[post one] The first draft of my research question was In what ways can conventional fertilizers present in farmland runoff around the Lake Erie Watershed be altered or managed to decrease the probability of eutrophication within surrounding freshwater bodies? This proved to be too broad of a question for there to be specific data that could be collected. After revising, the question was Through a quantitative experimental analysis, which types of conventional agricultural fertilizers contribute the most to the growth of existing algae originating from Lake Erie?  With this question, I could collect data by testing each of the three most common fertilizers (nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium) and their impacts on algal growth from Lake Erie samples. At the time, this second question seemed like it would be perfect, but I realized a little too late that I would not be able to follow through with my experiment. I settled on a new topic entirely and, after trial and error over spring break, wrote a new research question:

What lyrical patterns, specifically regarding subject matter, were consistently apparent in Billboard’s 2021 Top 100 List, and how do they compare to previously investigated thematic trends in popular American music? 

I was able to restart my whole project with this new research question and collect data before. The only thing I would change about this topic is deciding to go through with it sooner. That way, I would have had more time to analyze the data effectively and develop a better overall paper. Collecting data was time consuming, as I read through and analyzed the lyrics of one hundred songs, but my method was relevant and manageable for the topic I chose.