HW #55 Research Question/Topic

I have a few research questions/topics that I would like to focus in on in the friendship domain. The first question that I have is what kind of aspects/personalities/things that we see in people to call them our friends? The closer-er aspect after I get somewhat of an answer for the friend stage is the best friend. How is that friends are promote to best friends; what requires for one to change into a best friend, what responsibilities or changes? How does one feel to be a best friend and how many boundaries does one need to cross to be that best friends?

And that is what I am mainly focusing on... Please help me fix or change it to a complete question or so... or which one should I focus on?

Fixed question (thank yous to Maggie and Rachel): On what requirements and boundaries does a friend have to cross in order to promote to a best friend?

Part 2

Rachel,

I like your topic as it connects with what we were doing it class and similar to the personality tests, how much can they accurately predict about relationships. Are you also comparing if the relationship becomes lasting, how do the couples live with each other? Or if not that lasting, how accurate are the online dating and compatibility matches? (lol, I am not that sure on what I am saying either...I'm sorry)

I think your question can be rephrased as: How accurate are the online dating and compatibility matches in creating a lasting relationship?

Maggie:

I think your question is good... I think you can choose either social or emotional need to focus on because once you start talking about them, I think they are both the same and connect to each other. I think you can also narrow the emotional category down too, like attention needs, talking needs so we won't become too introverted or so, and connection needs and etc... Nicely chosen mAggIE!~ and thank you for your comment =D

Part 3

"Latest Survey Results: Best Friend Tell All Summary."SmartGirl (1996-2000): n. pag. Web. 11 May 2010. http://www.smartgirl.org/reports/4059796.html .

It is a survey result about who has best friend(s) and how do best friends treat each other and etc. There were many girls who have taken the survey and only a number of boys and looking at the answers, that should be in their own opinions, I believe the results are quite reliable and useful. There are many questions in the survey that tells about the relationship between the best friends and there are graphs representing the answers of those who took the surveys. The survey and results post both side of the faces of best friends, whether they are nice or they are mean to each other but doesn't that show more love and closer relationship to each other?

Spen, Katie. "How to Be the Best Friend." EHow (2008): n. pag. Web. 11 May 2010. http://www.ehow.com/how_2220827_be-best-friend.html.

EHow website has articles of how to do this and suggests advices to the readers. In "How to Be the Best Friend", Katie Spen gives five advices in how we should be the best friend because as she said, "Our relationships are what make us the kind of people we are" and it is "important to truly cultivate these relationships and be a good friend in return". Two of the five advices she gives are exercising the give and take strategy, to treat each other equally and not just one sided and to be a good listener, which all of us needs one. I think her suggestions are reliable as I read it, I yearn for friends who would have the preferences she had given. And it relates to my topic to understand the process and necessaries jobs that friends have to do to become a best friend/close friend.

Mikrut, Sharon . "Top Eight Characteristics of True Friends." Ezine Articles (2010): n. pag. Web. 11 May 2010. http://ezinearticles.com/?Top-Eight-Characteristics-of-True-Friends&id=3947119.

Sharon Mikrut gives eight characteristics in how to become true friends that she theorized as she had gotten older. The characteristics that she gave comprises of friends conversing and give and take for the friends to be balance and happy. In many of the characteristics, she has the theme of that friends do not look down on each other but feel for each others' needs and happiness. I think her characteristics are reliable because it only suggests that to become a "true" friend takes a lot of work and she observed for many years that to have a true friend is hard, and I think these characteristics are what we all desire to have a true friend and achieved to be a true friend. It can even be more than the eight characteristics in the page but to have real relationships, almost all the characteristics have to be fulfill.

Anonymous, et. al.. "How to Be a Great Best Friend."wikiHow (2010): n. pag. Web. 11 May 2010. http://www.wikihow.com/Be-a-Great-Best-Friend.

Number of people come to edit this article and there are steps, tips and warnings on how to be a great best friend. The first step, which I believe is good and reliable is that we have to become our own best friend first to understand and respect ourselves. If we know what boundaries we want, we can respect those boundaries. As many people edited this page, I believe it is reliable because best friends are not something that are one answer type but many types. Therefore, it is reliable to understand them as I understand that is how everybody thinks about becoming and getting a "great best friend". In the article, it even said that having a best friend can be hard but if the two friends can be open and honest with each other, it won't be hard. Many of the steps, tips and warnings are useful but it is hard to accomplish all them as we are not perfect but I think if we are able to complete some, the friendship would be great. I like the article because it gives an explanation in all the steps and the suggestions are accurate in how I want to be treated or how to treat others, like my own thinking in how best friends should be.

Other Articles:

http://message.snopes.com/showthread.php?t=6342 -> Friends vs. Best Friends

http://www.helium.com/items/175150-best-girlfriends-unwritten-rules-of-friendship -> Know what to do and know what not to do in order to keep a balance best friend.