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STATEMENT OF PURPOSE The purpose of this research study is to analyze students' reading and writing experiences based on time spent on the internet and how it impacts reading selections and writing experiences. My objective for the research project is to determine how time spent on the internet is effecting students' writing and choices in reading material. I want to determine if students' writing is a reflection of what they are reading on the internet. I want to determine if students' writing includes short sentences, one idea per paragraph, uses transitions, and is chunked based on writing they are modeling from the internet. I expect to find that in some students it is a reflection, but in others it is not a reflection on time spent on the internet. STATEMENT OF RESEARCH METHODOLOGY The research methodology used to answer the question of how the internet is influencing how students are writing and their choices in reading material will be conducted through surveys and an artifact analysis of formal and informal writing obtained from students. Each student will provide me with one formal and one informal piece of writing. For the purpose of this research project, formal writing is defined as essays and papers. Informal writing is defined as journal prompts and free writings. The writing samples will be analyzed based on word count, number of sentences in a paragraph, number of ideas in a paragraph, conventions, and fluency. For the purpose of this research, conventions are defined as spelling, punctuation, and grammar. Fluency is defined as sentence sequence. I will examine their formal and informal writing samples to see if there is a correlation between time spent on the internet, literature selections, and their writing. My sample includes approximately 40 to 50 sophomore students from two different high schools. The number may change based on class population size and consent. I will also survey the teachers of the sophomores at the two high schools to obtain their feedback on the topics of how much time their students spend on the internet, the students' choices of books, writing activities that they discuss with their students that occurs outside of the classroom, and if they think that the internet is influencing how their students write. My sample includes three teachers. This sample size may change based on consent. Due to the time of the academic school year that this research is being conducted, it may be impossible to have access to students. Students are currently preparing for and taking End of the Course (EOC) tests in Communication Arts. If I am not able to gain access to this population, I have a contingency plan in place. I will conduct my research in two English 104 classes at Missouri Western State University (MWSU). These students will participate in the survey. The survey has the same base questions as the high school sophomores. However, questions 9, 10, and 11 have been removed from the English 104 survey because they deal with reading books for book report style responses that English 104 students do not complete. The students will also provide me with one formal and one informal paper. The writing samples will be analyzed based on word count, number of sentences in a paragraph, number of ideas in a paragraph, conventions, and fluency. For the purpose of this research, conventions are defined as spelling, punctuation, and grammar. Fluency is defined as sentence sequence. I will examine their formal and informal writing samples to see if there is a correlation between time spent on the internet, literature selections, and their writing. My sample includes approximately 40 to 100 sophomore high school English students from various high schools in Northwest Missouri. The number may change based on class population size and consent. I will also survey the teachers of the high school English students to obtain their feedback on the topics of how much time their students spend on the internet, the students' choices of books, writing activities that they discuss with their students that occurs outside of the classroom, and if they think that the internet is influencing how their students write. My sample includes two teachers. This sample size may change based on teacher consent. Benefits This research will help junior high, high school, and post-secondary teachers and professors gain insight into how time spent on the internet and reading material choices impact writing. If teachers are aware of the correlation between time spent on the internet and reading material and writing, they may be able to expose students to various pieces of literature that may provide models of writing that will enhance their own writing skills. It will assist them in explaining to students that there are various writing styles available such as technical writing, journalistic, essay, and creative and how, when, and where to use the different types of writing. ANTICIPATED RISKS AND BENEFITS The primary risk for this research is revealing student information. I will be collecting information from students regarding their reading habits, writing samples, and geographical information. Students' grades, transcripts, or teachers' names will be not be collected in this research project. For this research project, all student information will be anonymous. The student's participating high school will not be referenced in this research project. Students will be referred to as student 1, student 2, etc. There will be no identifiable student information presented in the research. The students' teachers may review the research for other confidential information that needs to be deleted. The survey information will be stored on www.surveymonkey.com. I am the only person who will have access to the information that is collected from the survey because I am the only person who knows my login or password information. The data from surveymonkey.com can be converted for use in Excel and converted to pdf. The Excel file(s) and pdf file(s) will be stored on my personal laptop. All information printed from surveymonkey.com will be stored in a locked container. The students' original submitted writing samples and signed consent forms will be secured in a locked container at my home when not being analyzed. Prior to my analysis, I will make a photocopy of each piece of writing sample submitted to me by the students. If it is possible based on where I make the copies, I will scan the writing sample to a pdf and email the file to myself. Once I have each writing sample downloaded to my computer, I will delete the pdfs from my email account. I will then burn the files to a cd and it will be stored in a safe deposit box. I will analyze the copy of each writing sample. will burn one cd that will contain pdf file(s) of the survey results and a/an Excel file(s) of the same information and writing sample pdfs. This cd will be stored in my family's safe deposit box. My mother, Glenda Bush, father, Carlin Bush, sister, Melissa Bush, and sister, Jamie Larson have access to the safe deposit box during normal bank hours. When they are not being analyzed, they will be in a different locked container from the original. Dr. Michael Charlton, the research sponsor and professor at MWSU, will have access to the students' papers and surveys if a question arises that I need to discuss with him and only if I bring them to him. All artifact analysis and survey data computation will occur in a secure environment and will not be viewable by outside people. Once the research is complete, I will shred duplicate information and dispose of it properly. Participation is in this research study is voluntary. Students over the age of eighteen may stop their participation at any point during the study. Parents/Guardians also have the right to stop their underage student's participation at any point during the study. On the consent form, I have asked that a participant or parent/guardian notify me by email at abush@missouriwestern.edu that he or she wants to stop participation in the study for themselves or their underage student. SUBJECT SELECTION My sample includes approximately 40 to 100 sophomore students from various high schools in Northwest Missouri. The number may change based on class population size and consent. My sample includes three teachers at the two different high schools. This sample size may change based on consent. CONFIDENTIALITY The primary risk for this research is revealing student information. I will be collecting information from students regarding their reading habits, writing samples, and geographical information. Students' grades, transcripts, or teachers' names will be not be collected in this research project. For this research project, all student information will be anonymous. The student's participating high school will not be referenced in this research project. Students will be referred to as student 1, student 2, etc. There will be no identifiable student information presented in the research. The students' teachers may review the research for other confidential information that needs to be deleted. The survey information will be stored on www.surveymonkey.com. I am the only person who will have access to the information that is collected from the survey because I am the only person who knows my login or password information. The data from surveymonkey.com can be converted for use in Excel and converted to pdf. The Excel file(s) and pdf file(s) will be stored on my personal laptop. All information printed from surveymonkey.com will be stored in a locked container. The students' original submitted writing samples and signed consent forms will be secured in a locked container at my home when not being analyzed. Prior to my analysis, I will make a photocopy of each piece of writing sample submitted to me by the students. If it is possible based on where I make the copies, I will scan the writing sample to a pdf and email the file to myself. Once I have each writing sample downloaded to my computer, I will delete the pdfs from my email account. I will then burn the files to a cd and it will be stored in a safe deposit box. I will analyze the copy of each writing sample. will burn one cd that will contain pdf file(s) of the survey results and a/an Excel file(s) of the same information and writing sample pdfs. This cd will be stored in my family's safe deposit box. My mother, Glenda Bush, father, Carlin Bush, sister, Melissa Bush, and sister, Jamie Larson have access to the safe deposit box during normal bank hours. When they are not being analyzed, they will be in a different locked container from the original. Dr. John Tapia, the research sponsor and professor at MWSU, will have access to the students' papers and surveys if a question arises that I need to discuss with him and only if I bring them to him. All artifact analysis and survey data computation will occur in a secure environment and will not be viewable by outside people. Once the research is complete, I will shred duplicate information and dispose of it properly. PRIMARY SUPPORTING DOCUMENT Click for Word Document