Mayhew 1

Jordan Mayhew
Professor Debra Dagher
UWRT 1102-P090
October 10, 2014
The Process of Narrowing an Inquiry Topic
When I first decided on my topic, it was a very broad one. My initial interest was in breed
restrictions and discriminations. The next questions I began asking myself were: Who do breed
restrictions affect?, What breeds are most commonly being discriminated against, and What
cities in the U.S. currently have breed restricting laws?, Why does the general populace fear
these breeds and how are we going to prove them wrong?. As I continued asking myself many
questions on the topic, I kept repeating one: What effects are the restrictions/discrimination
having on the specified breeds and their owners? After establishing my main concern, I then
began asking myself about the causes of the problem. I was able to develop a list of about 5
causes. From that list I chose to focus on my answer of, irresponsible dog owners. Through my
determination of my main cause and my initial research on the topic I was able to determine how
I wanted to link the two in my own inquiry.
Who: Dog Owners and dog breeds generally believed to be aggressive
What: Dog owner personalities and the influence, if any, of dog owner personalities on a dogs
behavior. More specifically dog aggression.
When: I will focus my research on the last 100 years.
Where: The United States of America
Why: To hopefully link certain dog owner personality types with influence on a dog, causing its
aggression, and to propose a system to prevent such relationships from forming.

Mayhew 2

(Who) Dog Owners: no age or sex limitations, ethnicities; would like to include stats about the
percentages of aggressive breeds owned by Caucasians, African Americans, and Hispanics.
Dog breeds generally believed to be aggressive: any breed named on the banned breeds list in the
USA; American Pit Bull Terriers, Staffordshire Bull Terriers, American Staffordshire Terriers,
and American Bulldogs; although every state specifies its own aggressive breeds, these too
will be included.
(What) Dog owner personalities will be generalized into 3-4 concentrated categories.
(When) I will attempt to group my research by the following time periods: last 100 years, last 50
years, last 10 years, and the last year.
(Where) More specifically, states that have breed specific legislation in place currently and those
that have significant dog aggression cases.
(Why) To save the lives of humans and dogs.