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Research paper

Posted: Thu Feb 10, 2005 6:58 am
by some_guy
Hi I haven't posted here for a good year, but I could use some help. I am now doing a research paper for school and have decided to do it on electronics. I know there are a ton of electronic subjects, what do you think I should do it on? Do you know good websites to go to for lots of info? Please e-mail me - [email protected]. thank you very much for helping me. ~Some guy

Re: Research paper

Posted: Thu Feb 10, 2005 7:28 am
by jimandy
<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr> I am now doing a research paper for school <hr></blockquote><p>High school? College? Science class? Business class?<p>Help us out here.

Re: Research paper

Posted: Thu Feb 10, 2005 8:36 am
by jwax
Subject?
HELL! How about I write it for you?

Re: Research paper

Posted: Thu Feb 10, 2005 9:20 am
by philba
no, let me! let me!

Re: Research paper

Posted: Thu Feb 10, 2005 10:26 am
by haklesup
Now Now, this is not like the slacker student thread, the question is legit. Advice is free, answers may not be.<p>You should write about something you want to learn more about but not necessarily something you already know. What about electronics interests you? <p>Is it the historical perspective you admire? You could write about persons who advanced the technology. You could write about inventions that changed the world. You could analyze trends and advancements in say television display screens for example. Who are the major players, what are the technologies.<p>Is it the nuts and volts of the hobby that interest you. You could write about a certain circuit or component, how it works, who invented it, what it's used for and how it impacts our daily lives and advances that make it more useful (the transistor, electric motor, PIC controllers etc.) <p>Is it the career of electronics that interests you. You could write about a certain job function, what they do, how it impacts others lives and what these people may be doing in the future and how the job has changed from the past. You could incorporate a personal interview into the paper for more interest and originality.<p>College or HS, dosen't matter, just adjust the depth and length of the paper appropriate to the level of education.<p>GIve us some feedback about your knowledge and interest and we can help you narrow the subject and point you toward some good references or keywords to search on.<p>Finally, pick a topic that hasn't been done to death (like a history channel program). That way you will not be tempted to copy any previous work and your teacher will not be bored reading your paper.

Re: Research paper

Posted: Thu Feb 10, 2005 10:50 am
by dr_when
" Do you know good websites to go to for lots of info? Please e-mail me -"<p>I'm sorry, but there is a real shortage of good info right now but if you check back later something is bound to turn up. What's a website? (drool).

Re: Research paper

Posted: Thu Feb 10, 2005 1:41 pm
by L. Daniel Rosa
How about the most useless and annoying gadgets people were willing to pay money for? Maybe a statistical profile on the number of components they have. Previous failed markets they were recycled from before being sold as a techno-geewhiz-doesnothing.

Re: Research paper

Posted: Thu Feb 10, 2005 2:43 pm
by jimandy
Hey some_guy - "nil illegitimati carborundum est"<p>(ask your latin teacher to translate)<p>Hang in there. Re-read haklesup's post. Come back to us with some details and you will be surprised at how many *positive* suggestions you may get.

Re: Research paper

Posted: Thu Feb 10, 2005 7:19 pm
by CeaSaR
"nil illegitimati carborundum est"<p>Drat! Babelfish doesn't do Latin.<p>I agree with hacklesup and jimandy. Your question is a valid one, and you are only looking for a direction to go to find answers. <p>How about this question? Who are/were the great women in electronics, what did they do and how did their research affect everyday life. I know of 2 or 3 and at this point I can't recall their names. (Hint, look for spread spectrum, computer programming and, I believe, X-rays.) This ought to throw the teach for a loop!<p>Which brings me to a question that has been bouncing around my head for a while, where are the female participants in electronics today? Why don't we see the softer side of man messing around with the guts of a product? Sure, there are plenty of lady programmers out there, but where are the Nuts and Volts Gals? Does playing around with electrons stimulate testosterone and supress estrogen? Inquiring minds want to know...<p>Only reason I ask is that I sometimes run an idea past my other half and she can show me a slightly different angle that would work also. (And she even asked me to teach her to solder the other day. Imagine that!)<p>OK, 'nuf about me. This is your thread some_guy.<p>Good luck with the paper!<p>CeaSaR

Re: Research paper

Posted: Thu Feb 10, 2005 7:54 pm
by Enzo
I like the idea of writing about something you don't know. Are you writing for people in techhnology? or for the layman? Here are some thoughts:<p>Write about something everyone knows but knows nothing about. Like an iPOD. Everyone knows what it is, but who knows what is inside and how it works. Or what is the history of it?<p>or maybe a GPS unit. There is a thing that you can hold in your hand and it tells you where you are and more advanced ones even will show a map. How does it work and why? How did it come to be?<p>Or consider something dear to me - vacuum tubes. THis obsolete technology is still alive and well in the area of guitar amps and esoteric hifi. This all but gone technology has a long interesting history.<p>Of go the other way and look into emerging technilogy or changes in existing technology. There is now a movement to 42 volt systems in automobiles. Explore that.<p>TV. Go to the FCC website and look up DTV. Did you know that we only have two more years of the now standard ntsc TV broadcasts? At the end of 2006 - possibly later if there is not yet enough morket penetration - the current channels will go dark. We will all either have to get new TVs or at least set top converter boxes. This is digital TV. SOme stations are already broadcasting digital. This is not the same thing as digital cable. This is a whole new TV format. HDTV is a subset of DTV. They are trying to sell the fancy new wider screen TVs and everyone talks digital, but no one is talking about the fact that channel 6 and 10 here in town will stop transmitting. The digital channels are on completely different frequencies. <p>VCRs are all but gone, but they were out there by the millions. How about how they work, or the history of the VCR. We all know the standard VHS VCR, but do you remember Beta? SHort for Betamax? and the other format no one knows, the U-matic?<p>Cel phones are everywhere. Does anyone you know really know how they work? IF I talk on my cel all the way from here to CLeveland, how does that work?<p>Here's one - how does a jukebox work?

Re: Research paper

Posted: Thu Feb 10, 2005 8:50 pm
by terri
CaeSar's got a good idea:<p>"How about this question? Who are/were the great women in electronics, what did they do and how did their research affect everyday life. I know of 2 or 3 and at this point I can't recall their names. (Hint, look for spread spectrum, computer programming and, I believe, X-rays.) This ought to throw the teach for a loop!"<p>More hints, just off the top of my head:<p>Spread spectrum: Actress Hedy Lamarr
Early Computers: Lady Lovelace ( Ada Byron )
X-rays: That lady whose x-ray diffraction studies on DNA supposedly was "stolen" by Crick and Watson. (Although this has been done on a PBS Special.)<p>[ February 10, 2005: Message edited by: terri ]</p>

Re: Research paper

Posted: Fri Feb 11, 2005 4:28 am
by jimandy
CeaSaR commented: <blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr>                   
"nil illegitimati carborundum est"<p>Drat! Babelfish doesn't do Latin. <hr></blockquote><p>Translation: "don't let the bastards grind you down"<p>(The motto on my coat of arms)

Re: Research paper

Posted: Tue Feb 15, 2005 2:10 pm
by some_guy
Ok, sorry for not being more specific... I have been away for a few days and the computer at school wouldn't let me log on. Ok, well I'm in highschool. And basically the people in my class wouldn't know the difference between a resistor and a triac. That doesn't concern me though because if try to take it down to their level I will spend pages explaning the very basics of electronics. I was actually thinking about doing it on nanotechnology. I have found some interesting articles on that, some good books too. I have to get six pages out of it so if you have any good websites that would help me thanks for letting me know. Also just as a closing statement I would like to say that even though I post on quite a few forums throughout the net this one is always the most helpful and intelligent. Thank you ~some guy

Re: Research paper

Posted: Tue Feb 15, 2005 4:00 pm
by jollyrgr
some_guy,<p>Expository Writing by chance? At least this is what they called the "Research Paper" writing class I had in high school twenty years (my God, has it been that long?) ago. Is this the semester long class that teaches you how to use the library, site sources, create note cards, refine research techniques, and so on? If so there are LOTS of subjects to cover. But I'm going to assume that this is for the writing class and give you a semi-electronics type example of how you can kill two birds with one stone. Present something on the English class itself while still researching electronics in a manner of speaking, and still presenting something that your peers should understand.<p>Let's put things into perspective about what you can do today. When I did my first major research paper very few people knew how to use a computer. It was required that this paper be typed. Most students either spent hours typing and retyping their paper, paying a professional to type it for them, or getting Dad's secretary to type it for them. Another student and I were the first two students to use a computer to type our own papers. We had to get special permission from the teacher to do this. And it was required that we could not have that "Funny computerish dotty type" (dot matrix for those of you that never saw this type of printing). It had to be done on a Daisy wheel printer. Fast forward a couple years. I'm working for a high school district as a "Microcomputer Repairman" to pay my way through college. I installed the first "writing labs" in the district's five schools. It was decided that ALL students would be required to turn in their English assignments generated by computers. Most (95%) of the English teachers were livid that they had to learn computers and have their students turn in papers created by printers. I know, it was summer and I was setting up the first of the labs when all the English teachers from the district came in to see what the future would be. By Thanksgiving of that school year there was not enough time in the day for all the students that wanted to use the lab to get time at the computers that wanted to use them. Teachers that had previously shunned computers were now staying after school to run the labs so students could do their work. <p>If you have not guessed by now I'm suggesting that you research how computers have changed life in the past few years. From a time where a computer was something where you had to ask permission to use as a tool to a point where it is assumed that you will be using a computer. Possibly research the timeline of how many computers existed from the time you were born until now. Show the progression of memory amounts, processor power, mass storage from when you started kindergarden to present day. Even without saying anything about the Internet you could get six pages out of this and still make it interesting. <p>Hope this helps.

Re: Research paper

Posted: Wed Feb 16, 2005 8:10 am
by some_guy
Thanks Jolly Roger, that does help. This is just for regualr old english class but my teachers just kind of crazy you remember highschool
:roll: but thanks for the help.