Library 10: Make-up Assignment
Choose 1 of the following 100 research topics. Create a literature review for the topic (see
Lit Review description below). Create an abstract (see Abstract description below). Your
work cited page must reflect at least 6 sources, of which 4 different mediums of information
are represented (ex: journal, newspaper, ebook, primary source document, website,
database, statistical analysis, magazine, etc…) The database is the only mandatory
source…this means you will have to go to a real library, get a library card and probably
use a reference librarians help in learning how to access and utilize a database.
What you will turn in (in MLA format):
-Cover Page (your information, class info, etc. and topic)
-Abstract
-Literature Review
-Work Cited
-Reflection (What did you learn about the research process?) maximum 1 page.
Topics
Abstinence programs
Do they work?
Advertising
Should certain kinds of ads be banned in the interest of health/morality/annoyance – alcohol,
cigarettes, prescription meds, etc…?
Africa
Why so many wars? What’s the solution?
Airplane accidents
Who is responsible? Should families of victims be entitled to compensation?
Airport security
Should the government use invasive pat-downs and body scans to ensure passenger safety or are
there better methods?
Al Qaida
Has U.S. policy actually spread terrorism rather than contain it? Will it get better or worse? Why
and how?
Alcohol
Should the U.S. lower the drinking age to 18?
Animal rights
Should it be illegal to use animals for sports and entertainment?
Arming pilots
Good idea?
Art
A few years ago, an artist was criticized for depicting the Virgin Mary with elephant dung. When
is art not really art?
Athletes in high schools
Should shoe companies be able to give away free shoes and equipment to high school athletes?
Beauty contests
Do they serve any purpose in society?
Bridges, roads, waterways
Why the government gets a bad report card on America’s infrastructure.
Bullying laws
Should the state or federal government put laws into place to prevent bullying?
Cell phones
How have they changed us socially?
Censorship
Should parents censor textbooks and other literature for children in schools?
Cheap labor
U.S. companies that move factories to undeveloped nations barely pay employees enough to live
on. Is it unethical to pay cheap wages or are companies doing those workers a favor?
Child soldiers
Why and how children are used for war
Church arson
Hate crime?
Civil disobedience
Is breaking the law for a cause justifiable?
Civil unions
If civil couples have the same rights/privileges of married people, why get married?
Climate change
Is global warming a hoax? Is it being exaggerated?
Coal
Should the use of coal be subjected to stricter environmental regulations than other fuels?
College athletics
Should college athletes be paid?
Cyber crime
What are the latest ways to steal identity and money?
Divorce
Should we reform laws to make it harder to get a divorce?
DDT
Should DDT be re-approved for use in the wake of recent bedbug outbreaks across the country?
Electronic information preservation
Does the Information Age mean we are losing important historical information?
Exams
Exams often do little more than measure a person’s ability to take exams. Should exams be
outlawed in favor of another form of assessment?
Fast food
Are we taking it too far by blaming fast food restaurants for obesity? When is it individual
responsibility and when is it appropriate to place blame?
Felons and voting
Should convicted felons have the right to vote?
Feminism
Is feminism still relevant? How do young women view feminism?
Fitness programs
Should companies allow employees to exercise on work time?
Flag
Should children be required to say the Pledge of Allegiance in schools?
Food
Steroids. Anitbiotics. Sprays. Are food manufacturers killing us?
Gap year
Should teens in the U.S. adopt the British custom of taking a “gap year” between high school and
college?
Gay marriage
Should there be a constitutional amendment that allows gays and lesbians to legally marry?
Generations
How 4 different generations in the workplace can work together.
Grades
In some European schools, fewer than 10% of students get As. Is there grade inflation in the
U.S.? Why so many As for Americans?
Health care crisis
Most developed nations have universal health coverage. Why doesn’t the U.S., the wealthiest
nation, have it?
Holocaust
Should denial of the Holocaust be illegal?
Homeland Security
Are we safer since the creation of this department?
Infidelity
In some states, it is illegal to cheat on a spouse. Should we prosecute cheaters? Is a law that’s not
enforced really a law?
Immigration
Should illegal immigrants be made legal citizens?
Internet and children
Are children smarter (or more socialized) because of the Internet?
Internet regulation:
Should the federal government be allowed to regulate information on the internet?
Intersexuals
What, if anything, should be done medically and socially?
Iraq War
Is America winning or losing the War? What is the measurement of success? Have the benefits
outweighed the costs?
Iraq War Vets
Are they being cheated on medical benefits?
Journalism
Should newspaper reporters be required to reveal their sources?
Juvenile offenders
Should juvenile offenders be tried and punished as adults?
Kyoto Protocol
Should the U.S. join Kyoto to curb greenhouse gases?
Lead poisoning
Should the U.S. stop importing Chinese-manufactured toys?
Literacy
Are Americans “literate?”
Malpractice
How can we balance the need to lower the cost of malpractice insurance with the fact that
physician malpractice is one of the leading causes of death?
Marijuana legalization:
Should the federal government legalize the use of marijuana?
Media
Does the media, both print and broadcast, report fairly? Does it ever cross the line between
reporting the news and creating the news?
Military
Should the U.S. have mandatory military conscriptions? For whom?
Mining
What safety measures made the recent Canadian mining accident a non-casualty event, while
recent U.S. mining accidents have been fatal?
Models
Should there be a minimum weight limit?
Moms
Should stay-at-home moms get a salary from the government?
Muslim Americans
What is life for them like in the U.S. after September 11, 2001?
No Child Left Behind Act
Is it working?
Noise pollution
How much is too much noise? What, if anything, should we do to curb it?
Nonverbal communication
How do men and women communicate differently using body language, and why does it matter
(in dating, the workplace, social circles)?
Obesity and weight loss
Should thin people have to pay Medicare and other health costs for the health problems of obese
people? Should obese people have higher premiums?
Oil companies
Do oil companies make big bucks while the rest of us pay over $3 a gallon?
Organ sale
Should we legalize the sale of human organs?
Overpopulation
What would happen globally if the demand for natural resources is greater than the supply?
Paparazzi
What, if any, limitations should be applied to the paparazzi?
Parents
Should parents be held responsible when their children break laws?
Pornography
Parental filters on the Internet. Does censorship actually increase curiosity and use of
pornography?
Prescription medicines
Should there be a national database to track controlled substances (i.e., oxycodone) or should it
be a state issue?
Privacy
Should the government be allowed to wire tap without permission?
Privacy
What medical information should be confidential? Who, if anybody, should have access to
medical records?
Public figures
Does the public have a right to know about a public figure’s private life?
Racial bias in media
Does news coverage favor whites?
Religion
Is there one true religion?
Road rage
Why do normally patient people become impatient behind the wheel?
School lunches
Should government impose restrictions on what kinds of foods can be served in school
cafeterias?
School uniforms
Pros and cons of school uniforms.
Sex offenders
Once they leave prison, are laws about where they may live and be employed unfair?
Single sex schools
Do children learn better in boys-only and girls-only schools?
Smoking bans
Should the federal government pass a nationwide indoor smoking ban?
Social anxiety
How is it different from shyness? And, are we a society of anxiety?
Spanking
Should it be outlawed?
Sports parents
What are the effects on children whose parents push them in sports?
Statutory rape
Recently, a 17-year-old boy was sentenced to 10 years in prison for having consensual oral sex
with a 15-year-old girl. Are statutory rape laws patronizing to girls and discriminatory to boys?
Steroids
Should they be legalized?
Suicide bombers
What kind of person becomes a suicide bomber?
Terrorism
Can terrorism ever be justified?
Title IX
Has it helped women’s sports? Has it harmed men’s sports?
Tough love
Does parental “tough love” really work?
Toys
Do certain children’s toys create social or emotional problems?
Vaccines
Should parents avoid vaccinating their children?
Wage gap
Women still earn only 75 cents for every $1 a man earns. Explain why.
Wages
There’s a minimum wage, but should there also be a maximum wage/salary a person can earn?
Wind energy
Is wind energy really that cheap? Is it effective? Is it practical?
Women in the clergy
Should women be priests, pastors, ministers, and rabbis?
Workaholics
Do Americans work too hard? Does working more actually reduce productivity? Is a 40-hour
work week too much? Should there be a mandatory cap on the number of hours a person can
work? Should there be changes in employment laws to give Americans more relaxation time?
Working mothers
What differences, if any, are there in children who are raised by stay-at-home moms and working
moms? Does society today still discriminate against working mothers who wish to have flexible
work schedules?
Literature Review
The literature review is a critical look at the existing research that is significant to the work that
you are carrying out. Some people think that it is a summary - this is not true…it is more of a
compilation or synthesis of existing knowledge. Although you need to summarize relevant
research, it is also vital that you evaluate this work, show the relationships between different
work, and show how it relates to your work. In other words, you cannot simply give a concise
description of, for example, an article: you need to select what parts of the research to discuss
(e.g. the methodology), show how it relates to the other work (e.g. What other methodologies
have been used? How are they similar? How are they different?) and show how it relates to your
work (what is its relationship to your methodology?).
Here are some of the questions your literature review should answer:
1. What do we already know in the immediate area concerned?
2. What are the characteristics of the key concepts or the main factors or variables?
3. What are the relationships between these key concepts, factors or variables?
4. What are the existing theories?
5. Where are the inconsistencies or other shortcomings in our knowledge and understanding?
6. What views need to be (further) tested?
7. What evidence is lacking, inconclusive, contradictory or too limited?
8. Why study (further) the research problem?
9. What contribution can the present study be expected to make?
10. What research designs or methods seem unsatisfactory?
…think of a literature review as you putting pieces of multiple sources together to create the
story you want to tell. An example is below:
From “Can Small-City Downtowns Remain Viable? A National Study of Development
Issues and Strategies,” Journal of the American Planning Association 65 (1999), 270-284:
Downtowns play a critical role in the health of most freestanding small cities in the United
States. The downtown constitutes a sizable share of a city's tax base--often more than any other
district in the city--as well as the site for major public investments over the years. Given that
most downtowns are situated where the city originated and contain many of the oldest and most
recognizable buildings, they also embody the heritage of a community. For generations the
downtown has served as the traditional gathering place for parades, festivals, celebrations, and
other community events. And perhaps most importantly, the very identity of a small city is
intertwined with the image projected by its downtown, to an even greater extent than holds true
for a large city. Taken together, these factors clearly demonstrate that the downtown represents
the heart and soul of most small cities.
Despite this importance, most of the professional and scholarly literature on downtown
development has neglected small cities. Frieden and Sagalyn's (1999) widely cited book
Downtown, Inc. concentrates on large-scale projects in Seattle, Boston, St. Paul, and San Diego,
while Loukaitou-Sideris and Banerjee (1998) profile Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Diego
in their book on downtown design. Almost all the examples provided in Whyte (1988), Abbott
(1993), and Robertson (1995) are from large cities, and Brooks and Young (1993) use New
Orleans as their case study. The Downtown Development Handbook (McBee, 1992), considered
by many to be the bible of downtown development, is heavily dependent on projects in large
cities to illustrate key points. Articles addressing a particular downtown development strategy
such as retailing (Robertson, 1997; Sawicki, 1989), stadiums (Noll & Zimbalist, 1997;
Rosentraub, Swindell, Pryzbylski, & Mullins, 1994), pedestrianization (Byers, 1998; Robertson,
1993), and open space (Loukaitou-Sideris, 1993; Mozingo, 1989) all emphasize large cities as
well. The professional magazine Urban Land has published numerous articles on downtown
development in recent years, most of which feature a single large city (e.g., Holt, 1998;
Howland, 1998; Lockwood, 1996)....
The scant literature on small-city downtowns does include a few noteworthy items.
Francaviglia's Main Street Revisited (1996) provides an excellent overview of the origin and
evolution of downtown street patterns and architecture and how these relate to today's image of
"main street." While much of his discussion is relevant to cities of 25,000 to 50,000 population,
the primary emphasis is on even smaller towns. Kenyon's (1989) study of 21 small cities in
Georgia ranging in population from 3,000 to 43,000 demonstrates how the social and community
significance of downtowns has exceeded the more traditional commercial function. Finally, the
National Main Street Center has produced two useful volumes (1988; Dane, 1997). The earlier
work reports on a national survey of downtown development in which nearly half the cities
surveyed had less than 50,000 population. The latter volume contains four-page profiles of 44
successful downtown development initiatives across the country; 41 of these profiles feature
cities with less than 50,000 population, including 12 in the 25,000 to 50,000 range. The
remainder of the professional literature on small-city downtowns tends to be nonanalytical and
descriptive, and presents development efforts in one downtown (e.g., Means, 1997; Meek, 1995;
Ryder & Gray, 1988; Seachord, 1997; Suchman, 1998)....
Abstract
Because on-line search databases typically contain only abstracts, it is vital to write a complete
but concise description of your work to entice potential readers into obtaining a copy of the full
paper. Writers should follow a checklist consisting of: motivation, problem statement, approach,
results, and conclusions. Following this checklist should increase the chance of people taking the
time to obtain and read your complete paper.
Checklist: Parts of an Abstract
Despite the fact that an abstract is quite brief, it must do almost as much work as the multi-page
paper that follows it. This means that it should in most cases include the following sections.
Each section is typically a single sentence, although there is room for creativity. In particular, the
parts may be merged or spread among a set of sentences. Use the following as a checklist for
your next abstract:
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Motivation:
Why do we care about the problem and the results? If the problem isn't obviously
"interesting" it might be better to put motivation first; but if your work is incremental
progress on a problem that is widely recognized as important, then it is probably better to
put the problem statement first to indicate which piece of the larger problem you are
breaking off to work on. This section should include the importance of your work, the
difficulty of the area, and the impact it might have if successful.
Problem statement:
What problem are you trying to solve? What is the scope of your work (a generalized
approach, or for a specific situation)? Be careful not to use too much jargon. In some
cases it is appropriate to put the problem statement before the motivation, but usually this
only works if most readers already understand why the problem is important.
Approach:
How did you go about solving or making progress on the problem? Did you use
simulation, analytic models, prototype construction, or analysis of field data for an actual
product? What was the extent of your work (did you look at one application program or a
hundred programs in twenty different programming languages?) What important
variables did you control, ignore, or measure?
Results:
What's the answer? Specifically, most good computer architecture papers conclude that
something is so many percent faster, cheaper, smaller, or otherwise better than something
else. Put the result there, in numbers. Avoid vague, hand-waving results such as "very",
"small", or "significant." If you must be vague, you are only given license to do so when
you can talk about orders-of-magnitude improvement. There is a tension here in that you
should not provide numbers that can be easily misinterpreted, but on the other hand you
don't have room for all the caveats.
Conclusions:
What are the implications of your answer? Is it going to change the world (unlikely), be a
significant "win", be a nice hack, or simply serve as a road sign indicating that this path is
a waste of time (all of the previous results are useful). Are your results general,
potentially generalizable, or specific to a particular case?