1.) When I think of ‘research’ the first thing that comes to mind is ‘time consuming’. In order to get the right information from credible sources, you must research for a substantial period of time. Researching involves digging up lost information from different areas and putting them together to fulfill a specific need you have created.
2.) I have researched when my friends and I are bored and need to find somewhere to hang out. We go on our phones and search “closest ice cream shops to Wyandotte” if it is the summer season, or “closest movie theater to Oakland University” if it is too cold to be outside. I never realized that it was a form of research, but since we are comparing which prices are the best and which theatre is closest and the movies it offers, we are researching the best deal to take.
3.) Research by Google’s definition is as such: the systematic investigation into and study of materials and sources in order to establish facts and reach new conclusions.
4.) Writing things down is the only way I remember details and definitions of topics. In class I am a constant note taker and must constantly be writing or I do not remember what is required for an assignment. I choose to write things up because it helps my memory. My memory is terrible, especially short term, so if I have to give a definition of something right after it is given to me I must write it down as repetition. Writing is the best way that I learn.
5.) It may be considered ‘joining a conversation’ when you research because you are not the first person to be interested in that topic, so you are joining in the interest of people who think like you. I am sure I am not the first person to ask ‘why’ when it comes to school shootings and there are more than likely quite a few theories as to why they happen, some credible and some not. The point of research is finding which theories are credible and having sources for them and which ones have no bearing.
6.) In my research I hope to relate with the type of writer that “Finds a Solution to an Important Practical Problem”. I want to find a solution to a phenomena that happens in our society that should never occur; the ending of lives, and in this case, children’s lives. There should have been a solution to this problem in society long before 20 first graders had to be sacrificed.
7.) I feel like my readers would be in the category of “help me solve my practical problem”. The people who would find my paper on the internet or in a journal would most likely be researching how to solve the same problem. They would either be looking up information on school shootings or ways to prevent them, both instances that would be included in my paper.
8.) “In the coming weeks, I’ll use whatever power this office holds to engage my fellow citizens — from law enforcement to mental health professionals to parents and educators — in an effort aimed at preventing more tragedies like this, because what choice do we have? We can’t accept events like this as routine. Are we really prepared to say that we’re powerless in the face of such carnage? That the politics are too hard?” –President Obama (December 16, 2012)
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2012/12/obama-to-speak-at-newtown-vigil-85155.html#ixzz2qVL4FTIT
This quote shows the importance of preventing school shootings, since it went as high as the President of the United States personally stating that it shouldn’t happen again.