New Research Topic

My new research topic is: How do the effects of having Wal-Marts in China differ from the effect Wal-Marts have in America?

In Class Exercise 3

During the 20 minutes alloted for research, I looked at a few websites containing information about my subject. I throughly read all of the information contained in these sites, and made sure that the sites were not biased. I feel like the information I obtained was very helpful, and the way I went about doing research was effective and efficient. I think that this was a good exercise, and I feel like I am going about my research in a more sophisticated way than I did before enrolling in this class. The process I used and the information I obtained were both beneficial to my research and my goal for this assignment. With more research, I think that this should turn out to be a good experience.

In Class Exercise 1

My topic area is the option of using Ethanol as an alternative to gasoline for America.

A primary research question is; Do the benefits of using ethanol exceed the problems it might cause with regards to the economy and the environment?

2 sub questions are; Is President Bush in support of using ethanol?
Are the 2008 candidates for president in support of using ethanol?

Kulthau’s Theory

The initial stages of Kulthau’s theory include initiation, selection, and exploration. These are steps everyone who does research goes through, even if they are unaware of doing so. Currently, I have completed the initiation and selection stages since I have already decided my topic and found some resources and articles that contain information on my research subject. I am still working on the exploration stage because I have found a lot of information, and I am currently sorting through what is good, what is not so good, and what exactly I need for the particular research subject.

Brief Blog exercise

David McCollum

My prospectus is about finding out whether or not ethanol is a viable alternative to gasoline for America. I have a general understanding about the pros and cons of using ethanol, but I need to find out a lot more specific information through my research. Areas I need to find specific information about include: other countries or instances where ethanol is being used, effects to the environment ethanol will have, economic effects that ethanol will have, and information specific to America with regards to using ethanol. I think the topic I am researching is not too broad or too narrow because there is a lot of information in favor of using ethanol and there is a lot of information saying that ethanol is not a good alternative. This topic covers politics, environmental issues, and economic issues. My end result to this research should give me a clear understanding as to whether or not using ethanol for fuel is a viable alternative for America.

Is Ethanol a good alternative to gasolie in America's search for alternative energy sources

Prospectus

It is a well known fact that the oil we use to fuel our cars is running out at an extreme rate, and that America needs to find an alternative energy source to fuel our cars. A recent alternative that is very popular is using ethanol made from corn to fuel our cars. Using a renewable resource like corn to fuel our cars sounds like a brilliant idea since it would lessen our reliability on countries in the Middle East for oil, and it would give us an alternative when fossil fuels run out. However, a closer look at this subject reveals that using ethanol to fuel our cars is not as good as it sounds. Even though corn and ethanol are not fossil fuels, the machinery made to grow the corn and then turn it into ethanol burn fossil fuels. Also, the increase in demand for corn this is causing is severely increasing the price of corn. America is also using a large portion of it’s corn crop for ethanol. By conducting further research on this topic, I hope to come to a conclusion as to whether or not using ethanol is a viable alternative in America’s search for different ways to fuel our automobiles. Methods used to gather information on this subject will include magazine articles, scholarly journals, and editorials.

First Blog Post

This is my first blog post, enjoy

-David McCollum