Jonah Abraham

Writ 116

Segment 4 Project Proposal

For my segment 4 project, I have chosen to explore how income

correlates with level of happiness. I am interested in this topic
because I have often wondered if working hard now in the hopes of
getting a high-paying career and being successful would actually
make me happier than if I were to find a lower paying job that allowed
me more free time to enjoy spending time with friends or working on a
hobby. I decided that the audience that would benefit from this topic
the most would be young adults who are still unsure of what they want
to do after high school or college. After doing some research and
finding only academic papers, and unreliable entertainment focused
articles, I thought it would be best to make a website since it can
convey a lot of information in a clear and accessible way. Some issues
I had when researching this topic was that many sources have
conflicting results and different definitions and ways of measuring
happiness. The purpose of this website is to create a clear and
organized collection of information that appeals to high school or
college students.

1. How does income affect happiness?

2. I am looking at the most recent set of research that has been
done that shows that there is less of a relationship between the
two than previously thought. Research has been done through
several universities. The recent research has attempted to fix
the mistakes made by an earlier study on this topic.
3. I am interested to see if income has an effect on happiness, and
if so, how much.
4. I would like to make a website that gathers a few of the most
recent findings on the topic, and makes sense of the conflicting
ideas that exist on this topic.
5. I choose to create this website for young adults, since they could
benefit from the knowledge of what kinds of future plans would
provide the most enjoyment.
6. I assume that my audience has little to no background
knowledge on the topic. I keep my information clear and brief
and try to provide a good description of the varying opinions on
this topic.
7.
8. I am making a website.
9. It allows me to organize information and include pictures and
links
10. I am doing a multimedia project.
11. A multimedia website allows me to include a variety of
different forms of information.
12. I am quoting a variety of credible sources. I am reference
research done by respected economists and psychologists.
13. I use logos by providing facts and statistics from research
and surveys.
14. No, pathos doesnt fit this topic well since it is difficult to
make an emotional argument for if or if not income plays a role
in determining happiness.
15. I used visual rhetoric by providing a graph of some of the
data from a survey.