Help me pick a topic for my research essay! (Skiing/Sports related)

-WZ-

-WZ-

Active member
Hey NS, I have a research paper due in a few weeks and im hoping to get some input to help me decide. Im hoping to keep this paper on a topic relatable to skiing/action sports so I'll actually be interested in the subject I write about. This shit needs to be 7 pages long and have 5 academic sources quoted to support my claim. So far the ideas I've came up with are:

-Injuries & Action Sports

-Professional Athletes coming out (Inspired by Gus on this one)

-Action sport culture vs Mainstream sport culture

-The freestyle skiing movement: moving away from rules & regulations

-The action sport movement in general (How they began and have gotten so much interest in the last decade or two)

These are all topics I feel like I could write about but I just don't know if I could squeeze 7 pages out of them. The other difficulty is finding any academic sources on these topics. Any help or suggestions would be greatly greatly appreciated!
 
I would strongly recommend writing about something else. I've been in your situation and it always seems cool and easy to write about freestyle skiing since it's a world you're in touch with, but why don't you consider delving into a topic that is academically interesting and intellectually stimulating for you. I would have a hard time believing that skiing is the only thing that you're interested in, even if it feels like that is the case now. You'll get much more out of the experience and write a much better paper if you challenge yourself a little bit and find something really cool to write about
 
13543060:no_steeze said:
I would strongly recommend writing about something else. I've been in your situation and it always seems cool and easy to write about freestyle skiing since it's a world you're in touch with, but why don't you consider delving into a topic that is academically interesting and intellectually stimulating for you. I would have a hard time believing that skiing is the only thing that you're interested in, even if it feels like that is the case now. You'll get much more out of the experience and write a much better paper if you challenge yourself a little bit and find something really cool to write about
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can't agree with this more. I've tried like three or four times now to write a credible 8 plus page research papers on skiing and its pretty much impossible. The amount of academically correct sources you're going to find is pretty slim, there hasn't been a whole lot of professional writing done on it that you could find on EBSCO or any other scholarly database. This being said, it's also hard to write papers, (depending on the kind of paper) that you are a combination of knowledgeable and interested in the topic without having some sort of persuasive touch to it.

tldr; dont do it
 
13543060:no_steeze said:
I would strongly recommend writing about something else. I've been in your situation and it always seems cool and easy to write about freestyle skiing since it's a world you're in touch with, but why don't you consider delving into a topic that is academically interesting and intellectually stimulating for you. I would have a hard time believing that skiing is the only thing that you're interested in, even if it feels like that is the case now. You'll get much more out of the experience and write a much better paper if you challenge yourself a little bit and find something really cool to write about
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I'm going to agree with this. I've tried to do it and it's pretty hard. Save the topic of action sports/ skiing for an opinion based or memoir/personal assignments and do something else for factual assignments.

Two things that come to mind that are skiing based but also research friendly would be:

1. A lot of skiers get concussions or have issues with post concussion syndrome. You could look into doing your paper on that. And if you or a friend have ever been through either of these you might be able to incorporate that into your paper!

2. Or maybe you could look at climate change or any environmental issue that interests you.

If I can think of anything else, i'll let ya know!
 
13543081:Mingg said:
I'm going to agree with this. I've tried to do it and it's pretty hard. Save the topic of action sports/ skiing for an opinion based or memoir/personal assignments and do something else for factual assignments.

Two things that come to mind that are skiing based but also research friendly would be:

1. A lot of skiers get concussions or have issues with post concussion syndrome. You could look into doing your paper on that. And if you or a friend have ever been through either of these you might be able to incorporate that into your paper!

2. Or maybe you could look at climate change or any environmental issue that interests you.

If I can think of anything else, i'll let ya know!
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originally i was going to look at how marketing hasnt been very effective for protective gear in action sports (ie wearing a helmet) (although its definitely gotten better in the last few years) and how the risk factor in these sports as well as levels of progression have made the potential for injury more and more severe and yet tons of athletes still dont wear protective gear, but then thats why i broadened one of the ideas to just "Injuries and action sports" and that could be a sub topic or something haha.

I actually really like the idea of climate change since thats such a broader issue and has tons of research on it etc etc. Thanks :)
 
I have a research paper I'm working on now and of course I went through trying to find a way to do it on skiing. I quickly realized that although I knew quite a bit, I couldn't write a paper by any means. I figured that instead of trying to do something I had been apart of I would try to learn some new information. I eventually settled on recreational land management as that pertains to the outdoors and things I have an interest in, but I could stand to learn something about it. Also it seemed more relevant to me that bullshit like abuse and any emotional topics.
 
Look into DARPA. They have a lot of really interesting things going on for the military. I wrote one about them once and it was definitely easy. More information then you are going to have room for.
 
Just write about the NSA and the information they collect. Or don't. Since they're probably monitoring this now. You don't think they're monitoring this? Obama White House bomb gun guns 9/11. Now they are
 
topic:-WZ- said:
This shit needs to be 7 pages long and have 5 academic sources quoted to support my claim.

difficulty is finding any academic sources on these topics. Any help or suggestions would be greatly greatly appreciated!
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I know this is not what you want to hear but I would start with the sources and then pick your topic. Think about what your instructor will consider an acceptable source. Do you have academic sources about skiing that will work? If so figure out what topics your sources cover well and go from there. Have trouble finding sources on skiing then I would just dump the ski topic idea and go for something that you can find all of the right sources for. No matter how fun your topic is you will have more fun once you can get your paper out of the way.
 
topic:-WZ- said:
-Professional Athletes coming out (Inspired by Gus on this one)
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write about how caitlyn jenner is a hero and an inspiration and so brave. easy 95% if your teacher is a woman or a pc bro
 
Something I just thought of that has a TON of research out there. Just look in sociology or psychology journals and there will be lots of articles.

It would be interesting to write about the role of masculinity within action sports, and its sometimes negative consequences.

Here are some things that come to mind. This could definitely get you 7 plus pages, heck this could be a thesis dissertation and your teacher/professor will love it.

1. Not wearing helmets is related to the masculine expectations of toughness and risk taking

2. American masculinity is often judged by physicality or athletic performance. Perhaps action sports are a way for young guys who did not excel in traditional masculine sports i.e. football, lacrosse, baseball etc. to prove their masculine athletic and risk taking abilities.

3. You are less likely to get in an avalanche if there is a girl with you in the backcountry (i believe there was an actual study on this)

4. The sexual objectification of female extreme athletes is related to the masculine doctrine of sexual objectification.

5. The fact that many male athletes pretend not to be truly concussed or injured to appear "tough" and end up harming themselves further

6. Homophobia in extreme sports is linked to the traditional masculine pillar of fear of homosexuals

7. After talking about all the fucked up elements of masculinity in action sports, you could conclude with guys who are pushing the boundaries such as Gus, and some female athletes.

You probably won't find much directly about action sports and masculinity, but there is enough peer reviewed sociological research out there that you could definitely make credible arguments. Search terms such as Toxic masculinity, Positive masculinity, or male gender roles, might get you in the right direction.
 
Also for more academic articles look up Michael Kimmel. He is kind of the godfather of masculinity studies
 
K well everybody seems to not like the idea of a paper about skiing but why don't u take your idea of injuries in action sports and look at it from more of a long term medical point of view, I bet you find tons of medical journals on how action sports or just high impact sports in general affect the body over a long period of time.
 
Thanks for the input everyone! Decided to go with climate change as there is a lot more I'll be able to write on it, plus i can include the effects it has on the ski industry as one of my body paragraphs so atleast I'll get to write a bit on skiing haha.
 
All your ideas are good but i like to do projects on the technology sid eof skiing like evolution of skis or boots ect. not sure if you could get 7 pages from one but if you put them together and did overall equipment. I like the athletes coming out idea.
 
13546263:-WZ- said:
Thanks for the input everyone! Decided to go with climate change as there is a lot more I'll be able to write on it, plus i can include the effects it has on the ski industry as one of my body paragraphs so atleast I'll get to write a bit on skiing haha.
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Woo! Good luck on your paper. I hope it goes well!!
 
I ended up writing it about the sustainability of the ski industry. It was surprisingly easy to find references, although my school library really helped out with that. After it gets graded I dont mind posting it if you guys wanna see haha
 
I just wrote a persuasive essay on skiing. It was dog shit 2/10 would not recommend. They can be fun to write but unless your prof is interested/has background knowledge in skiing its just gonna drag on for both of you.
 
A kid in my class just wrote a 5 page essay on college atheletes should be paid. i could send you their copy and you could edit it or revise it. pm me if interested
 
In high school i had like a 70 average in my english and history courses. I would write 2 pages for a 10 page term paper and turn it in saying it doesnt take more than 2 pages for a smart person to make a strong argument. They wanted to fail me but they couldnt because my math science avg was like a 99.8% and they would just be shitting on themselves if they failed me.

the only things you can learn in elementary and high school thats going to boost your adult intelligence are things like math/science/geometry/physics.

history and english give you knowledge, but knowledge is not intelligence. You need to learn things that challenge you to grow your developing brain.
 
14124077:DolanReloaded said:
In high school i had like a 70 average in my english and history courses. I would write 2 pages for a 10 page term paper and turn it in saying it doesnt take more than 2 pages for a smart person to make a strong argument. They wanted to fail me but they couldnt because my math science avg was like a 99.8% and they would just be shitting on themselves if they failed me.

the only things you can learn in elementary and high school thats going to boost your adult intelligence are things like math/science/geometry/physics.

history and english give you knowledge, but knowledge is not intelligence. You need to learn things that challenge you to grow your developing brain.
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this is 100 percent all bullshit. u fell out of ur dads asshole
 
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