Nicholas Giokas Journal 6

1. Right now I have a large amount of knowledge on my fieldwork project.  We have decided to base our project on cancer awareness and how effective it is on college students.  Currently this topic overlaps with my inquiry topic, giving me a lot of knowledge to draw from.  Also my previous classes in biology and biochemistry have given me a strong foundation in cancer information.
2. I feel very strongly about my topic.  Cancer is something that can effect anyone and usually has effected someone that you know.  It is a very current disease that is developing daily.  These awareness campaigns are designed to inform the public, and I am very interested to see how much people who are not in my major know about cancer.
3. My main idea with this topic is to learn what information, if any, people receive from cancer awareness projects.  I also would like to know how informed people are that participate in cancer awareness events on campus.
4. In class I have already written most of a paper that concerns my topic.  This field work report deals with a little bit of a different side to cancer awareness then my inquiry paper, but still covers some of the same information.  The main thing that sparked my interest in my topic came from my intro to biochemistry class which taught me most of the scientific background to cancer.  Also the other main thing sparking my interest was reading the emperor of all maladies which covers all aspects of cancer.
5.  I assume that every person at VT has some sort of knowledge about cancer that could have come from the cancer awareness programs.
6.  The group that I am studying is college students in Blacksburg VA
7. Our topic is special because it covers all ages and races, but currently we are only focusing on the college crowd because they are at our disposal.
8. I belong to the the student, male, young, college educated, white, and middle class identity groups.
9.  I am currently part of a dominant culture that includes being educated on the topic of cancer and cancer awareness programs.  We must make sure that we skew our questions to people who may not have taken the same classes as us and only have the cancer awareness programs to rely on.
10.  It is important to keep in mind that cancer can be a very personal and touchy subject for some people because it may have affected them directly or indirectly at some point in time.  Keeping the questions very impersonal is probably the best way to go.

Matt Williams #6

1.       I know that there is a correlation between grades and amount of exercise in younger children. I know this because I have done research on the topic for my personal paper.

2.       I feel the topic is very important because it will help people boost their GPA if they need to. The topic can be if they need to. The topic can be tedious, but it is interesting at the same time.

3.       I want to know if exercising frequently affects one’s GPA or anything else in one’s life besides health.

4.       I was very active as a child. I do believe that this did help me in some way. It might have been grades directly, or learning how to manage time.

5.       I am assuming that everyone cares and knows about their GPA. I am also assuming that everyone asked is currently going to college.

6.       We are studying college aged people. The study revolves around the college GPA. It really doesn’t matter who all we ask as long as we get a verity.

7.       The category we are testing is the students at Virginia Tech

8.       We are all current students at Virginia Tech.

9.       We are testing every type of culture that decides to go to college. This could be everything from the quiet people who keep to themselves to the load social people who enjoy meeting everyone everywhere they go.

10.   We need to keep in mind that not everyone is comfortable saying their GPA out loud. We also need to consider peoples major and course load people have. Some majors and course loads don’t leave much free time to exercise. We also need to make sure that we get a wide sampling of students. If we get mainly college athletes in our study, the results will be skewed

Kevin Stefanye Blog #6

1-Because my topic was the same topic I used for my inquiry essay, I actually know a lot about procrastination. I know a bit about how it affects people, the history of procrastination, and the reasons why we procrastinate. However, I do not know very much about how it is affected by the use of technology.
2- I feel like our topic is a bit boring, because I've been learning about it for a while, but at the same time it is useful to me because I am a chronic procrastinator, and this research can help me to figure out just how normal that is.
3-I want to know how many people procrastinate, and whether or not this affects them in a positive or a negative manner.
4- I have been procrastinating for as long as I can remember, so our topic is definitely relevant to me. I put off nearly every assignment to have fun, and it usually comes back to haunt me.
5- I believe that my topic is a major problem for a lot of people, but not for everybody. For example, I actually believe that I benefit from procrastinating. I may be tired for the rest of the day after waking up at 6am to finish my homework, but the time restraint puts pressure on me to do my best work, and to do it quickly. I assume that most people will not be able to share my positive view on procrastination, and that the young students will procrastinate more than the older students and teachers.
6-We will be studying the Virginia Tech community, which will hopefully reflect the American college student in general.
7-we will be studying college students and college professors. Both genders, multiple majors, and multiple age groups.
8- I belong to many identity groups. College student, athlete,  gamer, male, white, middle class, and Christian.
9- A lot of our group is part of a dominant culture. All of the students here are around the same age group, and a majority of the students here are white middle class Christians like myself. Although most of my subjects will be part of a dominant culture, we will have a good portion of marginalized culture. This is a college campus, and there will always be minorities and people who are out of the ordinary. I and definitely part of a marginalized culture, being a while Christian male from northern Virginia. This makes me view my subject differently because I can identify with a lot of my subjects. I will try to be as non-biased as possible to make sure that my results reflect the population.
10-I need to remember to try to remain unbiased with the wording of our questions to make sure that our information is as accurate as possible.

Nazia Pasha- Journal #6

1) As of right now, I am well informed of our topic because my main idea for my inquiry essay is closely related to it. I have researched and gathered knowledge about every aspect of bilingualism, making me very well rounded in it.

2) Because I understand my topic frontwards and back, I feel very comfortable with it. I am confident that I would be able to successfully conduct this project with my peers.

3) Other than what I already learned through my research, I would like to get actual, personal input, from students of this university, as well as the faculty, about whether or not learning a new language is significant. This would make this project more realistic and relatable. I would also want to personally find out whether or not my research could be applied to real life situations in front of me.

4) In class, I found several classmates that have interest in the same topic, regarding language and culture. Through this common interest, I felt more connected and more familiar to my classmates. I enjoyed the fact that I was not alone, or alienated.

The great thing about my topic is that it is directly related to me. I am bilingual, and I grew up with two different cultures- American and Bengali. Because I myself am a subject of those I am researching, I would be able to verify research and other personal opinions about this topic. I could also be a part of the sample of students we collect data from, allowing me to insert as much data as I possibly could.

5) I believe that learning new languages and becoming bilingual, rather than monolingual, is beneficial for all. I believe that learning a new language would broaden one’s horizons and expand cognitive capacity, of which I learned through my individual research on this topic.

6) I believe this topic focuses on at the least, bilingual people- people who know more than one language. It could also include monolingual people’s opinions as well.

7) We are going to be receiving our data from the student body of Virginia Tech, as well as the faculty-language department. The student body could be divided into those who are monolingual, and those who know more languages.

8) I believe that I specifically fit into the student body category, and under the subdivision of bilingual speakers.

9) My group mostly consists of cultured people who are able to speak two different languages; therefore I would say my group is a part of the bilingual subdivision of the student body. We are not sure if we are the dominant culture until we follow through with more research about the students here at Tech, for now we would be the marginalized culture. If we were to be looked upon as the marginalized culture, it would not make us think differently about our topic- we would still believe that learning new languages is important and can only enhance one’s life experience.

10) While interviewing or surveying the subject group, we must remember to remain unbiased in our questioning in order to receive the most accurate results. As a group, it is also important to keep track of the data and make sure the information is reliable and strong enough to support this project.

Sofia Gasperino Journal 6

1. Some people take foreign languages here but it is most likely not the majority of students. Some students are bilingual already. Some students are International students and speak a different language as their first language instead of english.
2. I feel that people should learn second languages because it can open up doors to many new things,
3. I want to know the percentage of students  that take a foreign language class and the most popular language studied.
4. I relate to my topic because I took a second language in school and was raised learning spanish and english at the same time.
5. I assume that the majority of students only speak english. Also, they probably didn't retain much from any foreign language class they took in high school because of the inability to practice it often. I think that people may be financially limited and unable to study abroad.
6. The Virginia Tech community of students is a part of my topic as well as the faculty of the language department.
7. Groups included are any group that the students and faculty here at Tech are a part of.
8. Groups that I belong to include the following: Puerto Rican, Cuban, American, white, english and spanish speaking, college student, middle child, Catholic
9. My group is a part of a dominant culture of students getting an education. The marginalized culture is Virginia Tech and Hokies because not everyone goes to this school in the US. I am a part of the dominant culture because I am white and speak English. However, I am also part of a marginalized culture because of my Puerto Rican/Cuban background and ability to speak spanish.
10. We should keep in mind that the people we survey are going to come from many different backgrounds and many have a wide range of views on our topic.

Stuart McDonald - Journal 6

1.    I know that most people in college right now will probably think that college is worth it.  I also know that asking people in specific professions will result in different opinions.

2.    I am starting to think that college is worth it only to get a degree and meet that hiring requirement.  I do not think it is worth it with regards to talent in my field.

3.    I would like to know what other majors think about the usefulness of college outside of my field, such as business or art.

4.    This topic is extremely similar to my inquiry topic so I can pull from my experience with that.  My experience with this topic would stem from being enrolled in my second semester at college and having to a substantial amount already.

5.    I believe that college is not necessary to develop skills in many fields; however, it is a must for most employers.  I assume that a lot of people are going to say it’s worth it and the opposite view will be hard to find.

6.    The different majors and college experience levels are easily defined subcultures.  There are undergraduates, graduates, and professionals coming from many different majors.

7.    These people will identify with the terms: student, undergraduate, professional, graduate, young, middle-aged, debt-holding, NRV resident, educated, uneducated, experienced, and inexperienced

8.    I belong to the student, undergraduate, young, debt-holding, NRV resident, educated and inexperienced identities.

9.    This group will probably be a dominant culture due to the fact that most successful careers these days start with a college degree.  It will be marginalized because it will be limited to the NRV area.  I am part of the dominant culture of college students but also part of the inexperienced category, which is most likely a marginalized group due to the vast number of older people in the workforce.  It may seem that my being in college will tempt me to agree with it and the expected positive opinions of other students, but I am usually open to many viewpoints and I’m starting personally not agree with the process.  I will try to ask neutral questions to people, possibly prompting them to rate their experiences on a scale instead of asking for yes/no responses.

10.I will need to keep in mind the people’s various backgrounds and professions.  I can get a better response discussing the usefulness of college from someone long into their career than I can from someone currently in college.  The people still in college will give a viewpoint to compare with the professionals in the writing.

Emily Babski Journal #6

Today’s Questions:

1.     I know that many people differ on the opinion of weather college is worth while or not. I am aware that different degrees may require more schooling and is maybe more beneficially to go to college.

2.     I feel that college is extremely useful and a degree is needed, especially in this day and age. However, I also feel that my expectations of what I plan to get out of college may not be the reality I will face when leaving college.

3.     I hope to answer the question of if the expectations that I am anticipating are similar to what other college students are feeling and if these expectations can for the most part be valid because of the experiences that graduate students have had.

4.     I hear a lot about my topic on the news and just in every day discussion. I am also a part of my study and topic since I am a college student.

5.     I assume that most people want to be successful and will do whatever it takes to achieve their goals.

6.     College students, graduates, and older successful people in the work force are the three groups in my topic.

7.     College students, recent graduates from college, and older, middle-ages professionals.

8.     Female, young, student, athlete, catholic, white, American, musicians.   

9.     Group Dominant Culture: Most people now a days have a college education or are currently students if they are of the right age. There is a vast majority of people entering, or looking to enter the workforce as college graduates and especially with the Baby Boomer generation, there are many older and middle-aged individuals. Our group is not specific to race, gender or physical type so it is pretty easy to say our group corresponds with the dominant culture.

Group Marginalized Culture: Our group assumes that people have the capability to go to college so that may play into the fact that not everyone can afford college or have been privileged enough to even have a lower education so we could be leaving out the lower class.

My Dominant Culture: I am white and most people in America are white. I am a student and again, the majority of people my age are in college.

My Marginalized Culture: I think the fact that I am a musicians puts me in a marginalized culture and being catholic, depending on where you live in the U.S. could also be considered a marginalized religion.

Taking these things into consideration, I think we need to consider the population who is in the marginalized culture and realize that not everyone has an opportunity to go to college, but since our topic is narrowed to three particular groups, I don’t think that will be a huge factor.

10.  We need to word our questions to not sound biased and ask questions in a way that would be leading them to a particular answer.