Wednesday, October 29, 2014

My Topic for the Data-Driven Research Project

For the data-driven research project, I am choosing to do the project on fantasy football. I play fantasy football in my free time, and I want to see who actually plays fantasy football, how many teams a person has, and why he or she is playing this in his or her free time. To do this, I will research the following question: What does the literature reveal about the people who participate in fantasy football?


Monday, October 27, 2014

3 Potential Research Topics

My 3 potential research topics are as follows:

1) U.S. Geography- What does the literature reveal about our knowledge of our nation's state capitals?

2)Golf- What does the literature reveal about the origins of the first American golf courses?

3)Fantasy Football- What does the literature reveal about the number of people who play fantasy football?

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Bias Analysis for Editorial: Throw out the trash talk at school sports By: Tubby Smith

In the article, Editorial: Throw out the trash talk at school sports, Tubby Smith argues that the fans at high school sports events should calm down on their “taunts and foul language.” He believes that the fans at these events are using language that is too profane for these games, and that the fans have to be more civil in their chanting and rooting for their team. Based on the article, Smith has many biases about the profanity of the fans of high school sports, including the Defensive Attribution Hypothesis and the Fundamental Attribution Error.
The Defensive Attribution Hypothesis is a bias that puts more blame on the harm-doer as the outcomes of certain events become more severe. In the article, Smith shows this bias. Tubby Smith is putting a lot of blame on the fans at these events. He believes that the fans are screaming profane language towards the opposing team many times throughout the course of the game. His belief is that these exclaims of profane language is causing violence within these high school games. Smith has seen an increase in the number of altercations between high school teams, and he thinks this is happening because fans are screaming foul language at the opposing team, even though this might not be the real reason. The reader can see through this example that Tubby Smith shows that he is biased against fans who shout bad language at high school games.
The Fundamental Attribution Error is a bias when a person over-emphasizes personality-based explanations for behaviors while underestimating situational influences. The reader can see that Tubby Smith shows this type of bias. Smith believes that the people attending the game are “potty-mouths.” He argues that this group of people is influencing the violence on the field since these people are the ones who are screaming the inappropriate language at the games. However, Smith under-emphasizes the fact that the game itself could influence the responses of the fans. These games are very important to the student-athletes and sometimes the parents who are in the stands, and the intensity and importance of the game could cause a parent to yell foul language unintentionally. Tubby Smith does not mention this explanation, making him under the umbrella of the Fundamental Attribution Error.
Tubby Smith, in his article Editorial: Throw out the trash talk at school sports, shows the biases of the Defensive Attribution Hypothesis and the Fundamental Attribution Error. After looking through the biases that are present in this article, it appears that the biases of Tubby Smith decrease the strength of his argument. Not all biases are negative, but in this case, Smith’s biases make the reader believe that Smith has a strong opinion towards calming down the profanity of fans at high school sports but that he does not have a strong argument to support his opinion. The biases shown in this editorial, and biases in any article, have an effect on the argument of the writer.

To read the article, click here:

Saturday, October 11, 2014

Completed Bucket List Item

On September 28, I completed an item off of my short term bucket list: I drove my grandfather's truck. To prove that I have achieved this, here is a video of me driving the truck:


Tuesday, October 7, 2014

Do You Know Jason O'Neil? (Profile of a Peer)

     Jason O'Neil is a Norton High School student that many people know. However, not many people really know Jason. After sitting down with him, there are new things to know about him that other people might not know.
     
     Jason was born on May 13, 1997. He is the youngest of three children, with his older sister, Colleen, being twenty-two years old and his older brother, Tyler, being twenty years old. Jason feels as if the three of them have a "pretty good" relationship. This is apparent by the way he feels that he is most similar to his brother. Mr. O'Neil does not currently have any pets, but he "had a fish" at an early age: his name was "Squirt" but it passed away ofter a short while.

      Jason O'Neil has done a few things in his short life. He has traveled to amazing places: he "went to...Universal Studios" in Florida where he loved to ride "the Hulk." He has also gone to school for a long time. Now a senior at Norton High School, he has gone to school for over ten years. This is such a long time that he does not know what his favorite read is. "I don't know," Jason pronounced, "I've read a lot of books in school." This time has not bored him, since he enjoys coming to school as a senior. Jason likes school the most because he believes it is "not that hard," and he gets to play his favorite sport: basketball.

     One of Jason's favorite hobbies is basketball. Jason has always been a fan of basketball , and he has played for as long he can remember. He plays ther game pretty well, too, playing for the high school varsity team. His friends believe he is a "tall and athletic" person, so this gives him an advantage whenever he plays the sport he loves. He has done so well at the sport that he ha won a "New England free throw competition." When he was twelve, Jason was able to compete in Connecticut against many different basketball players from around the region, and he won the entire contest.

      After talking with Jason, it seems like he is very happy with how his life is: he can even say that he is "pretty satisfied" with how he has lived his life so far. Jason looks like he is ready for anything life has to throw at him, and he seems up for the next challenge that comes his way. Many believe his past experiences on the court, in the classroom, and at home will help him with the new experinces he will create in the years ahead.