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What is Nature?

Nature as an academic topic appears across a wide range of disciplines, from biology and environmental science to literature, psychology, and philosophy. Students are asked to engage with it because it sits at the intersection of empirical inquiry and humanistic interpretation, making it productively complex. Questions about what is natural—whether in human behavior, literary settings, social structures, or biological systems—invite critical thinking that resists simple answers. The recurring tension between nature and nurture, for example, raises fundamental questions about identity, ability, and the role of environment in shaping individuals, which gives the topic lasting relevance across courses.

The papers collected here reflect a genuinely diverse range of approaches. Some take a comparative angle, setting texts or systems against one another—such as examining electric and hybrid cars versus gas-powered vehicles, or contrasting figures like Gilgamesh and the Monkey King. Others engage in literary analysis, exploring how nature functions in works like Jack London's "To Build a Fire" or Shakespeare's "Othello." Still others approach nature through a psychological or sociological lens, particularly in discussions of major depressive disorder, the nature versus nurture debate, and leadership behavior. Case-study and policy-oriented approaches also appear, touching on issues like the Oregon Death with Dignity Act.

A strong essay on nature begins with a clearly scoped thesis that specifies which dimension of nature is under examination—biological, environmental, thematic, or philosophical. Evidence carries the most weight when it is drawn directly from primary sources, empirical research, or close textual analysis rather than broad generalization. The most common pitfall is treating "nature" as self-explanatory; defining the term precisely within the essay's specific context is essential to maintaining a coherent argument throughout.

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Paper Doctorate
Technology and Children\'s Attention Spans I Decided
This paper is a reflective essay on the process of writing a research paper on the impact of the Internet on children's attention spans. It examines why the topic was valuable, how the researcher went about researching the topic, and concludes with an examination of how the researcher's opinion changed over the course of the research. More studies are needed to come to a definitive conclusion about this contentious topic.
Essay Doctorate
Epistemological Beliefs and Organizational Leadership Epistemological Philosophies:
To understand our quest for knowledge, we often have to go back to some of the classical theories in order to get a full view of how modern theories have developed. Understanding classical philosophy is not blindly reading one philosopher and then assuming you have the knowledge of thousands of years of Greco-Roman thought. There were major differences within the philosophers of that time, and these differences have remained to influence more modern philosophical thought. Understanding the similarities and differences of two very different minds like Plato and Protagoras can help clarify the differences in epistemological theories and how they relate to organizational leadership today.
Essay Doctorate
Speece, Deborah L, Et Al., Identifying Children
Critique of Spence, Deborah L, et al, Identifying Children in Middle Childhood Who are at Risk for Reading Problems: New evidence and to analyze and access an appropriate tool for reading in elementary students using a response to intervention model, School Psychology Review 2010, Volume 39, No.2 , pp258-276 • The term paper assignment for this class requires you to select a scientific article published in a journal selected from a list of approved journals, and then critique the research methods used in that article using what you learned in this course. It is also OK in your critique to mention things about the methodology that were done right. Also, while I don't expect you to become an expert in the subject of your chosen article, I do expect you to look at the scientific literature on that subject—and one way to do that would be to read some of the studies the authors' of your chosen article cite—and incorporate information from that literature in your paper where appropriate. • The list of approved journals from which the article you critique may be selected is as follows: American Journal of Sociology, American Sociological Review, Social Forces, Journal of Health and Social Behavior, International Journal of Aging & Human Development, Social Problem, Sociological Perspectives, Sociological Quarterly, of Sociology of Education. • If you want to use an article from a different journal than these, you will have to show me the article you select so that I can approve it. In that case please do NOT email me a copy of the article. Instead, print it out and show it to me before or after class or during office hours. The article must be from a scholarly scientific journal (not a magazine, etc.) and it must be a research article (not an opinion piece, etc.). I do not have to see or approve the article in advance if it is in one of the approved journals. • The article you select must be quantitative in nature, in other words it must present numbers and statistics. Also, make sure what you have selected is an actual research article (a good indicator of that is if the article has an abstract at the beginning of it). • To locate the articles published in those journals online, follow these steps. Go to Blackboard for the course, click on the USF Libraries tab, the select "All USF Libraries", then click on "E Journals by Title", then type in the name of one of the approved journals, then select a year for the journal, then select one of the electronic sources for articles in that journal (JSTOR, Ebcohost, etc.). The procedure may vary a little from what I have said here, so use common sense as you point and click through it. If you have any problems, one of the librarians on the first floor of the main USF library can help you, or call Academic Computing Help at 974-1222. • Once you pull up the pdf of the article you want to use, a good idea is to download it to your computer's desktop (or better yet a memory stick or other external storage device in case your computer crashes). Or you could just print it out, since you will have to attach a printed copy of the article to your term paper when you turn it in. • Your paper must be typed, and you must staple a copy of the article you critiqued to the back of it. In other words, your paper will go on top, with the article underneath it and stapled to it. Do NOT turn the paper in in a plastic binder or in any form other than stapled. Make sure both your name and your U number are on your typed paper. • The best tip I can give for doing the paper is just to take the basic points made in class and in the readings, and then see if the article violated any of those things or did them right. For example, in class we said you need to have a probability sample in order to test for statistical significance. So if the article you picked doesn't have a probability sample but they ran significance tests anyway, that would be a critique. As another example, in class we said that a research study should include all possible variables that could affect the outcome variable. So if you can think of explanatory variables the authors didn't include, that would be another critique. On the other hand, if your chosen article did these things right, then you could compliment the authors for that. In other words just make a list of the points about statistics we made in class and/or were mentioned in the book, and then take that list and see if your article did those things right. Remember also to take a look at some of the other studies on that topic and incorporate information from those into your paper where appropriate. • When you critique the methods the authors used, it would be a plus if you could also suggest alternatives that would have been better. For instance if the authors did an experiment and they try to generalize from that to the society in general, you could mention that we learned in class that experiments are typically weak on generalizability and you could suggest that the authors might have been better off using a survey (if the advantages of a survey would in fact outweight those of an experiment for that particular topic). • When you critique or praise methodology, be specific and say why the methods are good or incorrect. For example, don't just say "the authors shouldn't have use tests of statistical significance", instead give the reason (for example "the authors shouldn't have used tests of statistical significance because they have a nonprobability sample and we learned in class that you need to have a probability sample to properly do significance tests."). • For the format of the term paper as well as an example of how to do it, see the term paper example I have posted in the Course Documents section of Blackboard. The article my example paper critiques is also in the Course Documents section. The format you should use for your paper is to state the page, column, and paragraph number for each comment you want to make, and then briefly make the comment just like I did in my example. Notice in the example paper that I critiqued the methods when the authors were wrong, I complimented them when they did something well, and I discussed their study in light of what other studies on that topic show. I don't necessarily expect your paper to be as detailed as mine (after all I've been doing this for years) but at least it will give you an idea of how to do the assignment.
Research Paper High School
Employee Motivation Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic
The success of employee performance depends on the level at which they are motivated. This study focuses on intrinsic and extrinsic models of employee motivation as a way of enhancing their performance. Worth noting is the innate satisfaction and responsiveness derived from these two methods of satisfaction in employees. The study shows that notable improved employee performance is realized when the models are adopted.
Thesis Undergraduate
Connecting Theory and Meaning of Disability Studies in Schools
The connecting theory application in the system of basic education has contributed to the development and establishment of a trans-disciplinary scientific strategized framework. The concrete developed strategic objectives aim at addressing the advancements with accuracy in understanding the aspect of science. The significant goal involved in the connection theory is not for the generalized promotion of relations. The implementations relation to the theory with respect to disability in the education system varies significantly. The contributive nature of the approach has popularity from the strategised fact with the easiest specified approaches to apply.
Paper Undergraduate
Human nature: concepts, characteristics, and philosophical perspectives
This paper provides a review of the relevant literature concerning human nature in general and how human nature has historically played a role in shaping economic and political outcomes as conceptualized by Nietzsche and Marx. A discussion concerning current and future trends is followed by a summary of the research and important findings in the conclusion.
Research Paper Doctorate
Moral Criticism of the Market
I disagree with the author's major premise and conclusion. He contradicts himself by suggesting that the basis of his support for a free market is that it depends on offering something of value to others and that the…
Paper Undergraduate
Transference and Countertransference When Seeking
When seeking therapy, a client brings with him or her not only the current problem to be worked on. The person has a complete history filled with positive and negative experiences that could play an influencing role in…
Research Paper Doctorate
Leadership Competencies the Accelerating Pace
The accelerating pace of change in globalization, communications, disruptive technologies, capital flows and alliances have created fundamental shifts in business operations and in leading a group (Hughes, 2004).
Research Paper Doctorate
Plaintiff Sued for Age Discrimination.
¶ … plaintiff sued for age discrimination. The writer explores the case, analyzes the issues of the case and determines whether or not the plaintiff proved his case. There were two sources used to complete this paper.