Research Questions

Over the past few weeks, I have been searching for resources to use in my upcoming research paper.  Do you know the feeling when you have that perfect article in your mind, but no one has written it yet or maybe you just can’t find it?  Well welcome to my world! I have spent hours trying to find scholarly journal articles that pertain to my research topic and are current, not written in the 70s or 80s.  So far, I have about 10 articles, which is a good number, so it is time to expand my research to blogs and public opinion articles.  I want to how the public feels!  Why do people drive cars if they are only traveling a few blocks?  How come people will ride their bikes to class, but hop in a car when they are getting dinner?  What form of transportation do college students prefer?  Do safety, time of day, weather, and convenience have an influence on what mode a student chooses in a given day?  Or do students change their modes throughout the day as a result of these factors?  Are there any other factors that influence a certain mode of transit?  Why don’t students ride public transit that often?  I feel that this information is eminent; especially since many schools in California have been designing master transportation plans in order to accommodate cars, pedestrians and bicycles in the same area and decrease conflicts amongst these modes. 

I would love to have as much feedback as possible and your opinions on whether these questions would make a great research paper.  I am in the works of creating a survey, so keep an eye out for the link in an upcoming post.  Constructive criticism would be valuable because I want to work out the kinks now before I get too far along in my research and survey and then have to backtrack.  Hope to hear from you soon!