Help on a Research Question!

[Tarantula Lover]

In are school we need to do a research report on any topic, and i chose tarantulas~! So i need to come up with a quistion to research on! I thought about why are people so afraid of spiders? So can you give me you input on why people are so afraid of T's! Thanks!


James

 

[willywonka]

People are generally afraid of things that they don't understand. People were afraid to sail out of land's sight for fear that they would fall off the edge of the world. Well, after it was proven that this was not the case people were no longer afraid. Education is the key to eliminating most fears. As an educator myself, I feel lucky to be able to bring in my tarantulas and educate my student and some of the staff that these are not creatures to be fearful of but to respect. Afterall, like most animals, tarantulas want to be left alone and do not seek out to attack humans. Good luck on your research paper.

 

[sunnymarcie]

Hey James,
Do you have a copy of "The Tarantula Keeper's Guide?"
There is a bit about how T's were though to cause a crazy
illness, Tarantism! I thought that was kind of funny
But I guess if they did not understand T's it would make sense
to think that they were evil.
The past is full of funny stuff~ I'm a history nut!;P

 

[skinheaddave]

I am reminded of a rhyme my father sometimes used. You will have to forgive my spelling, as I haven't written anything in French for almost ten years now.

C'est animal est tres mechant.
Quand on l'attack, il ce defend.

Translation:

That animal is very mean.
When we attack it, it defends itself.

Cheers,
Dave

 

[Mister Internet]

James,

Unfortunately, nothing we say here (unless you manage to snag quotes form Dr. Breene or another "expert") will really be usable in your research paper... to get some real stuff out of books or magazine, have your librarian help you find materials relating ro "arachnophobia" (the real scientific name of the condition), or phobias in general. There are MANY MANY kinds of phobias, so some background on phobia and what causes them would be good stuff to include in your paper.

 

[Pyrdacor]

All the things mentioned above are fully right IMO but I really think you should do research on another topic. I doubt that you find out enough to do a research paper. But its worth to try it of course. If you do it, publish it, I think many guys here might be interested (including me )

 

[JDK]

Originally posted by willywonka
People are generally afraid of things that they don't understand. People were afraid to sail out of land's sight for fear that they would fall off the edge of the world. Well, after it was proven that this was not the case people were no longer afraid. Education is the key to eliminating most fears. As an educator myself, I feel lucky to be able to bring in my tarantulas and educate my student and some of the staff that these are not creatures to be fearful of but to respect. Afterall, like most animals, tarantulas want to be left alone and do not seek out to attack humans. Good luck on your research paper.

Couldn't have said it better.

 

[Tarantula Lover]

Ok, thanks for the replies! Can you suggest me another topic? and your input on it?
Thanks!


James

 

[Steve Nunn]

Originally posted by Tarantula Lover
Ok, thanks for the replies! Can you suggest me another topic? and your input on it?
Thanks!
James

How about "The Tarantula Explosion"?? Birth of a [relatively] new hobby and it's many facets. From problems/advantages with so many undescribed species in the pet trade, how many people within the hobby turn their phobias into fascinations, what can be learned (if anything) from keeping tarantulas in captivity, the dangers (if any) of keeping venomous animals in captivity and how to remedy the situation, the vast geographic range of this amazing family of arachnid, incredibly slow metabolism and other morphological features of tarantulas, tarantula birth - 1000 babies at a time!,the molting phenom - how they grow, are these going to be the pet of the future? And so on....

Hope this helps,
Steve

 

[JDK]

Originally posted by Steve Nunn
How about "The Tarantula Explosion"?? Birth of a [relatively] new hobby and it's many facets. From problems/advantages with so many undescribed species in the pet trade, how many people within the hobby turn their phobias into fascinations, what can be learned (if anything) from keeping tarantulas in captivity, the dangers (if any) of keeping venomous animals in captivity and how to remedy the situation, the vast geographic range of this amazing family of arachnid, incredibly slow metabolism and other morphological features of tarantulas, tarantula birth - 1000 babies at a time!,the molting phenom - how they grow, are these going to be the pet of the future? And so on....

Hope this helps,
Steve

How about evil Clowns from outer space.

 

[Mojo Jojo]

Hey James,

I think that this would be an excellent opportunity for you to create and implement a survey.

You could either get a broad survey of the general population -- in which case, you could get an idea of the percentage of people that are afraid of spiders and of those, the reasons that people are afraid.

Or you could get rather specific and maybe survey an arachnophobic support group.

Anyways, if you are interested in some good ways to do an representative survey, let me know. I have good ideas.

Jon

 

[Steve Nunn]

Originally posted by JDK
How about evil Clowns from outer space.

Yeah, that's great! Ahhh, how about it???

 

[Tarantula Lover]

Originally posted by Steve Nunn
How about "The Tarantula Explosion"?? Birth of a [relatively] new hobby and it's many facets. From problems/advantages with so many undescribed species in the pet trade, how many people within the hobby turn their phobias into fascinations, what can be learned (if anything) from keeping tarantulas in captivity, the dangers (if any) of keeping venomous animals in captivity and how to remedy the situation, the vast geographic range of this amazing family of arachnid, incredibly slow metabolism and other morphological features of tarantulas, tarantula birth - 1000 babies at a time!,the molting phenom - how they grow, are these going to be the pet of the future? And so on....

Hope this helps,
Steve

Thanks! Can you give me some more input? That really helped!

James

 

[Kristen]

Keeping with the "tarantula explosion" idea, you could also include a section about why people fear T's....which was your original idea! It sounds as though it will be quite an interesting report!