Knowledge and Viewpoints of Rattlesnake
Roundups
Danielle Paulson
North Dakota State University
English 324 Writing in the Sciences
Spring 2014
Project Portfolio
Introduction
This project was a research study completed for English 324, Writing in the
Sciences. A survey was conducted during the spring semester of 2014 to study the
knowledge and viewpoints on the general public about rattlesnake roundups. This
project has many written components to it. The description and link to each
document is listed below.
List of Documents
Annotated Bibliography
The annotated bibliography contains a list of sources that pertain to the research
project. Each source has a short summary of the article below the citation.
Two Article Analyses
These analyses are in Springboard format, with one regarding reasoning of an
article and the other regarding the structure of an article. The structure format
features the article Rattlesnake Roundups: Uncontrolled Wildlife Exploitation and
the Rites of Spring, by Joseph Franke. The reasoning format features the article
Therapeutic Potential of Snake Venom in Cancer Therapy: Current Perspectives by
Vyas, Brahmbhatt, Bhatt, & Parmar.
Literature Review
The literature review compares the literature that is already out regarding
rattlesnake roundups. The literature review can be broken into three parts: 1.) the
reduction in the population of rattlesnakes as well as the animals that cohabitate
with them 2.) the events, which include the stockpiling of the snakes, as well as 3.)
the public slaughtering and tampering with the animals.
Project Proposal
The project proposal provides an overview of the study that is being performed. The
proposal is to study the knowledge and viewpoints of rattlesnake roundups among
the general population. The project proposal also provides a quick preview as to
what research as already been performed as well as the methods would be used to
further the research on the topic.
Popular Science Article
The popular science article puts the primary research into a journalistic perspective.
The journal story provides an overview as to what is happening to rattlesnakes. It
also provides a preview as to how, why, when, and where the rattlesnake roundups
are happening and what can be done to help.
Progress Report
The progress report provides an update as to what progress was made on the
project at that point in time. It also includes the projected dates of completion of the
materials for the project.
Abstract, Presentation Outline, and Powerpoint (with voice over)
The abstract provides the reasoning behind the document that is often given prior
to giving a presentation at a conference. The outline gives a preview as to what the
presentation will be about and gives a quick introduction to the topic. The
powerpoint aids the presenter with the presentation visuals. The powerpoint also
allows the presenter to have graphs on the screen while speaking about them. The
presentation has a voiceover that provides details of the research project.
Research Report (IMRaD)
The research report is in the IMRaD structure that contains an introduction that
provides a preview to the document. It then goes into the methods of the research as
well as the discussion of the results. Throughout the document, there are graphs
pertaining to the results found. At the end of the document, it also includes
references that relate to the document that were used.
Conclusion
This research project helped many people from the general population to the snake-
loving community. By performing this research study, the herpetology-loving
community will be able to utilize the data to help educate the general public on what
rattlesnake roundups are and how they can make a difference.
If this further research were to take place on this topic, a recommendation of having
a larger sample size would be on the forefront. In general, this portfolio has some
good data and valid arguments that can be looked at for quite some time.
