# Research Paper



## Radman (Feb 1, 2005)

What would be a good topic for a research paper? I'm doing one in English and it can be on whatever we want.


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## ccfan213 (Feb 1, 2005)

do something related to highly advanced tech work... you can start completely making up terms and your teacher will never know


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## Mayhem (Feb 1, 2005)

Do you have an outline to follow? 

Perhaps a historical overview of your school theatre may be a good topic.


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## ship (Feb 1, 2005)

ccfan213 said:


> do something related to highly advanced tech work... you can start completely making up terms and your teacher will never know



Hmm, making up terms... what school do you go to in expecting others to contact your teachers now? Never post what might be harmful to what tactics you use that are not correct on-line by way of advice, and in tech, even if stressed to get something out, never cheat in what your career path might become. Far too useful to learn and present something that you might use later. What might get you by at time is never what one should advise. Much less in presenting fictional info, you never know who as a teacher just because they are not in your program have not have a tech course in the past and might call you on it. I would view other than factual info and a real research project similar to that of plagerism in my own grading were I grading. In the pro setting, I often get those who attempt to punt their knowing what they are doing but attempting to get by. They get my special attention. I would hope this was more joke than reality.


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## ccfan213 (Feb 1, 2005)

it certainly was a joke, obviously it would be really stupid to completely make up terms, a simple google search on a term could lead someone to information that could catch you cheating. that wasnt serious at all. 
but a serious topic might be the history of theatre... there is alot on that particularly for english, you could go as far back as shakespeare or even further.


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## ship (Feb 1, 2005)

Sorry to call you on the joke in not understanding it's intent. No offense meant, just a clarification. We both do 25 pushups for the error and five for the Marine Corps for the sake of it in this it would seem.... begin....

Agreed that on a more serious tone, it is what ever takes your interest that is most of interest for you to write about. It's not like the 20's where there will have been only so many topics. Literally what ever takes your interest now can be written about be it how a 4x8 platform in using one to three center supports of 2x4 lumber in a box frame and a single layer of 3/4" plywood can be rated for a 50# live load, yet the same area of your bedroom floor no doubt has 2x10 lumber 16" on center with a double layer of material in only having a 30# live load. Beyond baloon fraiming, this can be something to think about in a paper on the engineering of it all. To what makes a moving light turn right after a signal tells it to? What about a motor will make it spin one direction or another? Beyond the signal that tells the electronics which way to turn the motor as it's own term paper, what make a motor spin in a specific direction? 
You name it, the field is wide open. I certainly have written some doosies here.


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## Radman (Feb 2, 2005)

Jeez don't throw all your ideas at once. 

I picked dimmer doubling.
We just had to pick a topic and make a thesis, then do the research. We don't even have to write the paper, we're "focusing on the process, not the product." Sweetest teacher, lets us be late, eat and drink in class, etc. Very glad to have a break from the normal "take off your coat! Go to your locker! Where's your pass! Is that gum? You're cleaning the band room!" of every other class.


So yeah I picked Dimmer Doubling.


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## SuperCow (Feb 2, 2005)

What kind of a thesis can you do on Dimmer Doubling?


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## Radman (Feb 2, 2005)

Is dimmer doubling a cost effective solution for increasing dimmer count without greatly reducing light output?

Sounds like a thesis (or whatever the question form of it is,) to me!


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## Mayhem (Feb 2, 2005)

With a thesis - the normal practice would be to do the research and then write the thesis (usually in the vicinity of 20,000 to 50,000 words (give or take a few).

Without the research, you don't really have much to write unless you are hoping that the introduction, literature review, critical analysis and conclusion are going to see you through to the point where you come up with a hypothesis that you can then propose to test.

The more efficient way would be to write a research proposal (much smaller) where you follow the above steps. I think this may be what you are referring to, rather than a thesis, which would be what you undertake once you have written a proposal.


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## SuperCow (Feb 2, 2005)

It's high school, you don't have to write 50, 000 words! Most of my essays are assigned as 1, 500 words; but I usually end up wirting 2, 500 words tops.


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## Mayhem (Feb 2, 2005)

Which is why I doub't that it is a thesis and more a proposal.


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## SuperCow (Feb 2, 2005)

No, I meant that when a high school assigns a thesis paper, it's like a smaller version of the size you;re talking about. That would be a Masters thesis, or a PhD thesis on the larger scale.


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## Mayhem (Feb 2, 2005)

Sorry of the misunderstanding. It was just that you referred to an essay in your post.


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## SuperCow (Feb 2, 2005)

My bad. It's just that the two mean the same thing to me, but evidently not necessaruly the same to everyone.


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## Mayhem (Feb 2, 2005)

We would tend to progress through essay to paper to dissertation to thesis as the levels of writing.

This is one of the fun things about an international community is seeing the differences between countries. I know that me being Australian must cause some people on here a few headaches as they try to figure out what it is that I am talking about.

For example, I once mentioned that there was nothing better on a hot day that drinking a nice cold tinnie. Now here, a tinnie is a can of beer but in Baltimore (and along the East Coast in general I think) a tinnie is a can of fish! Something I would rather not suck down after a long hard day.

I am also a constant source of amusement and (sometimes) frustration for Ship as well!

I recently posted a 2 minute overview of Australia in which I later send Dave a list of definitions for addition to the acronyms function.

Anyhow – this is one of the things that I enjoy about travelling as well. Most countries have all the same stuff, just often done slightly different or called something different.


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## techieman33 (Feb 2, 2005)

Maybe he was talking about a thesis statement, which is just essentially the opening paragraph.


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## JahJahwarrior (Feb 2, 2005)

yes, he means a thesis statement, I am pretty sure. I'm writing a 1200 word paper (and we can only give or take 50, which sucks...but it teaches us to write concisely) but it has to be on a worldviews topic, so I am writing about the tyranny of American Judges. very very interesting stuff! our judges and judicial system in a whole has completely outstpped it's bounds as set forth in the US. Constitution. anyways, a thesis statement is the opening paragrpah, sort of. it's a sentence, it can b ea question or a statement or whatever, basically pointing to your exact topic. his question about dimmer doubling being ok or whatever, that's a thesis statement. 

what exactly is dimmer doubling? putting two lights per channel? (or more? but on a 1200 watt channel with 500 watt lamps, you can only fit two, I've never dimmer trippled)


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## Lisa (Feb 2, 2005)

ccfan213 said:


> but a serious topic might be the history of theatre... there is alot on that particularly for english, you could go as far back as shakespeare or even further.



That could be really interesting - I've always wanted to learn exactly how much technical theatre was influenced by sailors. A lot of the terminology is the same [Bo sun, boom, etc] and there are a lot of overlapping concepts. ^^

Lisa


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## Peter (Feb 3, 2005)

The part of college essays that I found most annoying was the fact that I was limited to 300 or 500 words. They often wanted an overview of the activities I do out side of school, if any of you have been following the other thread arround here talking about what activities we are involved with, I have quite a list (and I have probably almost wrote over 500 words in that thread alone!). Looking back, I think that writing to a limit has been thing that has been overlooked in my education through the years. Teachers seem to spend quite a bit of time pushing kids to write more, and then all of a sudden you have to write less, alot less.


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## cutlunch (Feb 3, 2005)

Lisa said:


> ccfan213 said:
> 
> 
> > but a serious topic might be the history of theatre... there is alot on that particularly for english, you could go as far back as shakespeare or even further.
> ...




Sailors had a large influence in theatres because they were often employed as fly men. This was because of their skills with ropes, their ability to haul heavy sails equated well to hauling heavy flats, drops etc. They were also experienced at working in high places, compared to standing on a peice of rope high above a deck, furling a sail in a storm , the fly tower would have been easy for them.

One thing that is mentioned in all the links below, and I didn't know until last year, is the reason we don't whistle in theatres. Before intercoms/ electric signals had been invented, whistled signals were used to indicate to the fly men when to fly in /out scenery. If you happen to whistle on stage you may have landed up with a flat dropped on you. Of course sailors were used to receiving commands from a bosuns whistle. It is interesting how a lot of superstitions have their basis in fact.

It is no wonder with all these sailors about, that theatre still today carries the terms that they had used for hundreds of years. 

http://www.artandarchitecture.org.uk/stories/thatcher_stage/thatcher_stage02.html

http://www.svconline.com/mag/avinstall_stage_rigging/

http://www.lyceum.org.uk/sites/around/around02.html


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## Lisa (Feb 3, 2005)

cutlunch said:


> Lisa said:
> 
> 
> > ccfan213 said:
> ...



Dude! That is so cool! I had no idea! I guess that makes perfect sense, as they would be strong and able to do that sort of thing. I had never heard about the no whistling bit - I mean, I know about the "whistling up a storm" business, and not being allowed to whistle on a boat in general, but nothing about that in theatres. That's awesome.  Thanks!

Lisa


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