When I first began the research process in Research Writing 202, I was petrified. I never thought I would be able to narrow down to a topic that I was interested and complete all of the research that was involved in writing a paper of this size. I turned these into strengths during the course through choosing a topic that I enjoy. Since I edit my own photographs on a daily basis, it seemed as though the topic I chose was right up my alley. I began to enjoy my research project more after the secondary research was completed and I could edit my photographs and complete the process of using a questionnaire.
My future goal as a researcher is to be less intimidated by the research infront of me because ultimately, it’s cut and dry. You get out of research what you put into it. As a future writer, my goal is to stay foucused on what exactly I am supposed to be writing about. Through writing this research paper, I realized I have a tendency to go off topic and repeat things I ahve already discussed. As a future writer, I will also be able to find information much more efficiently and without as much difficuty.
My proudest moment in this course was the day I finished writing my first draft of my final paper. It felt as though a huge weight was lifted off of my shoulders because I had accomplished the biggest project I had ever undertaken in my life.
I think the thing that will stick with me the most in this course is the ability to find things for myself. I have relied on teachers and professors to provide me with all of the necessary information I need for an assignment for far too long. I now am able to research to find my own answer to a question or how to do something in particular. I also will take away with me confidence that I can comoplete any assignment throughout the rest of my school career. If I did this, I can do anything!
Blog #17
Abstract
With the inventional of digital editing, photographs now have the capability to be altered to extremes creating an entirely new image, unrepresentative of the real world. The ways in which a photograph can be edited is based upon the perception of beauty that the editor possesses. This article aims to find a correlation between the public’s perception of beauty that has been influenced by the media and digital editing that can enhance or transform a photograph. Several of my own edited and raw photographs were evaluated, looking for results of my own specific views of beauty that impacted the editing process. Along with my own photography, I developed a questionnaire that was completed by seventeen participants at Indiana University of Pennsylvania evaluating their own beliefs of beauty and edited images. The results from the research gave substantial evidence that supports a correlation between digtial editing and media influence on perception of beauty considering a large percentage of participants, and myself, edit our photographs and believe that our perception of beauty has been influenced by the media.
Blog #16
The assignment that I found to be the most useful during this class was definitely researching each step of the research process. Even though it took forever to do and it was a huge pain, it enabled me to figure out what I needed to do for each portion of my paper. It also helped me bevause we had to email the articles to one another that we found so we had multiple references for each section. This process of reading and summarizing information also helped me to learn how to search and teach myself.
The most helpful feedback I recieved was definitely peer review #1 because I knew Deb would not hesitate to tell me if she didn’t understanding something or if something needed changed because she is a close friend of mine. She was able to pick out information that I believe other peer reviewers would have overlooked because it was very minor. But I believe the minor changes she suggested enhanced my paper and made it feel more complete.
The most difficult portion of the writing process for me was the Lit Review because I could not seem to fit all of the information I wanted to in a cohesive and organzied fashion. Eventually, asfter much revision, I now have my Lit Review to where I want it. The easiest part of writing for me was writing my conclusion becaise I had everything proven in my results and discussion, so I was able to reitterate the important points and summarize the research I had completed.
I think my ability as a writer is best shown in my introduction and conclusion because I was able to write freely and use more of my own insight to help guide me. I think that those portions of my paper are very representative of my writing syle and I believe that those portions are the most entertaining portions to read because of that.
Blog #15
From the peer review project I learned about writing and editing in general from a new perspective. I learned that you do not always have to edit a paper solely looking for grammatical mistakes, but more importantly by looking at the content of the work. As an editor, I learned to read the paper from the standpoint of someone who knows little information about the topic in order to more effectively critique the writing in a way that would enable it to be more comprehendable. I also learned that an editor isn’t there to judge the ideas of a paper, but evaluate the paper in order to enhance it.
The peer review taught me sevral things about my research specifically. I realized that I wrote the title and authors of articles much to frequently in my paper and I also wrote a few sentences that word hard to understand. The editor also pointed out that I needed to explain why the toipic I chose was important to me because I had overlooked that point. Ultimately, the peer review process was a very positive and sccessful way to learn more about what I had left out in writing or what I needed to take out.
Blog #14
Results-
Writing Up Research Results. Language Center. 2003. Web. 29 March 2010.
This article explains that a results portion of a research paper includes a statement of the results that includes graphs, charts, etc. Also, the results needs explanatory text which informs the reader of what the charts and graphs may mean. The results can be pesented by giving the results and then discussing them or giving a piece of the reults ten disucussing it and repeating that step. If there are any references required, they should be put in parentheses because they are not as important as the results themslves.
A Strategy for Writing up research Results. Bates College. 2008. Web. 29 March 2010.
This website states that the results section of the paper can have both written explanation and visual aids to help readers understand the information. A discussion section is what is written next which is the interpretation of te writers results. After the results are listed and discussed, the liteature should be reviewed again in order to reevaluate the importance of the information provided through secondary research. This infomation could help bring new insight to the paper after the results have been revealed.
Disscussions-
The Structure, Format, Content, and Style of a Journal-Style Scientific Paper. Bates College. 2008. Web. 30 March 2010.
The website talks about the funtion of the discussion portion of a research paper, which is to take what is already know about a topic and what new information is found through the experiment or study conducted and use the information to answer question raised in the introduction portion of the paper. The questions that should be answered include the hypothesis, whether the new iniformation corresponds with information previously found, and what steps would be taken to further the study. The style of this portion is unique to the writer’s voice in writing and the aproach is not restating the results, but talking about the results effect the entire study as a whole. The discussion section should also talk about the ways in which this specific study relates to others previously conducted. No new results should be introduced in this portion.
Ramakantan, Ravi. The “Discussion” in A Research Paper. Indian J Radiol Imaging 2007;17:148-9. Web. 30 March. 2010.
This website says that it is important to discuss why the findings of the study were foubnd and what other possible findings could have been found. The discussion chould also cover other studies that have produced similar results and the l;imitations of that particular study shoiuld be revealed in detail. another part of the discussion should be focused on where the writer intends to go from there. The discussion should be from the writer’s perspective and should be styled in their own unique way. The main idea for the discussion section to to come to a consice theory pertaining to what the results of the study have yielded. It is also important to not overstate the findings of the results and maintain credibility.
Conclusions-
Conclusions. The Writing Center, University of North Carolina. 2007. Web. 30 March 2010.
This website states that the purpose for writing a conclusion is to bridge ideas for the reader from throughout the paper back into their daily lives. It is also a way in which to get across your final thoughts about the topic or the study. The conclusion should also evaluate what the writer would do to continue the study or ways in which they would branch out and incorperate more into the study they conducted. This portion gives the reader something to think about and a final analysis of the paper in its entirety. The conclusion should refer to the introduction and complete ideas that were introduced in the introduction. It is important to not indtroduce any new ideas or thoughts in this portion of the paper. Extra details that prove to be unecessary to the study should be avoided.
Holewa, Randa; Mathison,Joe. Strategies for Writing a Conclusion. Literacy Eduction Online. 2004. Web. 30 March 2010.
The website says that the conculsion is what the reader will remember most from the entire paper so it should reinforce the thesis statement, give completeness to the entire paper, and leave a positive impression for the reader. Explain to reader wha t is most important, do not repeat what was already stated, leave the reader with a thought, and create a new idea for the reader to think about. the conclusion sshould echo the introduction of the paper in order to bring it full circle. It should also look into the future by explaining how the study is relevant to the lives of the public.
Blog #13
After combining my three papers together, I have transitioned from one portion of the paper to the next relatively smoothly in my opinion. After combing the papers I had to change a few sentences in order make the smooth transition possible. At this point in time, my introduction and lit review need some editing in order to ensure they are error free and flow smoothly.
My biggest worry is that my first two sections do not meet my standards of writing now so I need to shape them and add extra information to completely cover eberything I want to. I also want to find some more articles pertaining to what is percieved as visually beautiful outside of human characteristics because some of the photographs I have taken are not of people. From here I need to research more and untimately review my paper as much as possible. I also need to go to the writing center to ensure that my work is gramatically correct.
Blog #12
I will use both research participants and artifacts for my research methods. My participants will be randomly selected college and high school-aged people from area high schools and IUP students. I will give questionnaires to approximatley 30 people. There aren’t really any forseeable dangers that my questionnaire will cause because the questionnaire will be straight forward, opinionated, and not intimate in any way. I will keep every participant unnamed and anonomyous. The only question I have is how long should my questionnaire be in order to get enough information, but not too much that it requires more time than I have?
The artifact I will use to research is photographs I have taken myself and then edited using my own editing program. I will use approximately 10 photographs and showcase both the raw and edited images. I will analyze the photographs by looking at the characteristics and aspects that I edited. Using my own personal ideas of how the media has effected my ideas of beauty and the information I found through researching, I will conclude and summarize my findings in an approximate one to two paragraphs about each photograph. The only question I have about my analyzing of my work is not really pertaining to the methods section, but the actual paragraphs describing the techniques used to edit photos. Should my results be explained in those paragraphs or should they just wait until the results portion of my paper?
Blog #11
Writing Up Research: Method and Research Design begins with the purpose which asks the questions how was the data collected and how was the data analyzed? The methods discussed should be relevant to the study and should be appropriate. The methods should be valid and should all be cohesive. In the mothodology, the problems that were expected to happen along the way should be dicussed and the steps taken to avoid those problems should also be discussed. Some common problems that the writer may encounter are irrelevant detail, explanation of basic procedures, and problem blindness. Overview of a paper should be Introduction, Lit Review, Methodology, Results and Discussion, and finally Conclusions. Different types of research are case studies, analysis, comparison, correlation-prediction, evaluation, design-demonstration, survey-questionnaire, status, theory-construction, and trend analysis.
“Writing Up Research: Method and Research Design.” Language Center. Web. 15 Mar. 2010.
In Elements of a research proposal and report the Methodology section is the portion of the research paper that will discuss the plan to carry out research. The first step it to decide who to poll, then draw a sample from the populations, then do research, and finally put your results from the sample back into the population. If the survey is not new, give credit to the creator. Be very detailed when describing the research especially when it comes to date and times. Also the analysis plan that describes the ways in which the tests were analyzed. Make sure the study conducted is reliable and true. Make several assuption as to what may happen and finally, make sure to list the limits of the study.
Walonick, David S. “Elements of a research proposal and report.” StatPac. 2005. Web. 15 Mar. 2010.
Blog #10
Rubric
| CRITERIA | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | Comments |
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X | It is not set up in either APA or MLA Formatting | |||||
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X | He does not give any cited information to show validity or research and he does not describe what the article will entail | |||||
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X | The conclusion is inconclusive. It does not answer the research question. | |||||
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X | There is no evidence of intext citations | |||||
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X | There is no evidence of works cited or any scholarly input | |||||
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X | Too many parentheses, hyphens, and commas. | |||||
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X | Nonexistent?? | |||||
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X | The article did not flow and was very choppy | |||||
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X | It hooked my interest due to bad writing | |||||
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X | He stayed on the topic of shooting rampages, but other than that, it was all over the place! | |||||
| TOTAL = | Add’l comments: It was bad! | ||||||
Blog #9
The first article I closely read was Can the Media Create a Public Opinion? A Social-Identity Approach. The following is a summary of each paragraph in the article…
Paragraph 1-This paragraph begins by explaining how prevalent media influences are in the public’s everyday life. It goes on to dicuss how the media influences people through attractive models in magazines and through television shows that display violence. These messaging tools portray false image to the world and persuade the public to conform to the ideals and acts displayed.
Paragraph 2-This paragraph suggests how persuasive advertisments are but also eludes to the fact that the not so blatant advertisments are stealthfully changing and influencing the ways in which the public percieve the world. This idea, called face-ism, came from a study that found that men who were photographed close up in magazine were percieved as more knowledge able than men who were photographed from a far.
Paragraph 3-Face-ism also is acknowleged in the fact that caucasains are photographed more closely in magazines that african amaricans are which displays racism. Through looking at face-ism, the media is able to persuade the general public to percieve caucasain men as more intellegent than african americans or women.
Paragraph 4-Public opinions toward politics is also persuaded by the media through slight, unordinary facial expressions given by news anchors while discussing a particular canidate. For example Peter Jennings smiled more while disuccing Ronald Ragan during the election of 1984 than he did while discussing his opponent. The author goes on to explain that people who watched Peter Jennings newscasts voted more for Ragan than his opponent in that election as a result of the biased telecasts. However, the author is also sure to give reason as to why the study may be misleading or provn because people who originally supported Ragan may have purposefully watched that newscaster.
Paragraph 5- The author gives an example of the way in which the media shows racial bias when pertaining to the poor. A study done from 1988 to 1992 gathered information from lead news magazines and found that in 62% of pictures provided african americans were shown as poor even though the true percentage of african americans who ake up the U.S. population of poor is less than 30%. Other studies have proven that Americans, when asked to pick what race made up the highest percentage of poor people in the U.S., usually chose African Americans when the correct answer is actually Caucasains.
Paragraph 6- Editors of news magazines when asked the same question about what race made up a larger portion on the nation’s poor overestimated African American percentage. This realization explains how news stories become so biased.
Paragraph 7- This paragraph provide assurance that the populations observed in each of the previous studies were originally unbiased. However, the studies did not take into account that the participants could have been pursuaded by other influencing duiring the time in which they were observed.
Paragraph 8- One of the influences that weighs heavily on a person’s opinion is their social identity which is created by the social group in which they are involved. A example of this is when an election is covered and reported in an unbiased manner, each social group favoring either candidate believes the media is biased in the coverage pertaining to the opposing candidate because the newscast is reporting equally.
Paragraph 9- A study created to test this idea was created by showing a group of people a video of a fraternity member who had vandalized property. Before asking the participants, who were either greek alumni or had no connection to greek life at all, to determine wheter or not the accused was guilty, they we shown video of non greek members whose opinions suggested he was guilty and greek member who suggested he was innocent.
Paragraph 10- In response to the study, it was found that greek alumni agreed with the greek opinions that the accused was innocent and the non-greek participants agreed with the people not associated with greek life in believing that the accused was guilty. This study also proves that the opinion of a social group affects an individuals beliefs as a whole.
Paragraph 11- The media provides information that is biased when reporting or advertising particular things, but also is biased when presenting information because it places emphasis on ideas or morals important to a practicular social group.
Paragraph 12- In the study of an accused person, the biased opinions were shown to the participants only one time, but in reality newspapers, magazines, and news reports are seen several times which creates stronger persuasion.
Paragraph 13-The media can create opinions based on factual information that has been reported in a way that is more appealing to particular social groups, but it can also create biased opinions based on information that is reported as factual, but is actually untrue.
-The difference between the lit review and the introduction- The introduction explains the ways in which biased information is relayed to the public, but doesn’t give factual basis on how the public internalizes the information and then creates an opinion from it. There was no lit review in the article, but each of the sources were discussed throughout the paper. The sources of information were mainly studies which proved the authors belief that the media does creat a public opinion. So the main difference between the lit review and the introduction was that the introduction was beliefs and the lit review was facts.
-The author hooked my interest by explaining that the media was extremely powerful and aggressive and that the media’s influence is seen in every home in America. By stating this, the author made me want to read more to figure out what kind of influence the media has on me since I am living in America. Curiosity os what grabbed my attention and made me want to read more.
A-Purpose/Objective- The purpose of this article was to prove how the media and its constance presence can influence public perceptions and opinions by way of reports, magazines, and papers giving biased information or presenting information in a way that appeals to a specific social group.
B-Significance/Importance- The significance of this article is that it took several different studies that were conducted and used them to provide background in persuading the audience to believe that the media does create a public opinion. This is important because it showed how easily and subtlely this persuasion happens and how common it is.
C-The main research question was, can the media create a public opinion?
D-The methods the author used was by gathering previously reported studies which was the secondary research and by creating a new study which was primary research. Both methods gathered information that supported the author’s hypothesis.
E-The results correctly proved the authors assumptions that the media can create a public opinion.
F-The final conclusions can be found in paragraphs 10, 12, and 13 from the above summaries of each paragraph in the article.
The second article I closely read was Photograpy/Digital Imaging: Parallel and Paradoxical Histories. The following is a summary of each paragraph in the article…
Paragraph 1- The ability to capture the world through optical lenses dates back to as early as the 17th Century and was adapted and refined through the following years. The ability to print the images that were captured was not invented until the 19th Century. In the 20th Century compuer technology advanced and incorperated editing and image enhancing cababilities to the world of photography.
Paragraph 2-The invention of both photography and digital editing were major breakthroughs in technology that enabled new forms of art to be produced, but with the invention of these two technologies came great question of the validity and ethical means to which the new art was being created.
Paragraph 3- Famous artists felt much animosity towards the new technologies and expressed much distaste with them because, “new arts destroy the old”.
Paragraph 4- The invention of photography as an art form did not completely distroy the other forms of art like painting and sculpting, but it did take away from them. The invention of digital imaging has had a much greater impact on the world of photography and has be used increasingly by not only artists, but the general public as well. This ability to edit images opens many new doors for photographers and comes with many new benefits.
Paragraph 5- Some people suggest that photography was created to capture an image of the real world but with the invention of digital imaging, this ability to capture the real world is becoming distorted and giving a false view of the real world.
Paragraph 6- The ability to combine two images together or to add to an image that has been enabled by digital imaging. However the idea of this is not new. Many artists had played with adding two images together or adding to an image through painting with ideas such as Cubism and Futurism.
Paragraph 7- The capability to edit images digitally is known as postmodernism simlilar to that of modernism which was the term given to images created by photography.
Paragraph 8- Digital Imaging has decreased the ability of the general public to differentiate between the real world and artifical images that have been edited through computer programing. Digital imaging has taken photographic artwork that has been manipulated by editing technologies out of the category of art defined as realism.
Paragraph 9- The technology in digital imaging gives the editor tools and techniques to enhance or distort images that in turn create a new image. The new images influence the public perception and thought of reality. Yet how can these images be corrctly described as accurate if they have been manipulated?
Paragraph 10- Photography and digital imaging both impact the way in which we see the natural world. And even though traditional photography can present the world we live in in a different way, there are very little techniques
that can alter the image to extremes. The ability to edit images enables images to be transformed into something completely different which catergorizes the photographs as virtual reality.
Paragraph 11 and 12- The world we see is three dimensional, but digital editing can represent the world at 4 or even 5 dimensional which do not even exist. Any new invention in a form of art enables the art to change or be enhanced in some way. The cahnges made by digital imaging is mutation, distortion, and transformation.
Paragraph 13- The process of changing original photographs is made easy thanks to technology.
Paragraph 14- The tools are so easily used to maipulate images that it takes very little time to change a photo into something totally different.
Paragraph 15- Even though tols can transform a photo, the person manipulating the photos by using the tools is the true artisit. The person must have an idea of what they want to accomplish and have the knowledge to carry that through using the editing tools.
Paragraph 16- The new programs for editing photographs push editing to such extremes that the editor, the tools doing the editing, and the software that provides the program all are invaluable. This collabrative effort produces the very best results possible.
Paragraph 17- Hybrid photos are the photos produced by digital editing. These types of photos are not able to be created through any other device other than computers.
Paragraph 18- Since didgital imaging happens on the computer, the amount of copies that can be made are endless. This takes away the novelty and rareity of any other artists work that can only created once. This makes edited photographs accessible to any one which limits the control of copyright.
Paragraph 19- In defense, the rareity of the image is not diminished by how easily reproduced it is. The photos can also be sent and shared without printing the out, but by sending them via email or sharing them by uploading them online.
Paragraph 20- The intrigue and interest photogaphy once ad with the general public has now been over taken with the possibilities provided by digital editing. There are always benefits, limitations, and difficulties with any new piece of technology.
Paragraph 21- The way in which digital editing is used will grow and change over time and the meaning of it will also. However, one thing is for sure, digital imaging has changed the way people conceptualize and look at photography forever.
Paragraph 22- The degree to which digtial imaging is used is different for every artisit and can be used dramitically or subtlely. Untimately the use of digital imaging creates altered images of reality.
-There was no actual introduction or lit review in this article, but it did have a few paragraohs at the beginning of the article discussing background knowedge and also a few quotes and infromation from sources scattered throughout. The difference between the introduction and lit review was the fact that the introduction was giving you background information necessary to understand what was going to be discussed. The lit review was the factual information that gave support to the authors point of view.
-The author hooked my interest by discussing aspects of photography’s history that were unique. There were many examples and descriptive details in how photography has evolved over many years. It made me want to read more.
A- The purpose/objective- The puroppse of this article was to examine how much photography and especially digital editing has impacted art and culture.
B- The significance/importance- The importance of this article was to inform readers how much photography has been changed and influenced by digital imaging. Most people are unaware of how commonly it is used and how subtley an image can be distorted. This article severs as a caution for readers to not believe every photograph they see because it most likely is misrepresting the world because it has been edited.
C- The main research question was how has digital imaging changed photography or influenced the world of art?
D- The methods for this research were mostly secondary forms of research from other studis that had been conducted. However, the article was read aloud at a conference and was accompanied by photographs displaying edited photography. I am guessing that these were photographs taken or borrowed and maipulated usign editing and shown as a form of primary research.
E- The results were that digital imaging takes away the validity of photographs and has chnged the world of photography forever.
F- The conculsions can be found in paragraph summaries of paragraphs 18, 19, and 21.
