PB2A

   

    Big wave surfing-an extreme sport-is attractive to those looking for a healthy dose of adrenaline.  But why would one choose to surf big waves and not find the rush somewhere else?  Why would one subject themselves to the pulverizing power of big waves, the rock hard reef at the bottom, and the dangerous creatures that lurk below?  A team of sport psychologists in the California State University set out to learn what was going on in the minds of big wave surfers at the notorious Northern California big wave surf spot of Mavericks.  The paper that resulted had conventions that made it one of an academic nature.

    The first high-order concern and convention of an academic paper is the abstract.  An abstract is a paragraph at the top of the paper that serves to let the reader know what the paper is about, what was done, and why it was done.  The abstract helps a reader, much like myself looking for a paper on which to write a paper, to know if this is the type of paper they are looking for and if so, provides background so the reader knows what they are reading.  The abstract serves as the purpose of this paper as it directly says “The purpose of this study...” directly in the abstract.  It doesn't get any more obvious than that.  Also, the abstract serves as a way for the target audience to know if this is the paper for them.  Without the abstract, a knowledge-seeker might have to read the entire paper, which can sometimes be lengthy, to determine if this is the type of paper they were or weren't looking for.  The abstract also lays out the structure of the paper, in this case separating it into the “psychology related to various stages of: big-wave surfing, including pre surf, in the lineup, catching the wave, riding the wave, wiping out, and postsurf.”  In this way, the abstract separates the parts of the study, distinguishing them as different from the steps of big wave surfing that come before and after the step in question.  

    Another higher order concern and convention of a research paper is the Thesis statement.  The thesis statement is the researcher or writer’s argument that the entire paper is molded around.  Since an academic paper is primarily composed of evidence and analysis backing up a claim, there must be a claim made to back up.  For example, a summary of the thesis statement of the academic paper being dissected is “big wave surfing is less about the risk, and more about developing positive life skills.”  The thesis statement not only poses an argument, but helps the writer stay on track with what they are trying to prove and is what the analysis will always end up leading back to.

    After the paper is introduced and an argument is formed, the paper is then broken up into sections that have their own subsections.  This higher order concern of breaking up the paper into paragraphs and putting them in a certain order is a choice the writer makes that he/she feels makes the most sense and helps the reader follow along with the study, and therefore a convention of this paper.  The first section is the “Method” of the experiment.  In this section the writer lays out the who and the how of the study, then followed by a quick analysis of these two aspects and an excerpt describing the study’s trustworthiness/validity.  This is important because it lays out who was involved in this study and how they were incorporated into it so the reader gains a better understanding of the group of people being studied and how they were being studied.  The next section of the paper is the “Results” section.  In this section, the researcher lays out their findings for each part of the surf.  In the results section, the researcher organizes their findings, separating them into the parts of surfing a big wave.  This is key because the thoughts and feelings of being in the lineup are completely different from the psychology of a surfer while on the wave, so if they weren't separated, the paper would lose some sense of purpose as it exists to describe the psychology at different stages.  Closely following The results is the “Discussion” section.  In this dense part of the paper, the researcher sums up the results, explains them, analyses them, and then directs the findings back to the thesis in support of it.  This is the part of the paper where the writer does the majority of their point proving.  The discussion section also serves as a type of conclusion as it wraps up the paper towards the end by restating the thesis with what was found through the study.  Lastly, there is a “Reference” section that is a list of the referred sources the writer used, helping to back the validity of the paper.

    This academic paper didn’t specifically pose a question, but rather made a statement that related to the findings of the paper.  Before the researcher conducted the experiment, however, the question they wanted to answer could have been a broad “what is the psychology in big wave surfing athletes?”  To answer this question and create a thesis, the paper relies on the data and quotes from the athletes so analysis can be made and turned into an argument.  Without the data and findings, there is nothing learned, nothing to base analysis on, and therefore no argument with any validity, therefore making the findings the most important part of the paper.