IMRaD

IMRaD Report

Lowering the legal drinking age in the U.S. to 18

Abstract

Many views on lowering the drinking age to 18 and how it can reduce many unnecessary risks and problems related to underage drinking in the U.S. have grown recently. To study this 5 people from each age group from 17-20, 21-30, 31-45, and 46+ were questioned on whether or not they think the legal drinking age should be lowered to 18. This research shows that overall people do not believe that the legal drinking age should be lowered by 2 votes. This suggests that not as many people agree with lowering the drinking age as were predicted.

Introduction

Research from the early 1980s until the present has shown a continuous decrease in drinking and driving related variables which has parallel the nation's, and also university students, decrease in per capita consumption. However, these declines started in 1980 before the national 1987 law which mandated states to have 21 year old alcohol purchase laws (Ruth C. Engs). Since the drinking age has been 21 there have been many dangerous problems related with underage drinking. The views of people living in the U.S. from the ages of 17 and up and whether or not they agree with the current drinking age is not very clear and collecting these results will help get a better understanding of what our U.S. citizens want.

Method

Participants: 20 people living in the U.S. were asked their view on lowering the drinking age. 5 from each age group from 17-20, 21-30, 31-45, and 46 and up.

Procedure: Each participant was simply asked a set of questions that show their points of view on the current drinking age. Each participant was asked

1.     If they think the legal drinking age should be lowered to 18.

2.     If they agree with the current legal drinking age.

3.     If they think the legal drinking age should be raised from 21.

Results

Table 1 shows that actually when taking the public’s opinion into consideration people who don’t agree with lowering the legal drinking age to 18 outweigh the people that agree. Out of 20 participants, 11 of them did not agree with lowering the legal drinking age, and only 9 actually believed that it should be lowered.

                        Table1:

Age Group	Agree with lowering drinking age	Disagree with lowering drinking age
17-20	4	1
21-30	2	3
31-45	2	3
46+	1	4

Discussion

This study shows that even with all of the troubles and abuse of alcohol consumption by under aged young adults more people believe that the legal drinking of 21 should not be lowered to 18. These participants were not informed of the common problems that occur with the drinking age being above 18. It is possible that if these participants would’ve been informed of these problems that they may have changed their views. This study is also only limited to a small group of 20 participants which isn’t a very large group when wanting to consider the outlooks of the people living in the U.S. Further research in other states and regions in the U.S. would bring in much more data in places all over the U.S. to create more accurate data.

Works Cited

 Engs, Ruth C. (1997, 2014). Why the drinking age should be lowered: An opinion based upon research. Indiana University: Bloomington, IN. Retrieved from IUScholarWorks 

Research Questions

1.) Do you think the legal drinking age should be lowered to 18?
a. - strongly agree
b. - agree
c. - disagree
d. - strongly disagree

2.) Do you agree with the current legal drinking age of 21?
a. - strongly agree
b. - agree
c. - disagree
d. - strongly disagree

3.) Do you think the legal drinking age should be raised?
a. - strongly agree
b. - agree
c. - disagree
d. - strongly disagree

4.) What age group do you fall under?
a.) - 17-20
b.) - 21-30
c.) - 31-45
d.) - 46+

Two Topic Questions

1. Should College-Athletes be paid?

• about 5-10 college students, get their feedback on the topic

    2. Should the legal drinking age be lowered to 18?

• 5-10 young adults around the age of 18
• 5-10 adults 21 or older

IMRaD differences

This assignment is different from the research paper that we did in several ways. For IMRaD you must develop and use your own research by interviewing others on a specific topic and use the information I collect from them to configure this paper. This report will also be much shorter than the lengthy research paper. Instead of using data and research from others I will be creating and using my own research for this paper.

Reflection on Remediation

I'd say that the biggest problem I had with my remediation of my research paper was trying to fit the research paper into the power point that I made to re mediate the paper. At first I was putting several sentences on each slide but after we discussed it in class I shortened the sentences up into a few bullet points to help me regulate my voice over. The voice over for my power point made it much easier to explain my research paper to the audience. The pictures I added to most of the slides also made it a lot easier to portray my research paper through the power point and helped to keep the audiences attention as well. I used the same citations that were I used for my research paper but added a few for my pictures and video that I put on my power point.

Media Design for Remediation

I plan on creating a power point to re mediate my research paper. Shortening up the lengthy paper and giving it some color and adding visuals will help the audience to get more into the topic and help them really understand what the main point is. I think this is probably the best idea for re mediating my paper because it wont bore the audience and wont be too busy to confuse the audience either, it should be the right amount of information and visual aid to help bring the paper to life and keep the audience interested.

Remediation

I think I'm leaning towards using a power point to re-mediate my  research paper on whether or not college athletes should be payed. For all the information that takes up the majority of my research paper I think it would be best to make a power point to liven up the paper and make it a lot more interesting than just a bunch of words.

Reflection of Research Paper

Coming up with a topic that was  out of the ordinary was the first major step for this paper. I chose the topic of whether or not college athletes should be payed because I knew that it would interest many people and others would have specific views on this as well, I've also played sports my whole life so I knew that I could relate to this in some ways. I also knew that this was a very hot topic in the recent years and is continuing to grow. When I thought of the topic I had to give it some thought but I quickly figured out my stance behind it which was that student athletes should not be payed for playing sports for the university. After I came up with a topic I my next step was too find out as much information on this topic as I could. From NCAA rules and regulations, to views of many others on this topic who take the same side as me and the opposing views as well. Then I needed to organize all of this information in a way that would make my stance on the topic clear, along with how and why I chose the side that I personally do not believe college athletes should be compensated. That part was easy, but the hard part was using the opposing views to benefit my side and explain what harm could come from paying these athletes. I also knew that my bad habits of repeating myself would come into play later on in my paper if I wasn't careful.
This is a very different type of paper when comparing it to the informational report earlier this semester. My opinion comes into play in the research paper a lot more than in the informational report. In the information report I was just informing the audience of information that I gathered without telling my side and trying to argue my point. But from both of these papers I had to gather lots of information for the writing process.
After writing my research paper I learned how to use the opposing view to support my stance on the topic, but to do so in a way that does not discourage their views. I also learned that looking at both sides of the topic helped me decide my stance and how I was going to portray it clearly to the audience.

Research Paper outline

Sheldon Miller-Embry

English 102

Professor Paudel

3/3/2015

Research Paper Outline

            Intro:

Hook: More and more people are beginning to believe that athletes in college should receive some form of compensation for playing sports for their school.

Thesis: Student-athlete compensation should not be considered because it would take away from the real reason they are in college which is to get an education to help them succeed in other aspects in their lives.

Implications: Could paying student athletes negatively affect the athletes and the university? Could this improve the athlete’s performance or the university all together in the long run? How would this change the whole outlook on sports in the U.S. alone?

Background:

·       The previous history of past attempts to pay student athletes.

·       Along with all of the restrictions that surround the NCAA when it comes to athletes receiving any sort of gift.

·       NCAA rules and regulations along with professional rules and regulations.

·       Previous gifts given to athletes that are against the regulations of NCAA, with what consequences.

Then:

·       More conservative views would more than likely be against paying these athletes.

·       How long have people proposed the idea of paying student athletes?

·       Older NCAA regulations compared to more up to date regulations regarding this topic.

Now:

·       More liberal views on compensating these athletes.

·       How would paying student athletes change the future of not only collegiate sports but professional sports as well?

·       Analyze financial issues with student athletes, along with scholarships

·       Possible effects on grades if student athletes were to be paid.

Counter:

·       How could paying athletes have a positive effects?

·       Explain other points of view from others, but do not discourage these views.

·       Recap earlier points

First Assignment Reflection

After finishing the first assignment we had for this class I learned many things from the actual type of report that we had to do, to learning a few things about the review sessions that we had. I also learned a lot about the actual types of writing that are necessary when regarding the field of business. There are many different kinds of writing that someone in this career must create, but in the specific field I was researching and the people I interviewed I found that non-academic types of writing are much more common than lengthy informative academic pieces. I also found out that on the other hand when academic reports are required that they are very important for that particular business. I also learned a lot about myself when writing this report. I learned that I need to work on being more concise when writing an informational report and maybe for any type of writing I do. I learned some about what other people were writing there reports and picked up a few things from them as well as my instructor in the group review session.

In the field I was analyzing I figured that there would be a lot of basic types of writings like emails and memos and every day formats. I was write about that, but I did not know that there would be such a large amount of these writings in just one day. I also thought in some ways there would be a lot more academic reports. But after interviewing these owners Kirk Johnson and Karen Mckinley I found that there were in fact very few academic pieces written, but those academic pieces were extremely important to there business.

One major challenge I had was the actual interviews that I had to do which was the most important part to this whole report. I have never interviewed anyone other than my parents and friends and maybe a few teachers, so actually locating and scheduling people to talk to and to sit down or even just answer the questions through email was slightly tougher than I had thought. Another big issue I struggled with was the overall format and organization of the whole report and how it should correctly be done mostly because I have never done a report.

I learned a lot form the group conferences with another student and the professor that helped me greatly on my final report. But I think that maybe it would be easier to understand what the exact issues I had with my first draft. I think that if the time were split up into fifteen minutes for each student it would be easier to manage time, and I would be able to understand and figure out what the problems I had with my paper and learn how to fix these problems.

Assignment 1 First Draft

Sheldon Miller-Embry

Professor Hem Paudel

English-102

2-4-14

Informational Report

            After interviewing two successful and happy business owners it is clear that writing plays a significant role in all kinds of business professions that students in college today are studying to grow up and pursue in their future. When interviewing the owner of three local Bearno’s restaurants in southern Indiana it was obvious to see the importance of different kinds of writing that he must do to keep his business up and running. Also after interviewing the owner of a gym for cheer and gymnastics the similar significance of professional writing techniques was distinct. Even though the types of writings in business professions usually are not as lengthy as writing in other professions they are still detrimental to the growth and production of these businesses.

            Kirk Johnson, the owner of three local Bearno’s restaurants made it clear that without his daily writing for his businesses he would not be where he is today. Kirk is a fairly wealthy man with a laid-back and friendly attitude that you might not expect from a busy restaurant owner. He attended a small community college while working at Ford where he graduated with his business degree. During the interview he says “I constantly have to stay on top of things here and all of the writing I do really helps me keep up with it all”. Obviously his writings like his emails that he sends out and receives daily keeps everything organized. He says that he hasn’t written an official academic piece since college because there is really no need for them in his business. He relies solely on his non-academic pieces such as his emails, the rules and regulations for his employees and coworkers, and also advertisement to run his business.

            Another local business owner Karen Mckinley runs a gymnastic and cheer gym, All Starz,  where she teaches and previously coached a competitive cheer team. She did not go to college, instead she began work the day after she graduated at a bank where she worked and coached cheerleading on the side when she could. She says during the interview “I started All Starz in 1982 at Becky Seiler Dance Studio by renting space from her, and I actually started coaching when I was 16 when I was a competitive gymnast”. Even though she did not attend college she still successfully runs her business for over thirty years. She says she spends about two hours a day between answering and writing emails, schedules, and reports. She also has a website or media page for her business that has a blog on it.

            These two owners and the way that they run their businesses are very similar when it comes to the types of writing that they do. Even though one owner went to college and got his degree and the other did not, both are successfully running their businesses, so obviously just because you don’t go to college or have the opportunity to doesn’t mean you can’t pursue and live your dream. And even though these businesses are very different, both are owners and use rather similar writing techniques to run their businesses. They both rely heavily on their non-academic writings like emails, reports, schedules, and media/advertisements to keep their businesses running at optimal levels.

            One non-academic source that I found was the actual menu for Bearno’s restaurants in southern Indiana which is a vital piece of writing for this business. These menu must display total complete correct grammar and intrigue the audience for his business to make any money. Kirk’s degree definitely helped him out when getting these menus organized and correctly written in a way that attracts potential customers. Another non-academic piece I found was the web page for All Starz Gymnastics. This crucial media piece must also be completely correct with all information and organized in a way that clearly portrays the atmosphere of All Starz and what All Starz is all about along with what they have to offer. These two pieces are major written pieces that affect the outcome of their businesses.

            One form of academic writing in the business field I found was an overseas business report showing an import tariff system and many other financial properties that come in to play when shipping items in and out of Honduras but can be applied to countries all over the world. This report is an official piece that is a crucial part of all big businesses that use imports and exports, and without this organized report communicating the different charges and taxes may be misinterpreted which could have a negative impact on both sides of business. One more academic piece found was a market report for ecommerce sales and profits. This can be very effective when a certain business wants to look to improve their revenue and writing this information correctly and getting all of the right information on this topic is detrimental to the success of a business.

           

Summary of interview and sources

Interview Summary:
So far I've had access and interviewed one professional,I have scheduled another interview for this coming Monday with a local cheer and gymnastic gym owner, Karen Mckinley. But the other person that I have already interviewed that I admire and have the up most respect for is my boss, Kirk Johnson, the owner of three local Bearno's in southern Indiana. He graduated and got his business degree from a small community college while working at Ford for several years, and a few years later invested in Bearno's. Most of his writings are made up of different kinds of marketing advertisements such as commercials, coupons, and all kinds of other nonacademic advertisements to help bring in money for his businesses. These are probably the most significant kinds of writing he does because without these he would not be able to keep his business running. Some other important types of nonacademic writing that he must produce frequently are various sets of instructions and rules for his business partners and employees. These are also extremely important and needed when keeping a business running smoothly and in a way that will keep profits up. He also has partners that he shares business proposals with to make possible changes and get feedback, and these are a also a huge part of his academic side of writing but these do not happen very often like his advertisements and updated guidelines.

Analysis of Sources:
Taking away from one source I found, people with a background and/or career in business do several different types of formal and informal writing. Most of the writings done in this field are memos and business letters. These are informal or nonacademic types of writing they use to communicate and pass on information to their coworkers. Memos are used almost daily to communicate basic information like deadlines to colleagues these are usually sent through email. Other kinds of writings such as business letters, which would be in the standard form of a formal letter and are generally used to apply for jobs and also pass on information. In other sources some other types of writings can be much lengthier and go into much greater detail for instance, a business proposal that brings up and offers new and innovative ideas or processes. These often require a lot of research and evidence to back up what they are trying to explain and persuade to their colleagues. Another much shorter and possibly simpler form of nonacademic writing that we see in our everyday lives are advertisements and slogans used by marketing professionals to portray and intrigue the audience to buy or invest in their specific product, this is a very significant form of writing that often gets overlooked.

Interview Questions

• How do you prepare for your academic pieces?
• How often do you use non-academic sources such as emails, instructions, etc.?
• How often do you publish your academic pieces?
• How have your past writing classes prepared you for your writing in this profession?
• What other college courses helped you in this career?
• Do you enjoy writing in this particular career?

Assignment 1 genre type

For out first assignment we must write an informative report using several different sources including information from interviews. This informative genre will be also comparing the information that we receive from each professional we interview. This report will be a formal piece to explain the roll that writing takes in that specific profession. Using  information collected by professionals will help with writing this piece. It will help us understand what kind of writing they do and how they do so. it will also show us the importance of the writing classes that they took which we are currently taking. This will also help with the clarity and credibility of this report by using  actual authentic information collected by professionals.

Analysis of Assignment 1

After reading the print out for our first assignment for an informative piece there will obviously be many aspects used in this rhetorical situation. The genre obviously is an informative piece to put together the information we have gathered from the people we interview in our specific desired profession. The purpose of this report is to increase the awareness of what this profession involves to incoming freshman. The audience of this report will be for the freshman next year that are looking to pursue a career in this specific field. My stance will be to positively and informatively explain the information received by the person being interviewed.The media being used in this report will be the people being interviewed along with the information and experience from the profession that they share.

English 101 writing assignment analysis

In English 101 I wrote an informative essay on " The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved" analyzing Hunter S. Thompson and how this piece reflected his type of writing and journalism. the audience of this essay that I was writing towards was my English professor. My stance in this essay was that "The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved" was a perfect example of Thompson's gonzo journalism that he was most well-known for, "Hunter S. Thompson’s, “The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved” serves as a great example of the gonzo journalism that Thompson started and perfected". This line from my essay is in fact my thesis which was my stance which aided my purpose for this essay. Even though I was not given a specific prompt to write, knowing my professor and knowing what exactly he was looking for and expecting helped me to confidently and clearly write about and portray my stance in this piece. I could probably have made my essay better by maybe thinking about my audience being more than just my professor to maybe change up the way I wrote about Thompson and his work. But apparently I was on the right track with my essay and what I trying portray with this because I received a deserved A given all the research and effort put into it.

Rhetorical Situation

• The context of a rhetorical act, made up of a rhetor, an issue, and an audience.
• A rhetorical situation occurs when a rhetor, an audience, a medium, and a context converge to create a rhetorical act, such as writing or speaking.
• Purpose, audience, stance, genre, and medium, and the design are important aspects when regarding a rhetorical situation.

About me

My name is Sheldon Miller-Embry and Miller is part of my last name, it's hyphenated obviously. I am currently a freshman attending the University of Louisville. I am majoring in business, and plan on continuing in a marketing degree. I currently live in New Albany. Indiana. I previously went to New Albany High School where I played baseball for four years.