SCUBA Research Paper

[Steve_C]

An important topic in many areas of Science is Citizen Science. Having thousands of volunteers create and help search data to assist and inform the experts. Exoplanets have been found with citizen science such as Zooniverse’s Exoplanet Explorers. Within the world of scuba we have the REEF program where citizen divers help create data for scientists to use.

 

[shurite7]

Pregnancy and diving. The vast majority of students have been told not to dive if pregnant. The reason for this is the lack of research on what the effects are on the human body and fetus are. When I became no instructor I was told the same thing. I've always wondered how accurate this was.

As a non-trad undergrad I chose to write my English 101 research paper on this topic. The information I was able to find was quite interesting. I no longer tell my students not to dive when pregnant "due to lack of knowledge". I inform them what I learned. Rubicon, Google Scholar, DAN, and ILL were good resources for information. Other sources came from countries such as England, Canada, and Australia.

Good luck and have fun.

 

[tursiops]

...
Edit: I will not actually be doing my own physical research on a topic, but rather combing through various sources and research that has already been done and putting them in conversation with each other to come to a conclusion about the topic.

So, probably something that is more factual than opinion-based. I know I mentioned opinions at the top, but what I meant by that is a topic that perhaps most people ignore the factual evidence that's out there and mostly go by word of mouth or opinion - that way I could bring the factual evidence to a focus on a topic worth doing that with.

Haha, unfortunately as much as I would love to actually do the research myself, this is a course on Research Writing, meaning they're teaching us how to "read and analyze scholarly material critically, evaluating ideas, evidence, logic, and sources," and "interpret research and scholarly materials toward constructing a well-documented research paper."

@SeaTriskeLion
Given the instruction to "read and analyze scholarly material" I strongly suggest you NOT quote anything from Google...always go to the original sources and read and quote from there. Google -- and all forums (including ScubaBoard) -- are not "scholarly material" but rather are full of opinions stated as facts, and BS stated as facts, and BS stated as opinion so is argued incorrectly to be OK because it is "just an opinion." A second huge error found in the non-scholarly material is to assert that something is "just a theory" so it can be ignored if one chooses; in the scholarly world a "theory" is something that explains the evidence......but in forums a theory is often incorrectly conflated with "hypothesis." A third huge error found in the non-scholarly literature is to assert whether one "believes" something or not; facts -- even if controversial like vaccines, climate change, and evolution -- are not something one "believes," but rather are facts based on well-founded evidence. As Daniel Patrick Moynihan said, "Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts.”

Google IS useful in helping you find source material, which is your target. Google Scholar actually contains source material so is very useful....but make sure your references and quotes are from the sources themselves.

 

[SeaTriskeLion]

@SeaTriskeLion
Given the instruction to "read and analyze scholarly material" I strongly suggest you NOT quote anything from Google...always go to the original sources and read and quote from there. Google -- and all forums (including ScubaBoard) -- are not "scholarly material" but rather are full of opinions stated as facts, and BS stated as facts, and BS stated as opinion so is argued incorrectly to be OK because it is "just an opinion." A second huge error found in the non-scholarly material is to assert that something is "just a theory" so it can be ignored if one chooses; in the scholarly world a "theory" is something that explains the evidence......but in forums a theory is often incorrectly conflated with "hypothesis." A third huge error found in the non-scholarly literature is to assert whether one "believes" something or not; facts -- even if controversial like vaccines, climate change, and evolution -- are not something one "believes," but rather are facts based on well-founded evidence. As Daniel Patrick Moynihan said, "Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts.”

Google IS useful in helping you find source material, which is your target. Google Scholar actually contains source material so is very useful....but make sure your references and quotes are from the sources themselves.

Thanks for the advice!

Don't worry, for the first couple weeks of the quarter we've been learning about how to find reliable sources and how to analyze any information we find to determine its legitimacy. This is an entire course on how to write a research paper, so they've got the logistics covered.

 

[Doctor Rig]

Yes, @SeaTriskelLion, please do keep us informed on your progress and of coarse the results! I’m excited to hear that progress and see the results! You’ve got a good start by researching possible subject matter before jumping in.

 

[JohnnyC]

xkcd: Citogenesis

^^^^^^^^ this is relevant

 

[BoltSnap]

"Diving and its affects on Marriage, sex-life and Libido"

"PHLS" or "Post-Hyperbaric Libido Syndrome"

 

[tursiops]

xkcd: Citogenesis

^^^^^^^^ this is relevant

Exactly!

 

[Mantra]

Seeing you are a psych major how about the relative opinions on diving with an anxiety disorder?

 

[Esprise Me]

How about Millennial attitudes toward anything that requires commitment and isn't learned overnight.

I gather you were being a bit flippant, but this could actually be good fodder for a critical look at research. Clickbait bots are working overtime these days generating headlines that are variations on "Breaking News: Millennials Suck," backed by some data about fewer young people buying homes or whatever, while millennials on Facebook clap back with variations on "it's the economy, stupid" or "you raised us; what does that say about you?" So yeah, maybe an analysis of conclusions drawn from incomplete data without context as it relates to kids taking up scuba or not.

The aging of the US scuba diving population. The average age of scuba divers seems to be increasing as fewer new divers are certified or, once certified, remain active. Connections to reef degradation? Expenses involved? The digital device revolution?

Or, yeah, that.

I love the diving and pregnancy idea. In a similar vein, what about the lesser causes of DCS-- fatigue, dehydration, PFO, etc.?