Proposal for

How Does Family Impact How Someone Sees the

World?
Situation: The impact of family has always said to be strong on a child, but I want
to know how and why. The way someone is raised impacts the kind of person that
someone will be, but sometimes the way parents think they raised their kids, is the
opposite of who the children turn out to be. I chose this subject because I was
curious if Chris McCandless would have done something else after college if he
had been raised differently. I want to know how severe the impact of family is on a
child. I want to know what characteristics of a family can also change the
upbringing of a child. I want to know many things about this subject, but the two I
want to know most are, does the amount of money a family has impact how a
child views society and how does the upbringing of a child differ when they do
not come from a nuclear family?
Proposed Solution: In order to find out the answers to these ten questions:
How does the size of a family impact a childs upbringing?
Does the amount of money a family has impact how a child views
society?
How does the upbringing of a child differ when they do not come from a
nuclear family?
Why do some children become the opposite of their parents?
Is it a good thing if a child becomes the opposite of their parents?
Can family influence how one defines their own happiness?
How many foster/adopted children become successful/happy?
How are foster/adopted children different than children who have been
with the same family their whole life?
How does respect for ones parents shape how they are raised?
How many kids grow up without a family?
I will be researching websites such as http://www.usccb.org,
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov, http://content.healthaffairs.org, http://familyfacts.org.
I will also be visiting the library to find books on familys and children.
Steps Involved:
1. Research the above websites for answers to my ten questions.
2. Research using books in order to answer my ten questions.

3. If needed, broaden my subject in order to find more answers.

4. If needed, narrow my subject in order to find more answers.
Benefit:
Researching this question may result in my understanding of Chris
McCandlesss life and why he went to Alaska.
Potential Obstacles:
The subject may be to broad to find an exact answer for my ten questions.

 What do you know about your subject already?

o I know that the way someone is raised impacts the kind
of person that someone will be. I also know that
sometimes the way parents think they raised their kids,
is the opposite of who the children turn out to be.
Why did you choose this subject over others? Why does it
interest you?
o I chose this subject because I was curious if Chris
McCandless would have done something else after
college if he had been raised differently. I want to know
how severe the impact of family is on a child. I want to
know what characteristics of a family can also change
the upbringing of a child.
Write ten questions you want to find answers to. At least half
of those can be fact-based. The rest must be substantive.
o How does the size of a family impact a childs
upbringing?
o Does the amount of money a family has impact how a
child views society?
o How does the upbringing of a child differ when they do
not come from a nuclear family?
o Why do some children become the opposite of their
parents?
o Is it a good thing if a child becomes the opposite of
their parents?
o Can family influence how one defines their own
happiness?
o How many foster/adopted children become
successful/happy?
o How are foster/adopted children different than children
who have been with the same family their whole life?
o How does respect for ones parents shape how they are
raised?
o How many kids grow up without a family?

 From that list, choose one or two of the substantive

questions that interest you most. These will be your primary
inquiry questions as you begin your research.
o Does the amount of money a family has impact how a
child views society?
o How does the upbringing of a child differ when they do
not come from a nuclear family?
List, where do you think you will find answers you seek?
Possibilities are articles from popular journals or web sites,
scholarly research or studies, government documents,
individuals who might be good subjects for interview. What
questions might be difficult to find answers for?
o http://www.usccb.org
o http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
o http://content.healthaffairs.org
o http://familyfacts.org

If the results of your initial research are so numerous you

need to narrow your subject, what will you narrow it to?
o How does family impact a childs personality?

If your preliminary research turns up very little

information, in what way will you broaden your
subject to open up more research findings?

What can influence a childs behavior?

I think you have chosen an excellent topic.

There is a lot of research you can do and you
can incorporate many perspectives. It will be
good for you to include your own
views/experiences and relate them to Chris.

 This is a very interesting question. It would

make a good read because it makes the
reader think, what would Chris have done if
he was raised different?
Your question seems to strongly support your
topic. My favorite question of yours is does
the amount of money a family has influence a
child? -CD