Attraction" can be applied anywhere, it might be a good idea to focus on how it impacts a specific area of people. For example, you may possibly look into what impact it has on students or how it affects the work force.

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    4. an interesting topic in the feild of psychology is the selective behaviors, this relates to the question that you are asking becuase the selective behavior theory roughly states we only invest our time into things that we are familiar with and or we share interests with as to not waste our time on something or someone with opposing interests

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  14. How have changing times effected the way Americans see political scandal's and public dishonesty?

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    1. Hey Corey! So "changing times" seems to be a bit broad. What do you mean by changing times? Are you referring to certain events that evolve into this change of time? You could also refer to peoples culture in your research, since you are dealing with peoples perspectives. With culture, you could also include peoples religion/faith because an individual's values greatly impacts their perception on the world.

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    2. Hello Corey. I think that you could develop a really cool angle from this research question if you could narrow it down a bit to something more specific, you could start by looking at some examples of scandals that have been covered in the news over the years. You could, for example, maybe look at how elections are depicted in the media.

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    3. Hey Corey! Great topic, however i would work on restructuring the question a little. I agree with Greta, regarding it being to vague. Try to narrow it down with a second question maybe regarding a specific area of politics. Will be very interested to see how if the majority of our generation agrees with their parents or not on certain issues. You'll get this and have an awesome project, good luck!

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  15. What effect have preceding generations had on the shift in social views of their successors?

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    1. Hey Chris, great topic! I think your base question is awesome, however i would add a second sentence or additional question to really analyze a specific area. Maybe you could ask something regarded our generation Y being more accepting / tolerate, or open minded to new things. Good luck!

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    2. I think this is a very interesting idea. I too think you should narrow your scope; I think it will be easier for you in the long run. I think it would also be cool to get a couple of (more) personal interviews. It might be helpful to see these social views first hand.

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  16. To what extent has women's gymnastics downgraded the number of views on other Olympic sports?

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    1. This is a good question! You could look into the number of viewers that the channels had during those gymnastic events.

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    2. This topic could be very interesting. Women's gymnastics may have downgraded the number of views on the other sports but you could also look to see if it has brought more viewers to the Olympics in general. Like with this sport being so popular, has it gained a greater audience of people who wouldn't normally watch the Olympics. You could also look into how the number of views of women's gymnastics has increased or decreased over time.

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    3. I really like this idea because when I watch the Olympics, I'm mostly only excited for the girls gymnastics. I remember seeing the girls all over the tv and hearing their backstories, making them much more relatable. It made me want to watch them more. You might want to look into why people are more interested in watching certain Olympic sports.

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  17. Are the continued advances in technology making life easier and allowing more creativity and individualism, or simply taking jobs away from society? How will careers evolve as we move into a generation centered around performance based income while globalization continues to dominate?

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    1. I like this topic. I think that you should make sure that you focus on one thing or another though. Both are interesting, however, there is a lot to cover if you are trying to answer both questions. I think it's a good question to delve into.

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    2. I think this is a good topic. I think that it might be hard to find studies on the second part of your question though. I would stick with making this topic simple; it is powerful and relevant enough that it can make a good paper and stand alone.

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    3. This is a great topic. You can look into the different machines that are replacing other workers jobs and the statistics of the amount of people who lose their jobs every year because they were replaced by a machine

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  18. In what ways has music influenced our culture in the last century and why does it have such an impact on our lives?

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    1. I like your topic idea and I think you could find a lot of research on it and go in many different directions! You could look at specific genres and how they affected our culture during major times in our history (ex. the great depression). You could also look at different cultures around the world and if they are being influenced by music in the same way as Americans or interpreting the same music differently.

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    2. This is a great question. The music we listen to seems to reflect a part of who we are, and music is usually written reflecting who the musicians writing the music are. Music brings us together, and opens our minds.

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    3. I very much like this idea as I could not imagine a world without music. I think maybe you could look at the invention of certain genres during the last century, and how these new genres changed the influence on those generations. A couple of examples could be the invention of Jazz and Rock N Roll.

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    4. This is a very good question, and a good topic. i know many people go to music as a mean to "get away from things" and they use it as a coping mechanism.

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  19. As we move from the Information Age to the Conceptual Age are employers' criterion changing? Are the skills that employers are looking for more creativity-based as opposed to numerically-based in the modern job market?

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    1. I think this is really interesting and something you can easily talk about. It relates a lot to how colleges like to see that students can be involved in extracurricular activities and not just focus on their grades. Many employers like to see that their employees can use outside-the-box thinking and not just memorize certain ways to do things. You might want to ask why employers want more creative thinkers, over people who may be more qualified, and will certainly get the job done.

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    2. Great idea, especially seeing that it's a topic worth discussing for college students. The question you are asking calls for a "yes" or "no" answer so I agree that you should ask "why?" and additionally, "how?" You could look into how cultural events and history have affected the way employers search for employees in modern days. Also, a major question at stake is, "what can we do, as students, to fulfill these new criteria?"

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    3. This definitely is a great concept to pursue, especially since yourself and many of your peers are looking for jobs and participating in interviews. Maybe you could research which kind of job fields are looking for employees with these creative skills, as well.

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  20. With the infections "CSI Effect" prevalent in the many fans of popular crime scene investigation shows, how does this affect jurors in real life criminal cases?

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    1. This topic is very intriguing. Many people enter Crime Scene Investigation as a major in college with expectations that their careers will be carried out like the infamous CSI shows. However, to many failed expectations the people looking for a TV-CSI experience failed to experience what was shown in the TV series. The idea of the shows being the same as real life is really nonexistent. Jurors in real life may struggle with this misconception because they might get newly trained CSI investigators with the preemption that their jobs are going to be carried out like the famous shows, however, when they find out their career was misleading they might quit in the middle of the case causing the whole investigation to fail. Moreover, the CSI Investigators may effect jurors in real life criminal cases by imposing thoughts of what they might do but the reality being totally opposite.

      Your topic is very interesting, I hope it carries out well for you!

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    2. Your topic definitely sparks some curiosity, especially to people who are familiar with the show. Reading the comment above, it seems as if the show is quite different from real life. If so, you can go into detail about how exactly they differ, and how they are the same. You could perhaps discuss why the TV show fails at presenting an accurate portrayal of real life (maybe they make it different so it can be more entertaining and therefore get more views? Maybe what really happened is too complex or too extreme to present to an audience? I have no idea, these are just random possibilities)

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  21. What are the affects of different education requirements on learning?

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    1. Education is a topic that can really go in any direction, so which "requirements" are you referring to, specifically? You may be able to focus on how education has changed within the last half century or so and measure what effects have taken place on students from different generations. Also, you should consider asking if there exists an ideal method of teaching in today's educational system. Again, just narrow your focus on one idea and specify what question you want to answer.

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    2. I agree you should narrow it. Maybe you could focus on the effects of state end of course exams. See if the more they try to standardize education how much it positively or negatively effects students. Compare those states who have had it for years with those who are newly introducing them and see if there is a pattern there as well.

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  22. How well, if at all, do documentaries and other forms of communication change peoples' actions and opinions related to the treatment of animals?

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    1. This question is interesting to me because I just watched the recently popularized documentary Blackfish. It seems that documentaries like this raise for good conversations but hardly ever create change. I like the direction of this topic, and an underlining question is “To what extent do people have the ability to change?”.

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    2. I think this is a really good question. I too watched Blaackfish recently and it changed the way I view seaworld, but is everything that was said in the movie true? When doing research on your paper I think it would be beneficial to look at how these documentaries are affecting people from all angles.

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    3. I like how the conversation is going. You could start with this and then pose the question of legitimacy with these commercials. As well as how people respond to them not actually turning out to be what they seem. So I would question the legitimacy and what situations are possibly fabricated to elicit the proper response from the viewers.

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  23. How do only children view their childhood; loving or lonely?
    How do they feel about being an only child and the way they were raised?

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    1. Your question is a quite interesting topic. Having many friends who are indeed an only child I believe they face both perspectives of what you brought up in your question. For example, since they are only children they get all the love and attention from their parents without having to share with another sibling. However, they may be lonely in the since that they don't have a child companion to share and play with. I recall some of my friends saying that they felt lonely on Christmas morning since they did not have siblings to play with. This resonated with me since I have never had to experience that.

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    2. When you ask "how they feel" it may be difficult to get an overall conclusion because everyone is different and may view it different. I know a lot of people who desperately want a sibling and some that love being an only child. Instead you could look at traits that differ among those who have a sibling and those who don't.

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    3. I think this is an interesting topic, however maybe you should rephrase it or reword it somehow because it seems like kind of a confusing, broad topic.

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  24. Why are schools pressuring students into career fields and majors at such early ages? Is it just the United States or are other countries and societies doing this as well?

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    1. Schools have been imposing careers on children for many years. For example, schools used to administer a test and at the end of the test the results would imply a job that the child would be good at. I remember my father telling me he took that test and he felt crushed with his results. Finding a research article on that older test would be interesting if it relates to your topic. For example a question you could propose is, how do career exams administered in early ages effect how a children will perceive their future in regards to what they previously thought?

      I believe other school systems in other countries who have higher academic standards may also have a system that is closely related to the United States'.

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    2. Schools also participate in magnet programs which aim at attracting students to their school for all kinds of specialty studies. I also believe that their is some sort of money schools receive for participation and achievements in these programs. Like at my high school I think my school got money for every culinary student who became ServSafe certified which is a requirement in the culinary field. You can research the integration of magnet programs and how interests in certain career fields have changed. Also you could see the benefits schools receive for participating in these programs.

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    3. You could discuss how the pressure affects the students and their future. I'd suggest setting up a few interviews with some people who are done with their schooling, and felt this same pressure when they first got started. You could ask them how the pressure affected them and get different views and opinions from a few experienced individuals. You could go even further and discuss how passion plays a role into choosing career fields and the difficulty that students have with deciding their majors.

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  25. To what extent are the ways that siblings are brought up, based on their birth order, effect them as they grow into adults? (I.e. Parents were harder on the oldest, sometimes overlooked the middle child, and spoiled the youngest)


    And how may it effect the siblings as they become parents themselves?

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    1. i would definitely do interviews and maybe get different examples of different family structures. You could identify different traits that each child has that is different then the others. For example the oldest may be more protective and patient because of having younger siblings.

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    2. Like the person mentioned above, interviews would be extremely beneficial. You could interview siblings who are currently young children, and compare their opinions with siblings who have grown into adults. For example, a young child may think that being the oldest is extremely unfair because they may be overlooked, while an adult may say that it taught them to grow up and made them an even stronger and more independent person in the end.

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  26. To what extent do our physical features portray our integrity?

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    1. I like the topic, I feel like in some cases the physical features of people would not be enough to reveal ones true self. Take for example Dexter from the show Dexter, a blood splatter analyst who looks normal on the outside but in the inside he is someone who tries to fight his calling for murder. Another character you could look at would be the main character from the movie and or book American Psycho, I can't remember the name but you could look in to these characters to show how for some people you can tell who they are by how they look but there are always those who you can never truly know.

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  27. Do stereotypes play a role in forming our identities? Does it help or hinder the process?

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    1. I think this is a very interesting topic! As you are researching, it might be beneficial to interview different people who because of a stereotype of their culture, have in a way abandoned it. I know some people that are embarrassed that their parents don't speak English or that their family dresses a certain way so they try to hide it. These can also be stereotypes of their cultures. Does these things have an effect on the formation of our identities or do some people simply try to just hide their identities?

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    2. Stereotypes tend to grow worse when going through middle school and high school. Focusing more on girls, we feel the need to fit the "bitch" or "bubbly girly" stereotypes. Like in the movie Mean Girls, Cady feels pressured to fit in with Regina George and it forms her high school identity from a new girl to queen bee

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    3. I like this topic especially since I feel like stereotypes or the way we feel people perceive us influence the friend groups we choose. You could definitely use teenagers (middle schoolers/high schoolers) for some interviews!

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  28. Why is it considered wrong to donate to a animal charity before a childrens charity considering that the donation could potentially save a child's life? This brings us to the question, why are humans considered the elite species over animals?

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    1. Great topic! This also might bring up the argument of religion as well. That God created animals for a specific purpose. You could interview different individuals and ask their opinions. Some people believe in heaven and that only people's souls will be there. That may be why they see children's charities as a better cause to donate to. Others believe that animals have souls too, making those charities as important and thus the argument continues.

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    2. In addition to Monica's comment you can interview pet owners and add pictures from animal shelter's like in those extremely sad animal commercials such as Sarah McLachlan SPCA Commercial. I also like how you phrased your question and how you recognized man's authority over animals. This is apparent in all cultures and there is actually a Time Magazine you should try and get your hands on about "what animals think" when we dismiss them as "Oh they're just a bird, dog, etc."

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  29. How does music affect us emotionally and psychologically? Does our taste in music portray who we are?

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    1. I like this. You can look up experiment where the scientist studies the effect music has on the brain. Also, find correlations in the population with the type of person they are and the music they listen too

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    2. Music sets off different chemicals in the brain to change your moods and whatever, so maybe you should see why people listen to the music if it makes them sad, angry, or any negative emotion. I would definitely do interviews asking why they listen to that music and maybe compare people who listen to diverse music compared to those that only listen to one style.

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  30. Is technology harming or benefiting our society and more specifically, today's youth? If so, to what extent? Will current technology and its ease of access positively or negatively impact our future?

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    1. Good question. Today it seems that most people are in their own worlds and even addicted to their smart phones and such.

      You could even look into how the ways communication has changed with technology. Do people talk anymore or is it now just texting and tweeting? Is todays youth less social?

      You could even look into the loss of cursive writing.

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    2. This reminds me of a Modern Family episode where the son was on his phone the whole time at Disney and didn't care he was missing out. Anyways, you can do a lot with this topic, positive and negative. I like what Tristin said about texting and tweeting. Pay attention to the social media used by our generation: Instagram, Facebook (which apparently high school freshman don't even use anymore), Snapchat, KiK and Ask.fm. Additionally, have you passed by the toy isle at Target and noticed it's practically empty? Instead you can find children looking at the new iPad Air. Is it surprising that 12 year olds have iPads, iPhones and laptops? Are people today having more conversations through technology than in person? Do you think we are moving away from face-to-face conversations and a more technology-driven way of life?

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    3. This is definitely a topic that is often talked about these days. I think to help with the question of how it is effecting today's youth you should compare the actions and attitudes of kids today, to kids 20 or 30 years ago. And then open up to if technology has played a part in the transformation of America's youth.

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    4. This is an interesting topic. You could also talk about how toddlers are using ipads as learning tools,

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  31. What are the causes/What triggers people's emotions?

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    1. This is interesting. You could study the differences between males and females and see if triggers are common in one gender over another. You could also look at different age groups such as children and adults. n question to look at could be are younger people's emotions triggered easier?

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    2. This is a good question. Not only could you do different genders or age groups but you could also compare people is different classes. For example, in class today we saw people with more wealth are less likely to feel empathy than those who are of lower class. Since the lower class knows what it's like to struggle with money, they are more likely to donate money than those who don't struggle.

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  32. How have the corruption of people and the fixing of soccer games influenced the debate about goal line technology and bribing of officials?

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  33. I have narrowed my questions to two. The first that I have would be:
    How has the NFL ascended to become America's favorite sports league?

    And the second would be:
    Historically, how has payroll contributed to the success and failures of professional sports franchises?

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    1. Jarret,
      I really like your second question on payroll affecting success and failures. You would have a lot of success looking at Major League Baseball and how a team like the Yankees or Red Sox are good every year and how their salary cap is quite high. People often criticize the Yankees for buying their championships. Also compare teams with low salary caps and their success.

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  34. Interesting topic. You could even look into the differences in how food is displayed in grocery stores in different countries. Here, food is so nicely packed that you can't even tell that it was ever part of an animal.

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  35. I like this. You can explain how we have stepped towards more humane ways of handling animals in the meat production but no where close then what it should be yet.

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  36. If fashion companies were to advertise using more average size models, would the younger generation become more confident in themselves? However, would these companies as a result not sell as well as companies that continued to use skinnier models?

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    1. I had never really thought about this before! It is so true that a lot of girls now want to have the "perfect body", but is there really a definition for that? I have no doubt about it that if different types of models were used even in high end companies, girls would have a better perception of themselves. I think interviewing little girls who have not been exposed to much of this yet might give you a very interesting viewpoint. Then you could maybe compare that to girls who are surrounded by these images every day.

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    2. Going with the comment Monica made, little girls have been exposed to the "skinny, tan and covered in makeup" is beauty view, it's even a show, Toddlers and Tiaras. Interviewing older women would work as well getting a view point from ladies who have kids and would put their child through pageantry or not.

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    3. This topic hits close to home, so I love the idea. You can try to follow how Aeropostale and Victoria's Secret are doing since they recently started advertising with average sized/plus-sized models.

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    4. This topic is so interesting and important! Now that companies and celebrities have been speaking out about airbrushing and have started to shy away from using it, it may help younger girls and guys (and even older ones) see what real people look like and stop trying to fit into a mold that is created by a computer.

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  37. Thank you Techrangers for fixing my blogger account and Professor Longhany for allowing me to post this late.

    As women were given greater rights, privileges, freedom, and opportunities for success and independence their fashion choices shifted. To what extent has the hip-to-waist-ratio that our brain is instinctually attracted to been taken advantage of?

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  38. To what extent has the idea of "mission work" changed from generation to generation?

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  39. To what extent does culture effect family dynamics?

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    1. I think this could be really interesting but this is very broad question so maybe you could pick certain dynamics in the family or pick two or three specific cultures and research what each one of them offers to the dynamics of family life.

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  41. To what extent can the Joker be classified as a genius, psychopath, and/or somebody in love? Is there more to him than we have been lead to believe?

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    1. I recently found out Disney owns Marvel now :P Anyways, this is an interesting topic. I'm guessing your sources are DC Comics, both live-action and animated incarnations? You can bring up his appearances in the Bronze Age (1970s), the Silver Age and Modern Age. Are you thinking about adding a bit about his female sidekick Harley Quinn? Why is she so attracted to him when he takes advantage of her and pushes her around? Talk about how/why the Clown Prince of Crime/Chaos uses engineering and chemistry that is found in many props such as in a deck of cards. Have you considered visiting Marvel at Universal Studios? Why just this one insane villain, how about them all?

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    2. I think this can be a really fun topic for you to do. However, once you have done your research on him, I think it would be cool if you could compare him to similar people in society, whether they be famous or just random people classified as psychopaths.

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    3. I think this could be an interesting paper. I think not only could you compare him to similar people in society, but also to other villains in Marvel.

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    4. Oh man a superhero topic. Excellent. I definitely think you should add in his relationship with Harley Quinn, does he really love her or is he just using her? Is he capable of love or is he just feeding his own ego by having her as an accomplice/girlfriend?

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  42. What are the positive and negative influences that social media is having on jobs and lifestyle? Does the older generation have a different viewpoint on this topic than our generation?

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    1. I think this is a very good topic especially for todays generation and our generation going into the workforce. This seems a little broad because there are many positive and negative influences so maybe you could pick two or three major influences from each and study those.

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    2. This is very interesting! Social media does play a huge role for jobs both positive and negative. You could even explore the positive side with marketing and advertising becoming more popular on social media sites

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  43. I think this is very interesting. I was having a conversation with someone a couple days ago with a girl who was saying she doesn't enjoy eating a lot of meat because of how the animals are treated. She said if they were treated better she wouldn't have a problem. She asked me why we can't just hunt and make our own meat like people use to do. And I asked her, would you personally raise animals or go out hunting and kill the animals to eat them? She said no. People today don't have enough time, land, and money to make sure animals are treated with care before they are killed. They think it is easier to just run to the grocery store after work, pick up some chicken breasts and just go home and cook it for their family. They would rather have other people do all the hard work for them and have lost care in the treatment of the animals. They are happy as long as the meat is ready and waiting for them in the grocery store.

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  44. Women, specifically women in power, are seen to be less nice than males in power.This could be from the stereotypical cattiness or from something else. Why haven't women gained more ground in the battle for gender equality in the business world? How much truth is there to the cattiness stereotype?

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  45. If universities obtain millions in revenue from their sports programs, should players get more compensation than just a scholarship?

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    1. This is really interesting and something I think would go over very well with the male audience. This could be controversial also which is what makes this very interesting, at least to me. Maybe you could also see how much athletes would get payed even though universities make millions of dollars or maybe research if they either got to pick getting payed or accepting a scholarship.

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    2. This is a very interesting topic and one that has been discussed vastly through the world of sports. You could weigh the costs and benefits of putting money in the hands of 18-22 year-olds. There should also be a ton of information on this topic.

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    3. an opposing view to yours, that players should be entitled to some sort of compensation other than the scholarships that they already receive, is that the fame, money etc. that these college sports athletes bring to their respective colleges reflect on them tenfold (not just talking about the scholarships), as in the fame and notoriety that the players bring to the university they play for allow themselves to be held to i higher regard and also brings them publicity as well as paying for their schooling and in some cases even lowering the tuition for other students because of money brought in.

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    4. Interesting topic. You could explore the idea that training and playing and everything combined would take up about as much time as a job would, so should they be paid for a sport as if it were a job

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  46. Acceptance and legality of same sex marriage has lagged for the past thirty to forty years. Why hasn't there been a major change in the legal sense of same sex marriage and how has the acceptance of same sex marriage and homosexuality evolved over the past thirty to forty years?

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  47. The world of advertisements is all around us. What aspects of advertisements appeal to college students? Of all types of advertisements what aspects make one business more appealing to a student than another business's?

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  48. Music, something that has always been used as a weapon to relay a message to the public, or even individual people.How effectively has musical movements affected governmental/social/public issues? Is music sometimes the best weapon in situations like these?

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  49. Women’s clothing and modesty has been changing and evolving for years to skimpier outfits. Is this social norm or does fashion dictate modesty?? Is modesty constantly evolving with fashion or does one dictate the other? Will it become fashionable again to dress in more covering clothing? Is modesty an antiquated idea? Does feminism play a role in the current change in clothing and modesty as it did in the earlier eras?

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