Knowledge, The New Sexy

In considering my first draft of my literature review, I am a bit nervous and excited. In comparing my first draft with my topic outline, I have had to make a few changes. Much of it still flows but I had to add a few new research articles and leave out at least one. This does not take away from the path of the argument and in fact, it adds to it. However, it does take a considerable amount of time but I think it is worth it to get a more valid and reliable review. When I am moving to the next category I am using heading changes. With the different heading changes the reader will be able to more easily follow the thought and topic pattern. I am also being mindful of transitional sentences that allow the smooth flow of information or thought into the next paragraph. For me, this part (connecting) is important and can make or break whether or not the reader consistently grasps and builds on the idea or information that is being presented. When I am reading other source material, I ha...

Blog Post #4 Activities for Chapter 5 I choose a quantitative research article for this activity. It researched opiods and social bonding while studying naltrexone and its reduction of feelings of social connection. Some of the characteristics of the report that led me to believe that it is an example of quantitative research were the use of words such as, "statistical analysis", "theory", "hypothesis", and "data".  This study is experimental because data is taken and measured in a laboratory.  The study is experimental and set up as a double-blind study  Experimental. The types of measures used were a scale to rate feelings of social connectedness, a daily diary and statistical analysis. I believe that the researcher provided enough information for me to respect their adequacy for use in this experiment. I also think that double-blind studies are more valid and reliable (if they truly are double-blind). Participants were recruited via f...

Chapter 3 Activities I was excited about this activity although it became much more involved than I expected. I went to four different data bases because my studies and field is broad. With that being said, I have to narrow down my topic and that is not always easy when a great amount of the information seems interesting, if not useful.  Some of the data was from medical data bases and I also used some of the psychology data bases because much of the descriptors interface in these areas. There was more opportunity to find data in the psychology data bases due to the material being exceptionally relevant to the research that I am studying. I was reviewing research from 2010 to the present and sometimes that can be limiting but I did find an array of potential articles to choose from.  A few of the descriptors I used were those concerned with human connection and communication. One site alone made over 14,000 results available. It can become a game when you have to continu...

Blog Post #2   A Novice's Review Literature Review A  A. Have the reviewers clearly identified the topic of the review? Have they indicated its delimitations? (For instance, is it limited to a certain type of individual or certain period of time? Does it deal only with certain aspects of the problem? The reviewers clearly identify the topic and specify the limitations by defining that the topic "among college students" and gender differences were also examined with regard to results. The body outlines more information to clarify different types of bullying, the prevalence rates and touches on coping methods to deal with the problem. The review is substantial but there is more information available on coping methods for cyber-bullying, however the writers may have felt that they have made their point. B. Have the reviewers written a cohesive essay that guides you through the literature from subtopic to subtopic? Explain. The reviewers have written a cohesive e...

Post 1  Self Assessment Researched Writing Survey 1. When you are assigned a research paper in a course, do you welcome it as an opportunity to learn, or do you see it as a burden or an unwelcome task? Most of the time I see writing a research paper as an opportunity to learn about something in a deeper way. There were occasions in a class about policy where I was concerned that the material would be boring. Surprisingly, I found that connecting the information on policy with people and how that challenged quality of life, made a difference in the way I embraced the writing task . 2. How Confident are you in our ability to use supporting material effectively to strengthen your ideas in a paper?   I'm somewhat confident in using supporting material effectively but feel like I still have room to grow in this area. I feel like using supportive sources "expands my lens" which I may view a topic but communicating the ideas and connecting them throughout the paper may be...