Monday, August 25, 2014

Research project topic selection

Here are the parameters for your first post. Remember topics should be unique, so be sure to read through the responses before yours both to add to your understand of the project's concept and also to determine if your topic has already been selected.

If you are unable to sufficiently answer these questions, you may have to chose an alternative topic.

Be sure to carefully read through the project handout, which includes many example topics, before posting below. You are welcome to use one of these topics for your project if you'd like. Also, Mrs. Binney & Ms. Hancock's classes are working on the same project. Feel free to refer to these teachers' websites & blogs for more inspiration.


1. Briefly summarize your topic. How does it capture the concept of cultural hysteria?

2. In addition to the provided research questions, what questions will you ask when researching this topic?  What else intrigues you about your topic?


3. Describe your research process. Where will you begin? What types of sources will you use? What are the criteria for choosing and evaluating the quality of those sources? If you get stuck, h
ow might you refine or narrow your search for information or sources related to this topic?

22 comments:

  1. 1. Briefly summarize your topic. How does it capture the concept of cultural hysteria?
    The topic that I chose was the Salem Witch Trials which took place in colonial Massachusetts. This event shows the concept of cultural hysteria because many people were lead to believe that anyone could be a witch, this resulted in fear that witches were around them and that they themselves could be charged with being a witch. People accused others to ease the blame from themselves, spreading the fear more.

    2. In addition to the provided research questions, what questions will you ask when researching this topic? What else intrigues you about your topic?
    Some things that I wonder about this topic is how did the trials start and with whom? I also wonder how old the people being accused were and where there any limits to who was accused? The last question I have is were there any other contributing factors that went toward the hysteria. Something that intrigues me about this topic is the fact that people took such extreme lengths to calm their fears, also I have always wanted to learn more on what made these people do what they did.

    3. Describe your research process. Where will you begin? What types of sources will you use? What are the criteria for choosing and evaluating the quality of those sources? If you get stuck, how might you refine or narrow your search for information or sources related to this topic?
    I think that I will begin by researching from five to ten credible sources. During this I will try and take detailed notes. The types of sources that I hope to use are ones that can be backed up by other sites and ones that easybib classifies as credible. I think that sites like history.com and sites containing university research will be the safest and most helpful for obtaining information. If I get stuck I will search general topics within this topic like witches and what was happening during that time period.

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  2. 1. The topic I chose was 9/11 which took place in present day New York City.This event shows the concept of culture because after this event happened, everyone in the United States discriminated against Muslims and anyone from the middle east. This also shows the concept of culture because everyone came together after that and helped each other for time after that, because everyone seemed to have lost someone that day.

    2. I would ask questions such as, Why was the reasoning behind doing that?
    What types of people were they? Was there more attacks planned on after 9/11? Did our own US government plan to do this, so we could go to war with the Middle East? Do we have to stay in the Middle East anymore?

    3. I will start at the News websites and Articles on what happened. That will be the most reliable. If I get stuck or the article isn't enough for me then I will move on to another reliable source, such as history.com or a Wikipedia site. I will also refine my search to exactly what I want, and not be so broad on what I'm asking

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  3. 1) I am choosing the topic of post 9/11 anti-Muslim movements. 9/11 itself caused the widespread hysteria, but because we believe most, if not all, terrorists are Muslims we began blaming and discriminating against Muslim Americans all across the US. This has caused many issues between Americans and Muslims which still has yet to be solved.

    2) What prejudices do Muslims have towards us? Is this a solvable issue? How do Muslims feel about being treated in this way? How can Americans learn to look past appearances and stop being biased towards Muslims? Why is it assumed that Muslims always attack when American citizens contribute as well?

    3) I will try to start researching news stories dating closer to 9/11, and even newspapers from other countries if possible. As long as easy-bib says it's credible and the information doesn't sound completely idiotic, I will deem the source as credible. If I get stuck, I will narrow down my topic to something very specific and begin researching that.

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    Replies
    1. 1) I am choosing the topic of 9/11 about the terrorists. They effected so many people's life's and hurt so many people. This event showed the united states hatred towards the Muslims.

      2) Questions I have are why did the Muslims do what they did to the United states? What did we do to make the Muslims so upset at us that they were willing to kill them selfs and others? Why didn't we see any signs of this happening that day? Who planed 9/11?

      3) I will start my research by looking at Web cast that started that day. I will also look at the news papers that writers wrote that day.i will read books and biography on what happened that day. I will also use the Internet and have different resources.

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  4. The topic I chose was terrorist in the United States. This shows the concept of culture and what our world is like in our everyday lives and what we as Americans have to deal with. Everyone in the United states it discriminated against people like muslims that are terrorists to us in the United States. But because they are muslims we assume them to be terrorists and we can't trust our own people around us.

    I would ask questions such as, why doesn't our government fund research dedicated to that so our citizens can trust everyone around them? Where do these people come from and do they have a citizenship?

    I will start to research my topic and put a slideshow together with many articles and details on my topic. And if that is not enough for me I will use another reliable source such as Wikipedia or the New York Times.

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  5. 1.) the topic I have chosen is a different view on the 9/11 attacks. This is view is that the United States gov had something to do with the attacks. This is relates to cultural hysteria because it not only deals with terrorism but government corruption as well. Both of these topics put fear in the United States.
    2.) I will ask why haven't other people explored these objects? Why is our judgment clouded by racial discrimination? Why is it impossible for the United States Government to do something to terrible?
    3.) I am going to start with the many documentaries that are out there and then move onto articles and such. The documentaries are the most helpful and the most reliable because they have professional opinions and documented evidence.

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  6. 1) the topic i have chosen is fear of the government in China. Specifically how the one child policy created so much hysteria to the point people were burring their kids alive.
    2)What made China create this policy? How did the government instill so much fear in their citizens? What made them change to policy to two kids?
    3) I an going to use websites as much as I can. When reaching a dead end I will turn to my mom who knows a lot about this topic. And I will also use books.

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  7. 1. I have chosen the topic of nuclear weapons for my research. This deals with the cultural hysteria because americans will always think that their could be a day when a nuclear war occurs.

    2. I will ask many questions. What will happen to society if a nuclear war happened? Will anyone survive? When could there be a nuclear war? How could we survive?

    3. I am going to look back at what happened in the Cold War years, see how they reacted. Watch videos to see what they told people to do when a nuclear bomb is coming. I will also look to modern technology to see what we could do to survive a nuclear attack

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  8. 1) I have chosen the topic fear of science fiction stories coming to life. This deals with cultural hysteria because American's believed in science fiction, and some went crazy with it, and came up with ridiculous assumptions.
    2) I will ask questions such as what made people believe in such things at times when America was in devastation. What led them to assume aliens were possibly real?
    3) I am going to start by going through old science fiction books and see what possibly led people to think like this. I will go through old radio recordings to hear what people assumed about science fiction coming alive. I will go trough old videos and articles.

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  9. 1.The topic I have chosen to research is why did Mayans think the world was going end in 2013 and what exactly was going to happen. This event shows the concept of cultural hysteria because many people did believe that the world was going to end.

    2. Questions I have are, why exactly did the Mayans think the world was going to end in 2013? What was supposed to happen in 2013 according to the Mayans? Do people still think the world is going to end? When?

    3. I am going to use history books to find more out about the Mayans and I will also use the internet to find reliable web pages that tell me reliable information about apocalyptic things such as, what the Mayans were thinking and what other people think about when the world is supposed to end.

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  10. 1. My topic is on government conspiracies and how people believe that the government is always trying to cover something up. This captures the concept of cultural hysterias through targeting the average persons fear of being exposed, being taken advantage of and being lied to.

    2. The questions I want to ask are; why would the government be lying to us? Are their lies justified? Is there any truth behind the conspiracies? What intrigues me about this topic is how many conspiracies there are, as well as how different they all seem to be. Another thing that interests me is how people react from one extreme to the other about the theories.

    3. First I will look at tabloids, then the New York Times best seller list for all the conspiracy books and then of course online. In order to insure that the source is credible I will cross reference as many times as necessary in order to prevent misinformation. I don't think I will get stuck because there are too many crazies in this country for me to run out of information and conspiracies.

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  11. 1.) The attack on Pearl Harbor was a military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941. The attack led to the United States entering the war.

    2.) Why would they mess with Merica? In the end it caused the US to get involved in the war and that didn't go to well did it? Are there any conspiracies?

    3.) I will start my research by looking at all of the websites that are credible. history books will have a lot of information. If I get stuck I will narrow my research down to the specifics.

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  12. I chose the topic of 9/11 and topics post 9/11. This relates to cultural hysteria because there are many theories and facts about 9/11.

    The questions I want to ask are, did the US government really do this? Or is that just conspiracy? Are there warning signs or clues preceding this event?

    To gather information I will first start by reading old newspaper articles and articles post 9/11. After that I will then start to look for information that has clues about the attacks. I don't think I will get stuck because there is a lot of information surrounding this topic and it is very easily accessible to all kinds of people.

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  13. 1.The topic I pick is school shootings. The bad events that keep happening in schools around the world. Even our very own Arapahoe.

    2. The question I would like to ask are: Why do they happen? What makes it right in the mind that do them? What can be done to stop them? How does one come to the idea of doing something like this?

    3.I will start the research by looking at websites connecting to the idea of school shootings. I will look at different stories about them. Then by the end I will narrow it down to the main points that answer my questions above.

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  14. 1. Briefly summarize your topic. How does it capture the concept of cultural hysteria? I will be choosing to research the topic of illegal immigration into the United States. This captures the concept of cultural hysteria because as Americans we are paranoid of illegal immigrants.

    2. In addition to the provided research questions, what questions will you ask when researching this topic? What else intrigues you about your topic? Other than the questions provided, I will be asking questions such as, "how has America changed due to the number of illegals inside our boarders?" and "is it hurting our helping our country?"

    3. Describe your research process. Where will you begin? What types of sources will you use? What are the criteria for choosing and evaluating the quality of those sources? If you get stuck, how might you refine or narrow your search for information or sources related to this topic? I will begin my research by double checking knowledge that I already have on this topic. The types of sources that I will be using will be sites with the URL that ends in .gov .org and .net. Also, to make sure that they are credible, I will double check by using easy bib. If I were to get stuck in my research, I would simply go to sites such as Fox News, CNN, NBC, etc. for reliable facts about what has been happening lately with this subject.

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  15. 1. My topic is Racism. It is something that everyone knows about, but is not fully understood. I want to dive into the project and learn a lot. In this country being a certain race can effect the relative mood of the people around you, including their opinion, and instantly cause social unrest.

    2. Where does racism originate? Where is it still strongest? How can I live my life free of being offended by it?

    3. I can begin by talking to my family, looking at interviews. Famous examples such as Mike Brown, Trayvon, and others. Looks at racisms effect on a race, and how it plays into everyday lives. Also I can use this to learn Malcom X's ideals out of curiosity.

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  16. 1. I chose the topic nuclear warfare. We should all know a little bit about it because we learned a little bit about it in U.S history, but there is still a lot about nuclear warfare and nuclear weapons that we don't know about.

    2. Could there be a nuclear warfare in today's society? If so who would be the cause of it? How would people react today if there was a nuclear warfare? How fast could one happen?

    3. I can begin my research by looking at all my old notes from U.S history about the nuclear weapons, look at some old newspapers about the nuclear bombings, and try to find some old interview of people that had survived the bombing and people who were apart of them.

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  17. 1. The topic that I picked was the delicate state of people when it came to the topic of the 9/11 attack on the world trade center. This attack on the U.S. was one of great hysteria and a topic the still strikes fear into some people. This topic had also led to major corruption in ideas and beliefs about other people.

    2. Why do people attacks others with violence and not with speech and ideas? How could a attack on the world trade center could have left an entire nation so sacred? Was it that they thought that their country was no longer safe?

    3. I will begin on the adventure of going through the internet and checking the stories of people that were in the building. I will focus mainly on the ones that survived. I will also look for other's people thinking and evaluate their perception of the attack.

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  18. 1) The topic I chose was global warming effecting the United States. This topic captures the concept of cultural hysteria because people are prepping for the problems to come along with Global warming.
    2) The questions I would ask would be, “ what will society be like when global warming issues take into effect?” Also, another one would be, “ What other problems and connected to global warming?”
    3) The research I would do would start through going through reliable the magazines of Time and Science, hearing about global warming. I dont think I will have to change concepts because global warming is such a large concept.

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  19. 1) The topic I chose the drug war affecting the United States. This topic shows the cultural of hysteria because some of the people who are dying are or are related to an american citizen.
    2) The questions I would ask would be, “ What has the US done to stop the drug war?"
    3) The research I would do would be to look through reliable magazines and websites that have different opinions on my topic. As of now I know that there are many sites that have information about the drug war and that are creditable so I don't think that I would have to change anything.

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  20. 1. The topic I am choosing is Rape cultural. It's all around the world and affects many countries.

    2. The questions I have to ask on this topic are "Why does one think about doing such a thing?" and "When did it even start and can it be stopped?"

    3. I will start by searching the internet and looking for the problem in different countries. Look for how it started.

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  21. I am choosing disease outbreaks in hospitals for my topic about cultural hysteria. This is important to me because recently my baseball coach's brother was in the hospital and died from a disease that he didn't have when he arrived at the hospital. I have several question about this hysteria, for example; How does disease outbreak in hospitals manifest?
    Who is to blame for the disease outbreaks?
    How responsible is the Hospital?
    What would end the outbreaks?
    Is the Hospital or the patients responsible for the outbreaks?

    To begin my research I will search the internet with key words and and also look up related stories that are similar to my coach's brother. This will make my paper valid and authentic.

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