The Debate About Blogs

I believe that blogs can be a creditable source of information when there has been enough research put in to finding a legitimate blog. Although the majority of the time the author is sharing his/her viewpoint on a matter, they often back it up by providing additional links that help support the point they are trying to make.

http://www.adolescent-substance-abuse.com/blog/

I believe this is a legitimate blog because it gives multiple references to other stories that support the fact that teenagers have a problem with substance abuse. The blog includes journal articles, newspaper articles and police reports of stories that have all found this to be true. I also believe it is a legitimate blog because it provides other information including where to go when seeking treatment for substance abuse.

Adolescent Substance Abuse. Attitudes Toward Smoking Influence Teens' Choices about Alcohol, Other Drugs. Retrieved March 10, 2012, from http://www.adolescent-substance-abuse.com/blog/

Couldn't get the second line to indent!

Research Reflection

This has been a tough blog for me to write, which because of this, it has taken me a while to just sit down and write. Although I have many friend and family who are part of the LGBT community, I don't know much about it. So at this point, I don't even know where to start when it comes to finding a population to learn more about. I think I know the direction to go but I may need some help narrowing it down. I think I would like to focus my research on the psychological problems or grief that comes with being apart of this population but not always being accepted by others. I have known a few people who have really struggled with this acceptance. There are a few things that I assume to be true about this population. The main one being that no matter who you are, acceptance is important. It is one of Maslow's hierarchy of needs to being a happy, balanced person. You must have the respect of others to have respect for yourself. Because of this need and when it is not fulfilled, people tend to have other problems that come from not being accepted. I have learned this from the many psychology and health classes that I have taken, while also through the journey of life. I know that I have had times where I did not feel accepted by the people around me which lead to me feeling poorly about myself. I think the biggest challenge that I will face will be narrowing my topic to a specific issue involving acceptance of LGBTs. I only have the idea of a topic right now and I'm not sure where to go with it.

Getting Ready to Use Academic Search Premier

When I first reviewed the Academic Search Premier features, I was a little overwhelmed. I have never used Academic Search Premier or any other database before for that matter to find information so figuring out which search strings worked and which didn't was a bit of a process. Eventually I got the hang of it and was able to find a lot of useful information. The only fear that I have about using this database is that I will have a hard time distinguishing which information will be useful because I have so many options to choose from. Hopefully with the help of the right search strings I won't have a problem.

Assignment 8

Grant, M. (1991, May 13). Crack Kids: Innocent Victims. Time. 137(19), 112-118.

Smith, D. E., Schwartz, R. H., & Martin, D. M. (2001). Heavy Cocaine Use by Adolescents. Pediatric, 83(4), 539-543.

It is easy to see that there is a difference between a popular magazine article and a scholarly journal. I found an article on cocaine in Time Magazine while also using the academic search premier to find a scholarly article. The Time Magazine article, although very informative, is more for entertainment than to be used to gain information for research. On the other hand, the scholarly article is packed with details and information. To me, it also seemed like there were more facts from studies in the scholar journal than there is in a popular magazine which is often aimed at an easier, more fluent read. Also, there were more authors that contributed to the scholarly article than there was to the popular magazine. I think this is because more information and research has to go into that type of article.

Assignment 9: Search Strings

The database I chose to use along with the Academic Search Premier was Alt HealthWatch. However, I received the most relevant and best results for my topic from the Academic Search Premier. I was able to narrow down my topic in both databases using a few different tips. I added a row to make my search string longer and more specific. I also used OR, AND, and * to include all words that I was looking for. I could also have chosen to select a field but I chose not to. Lucky for me, my first search sting was successful and received quite a few results that I was able to work with. I received 113 articles on the Academic Search Premier while only 68 for Alt HealthWatch. 35 articles were available in full test for Alt HealthWatch and 28 for Academic Search Premier. 47 were available through FindIt in other databases and 11 were available in print and the Miller Center. However, only 2 were not available at all and required an ILL request. So far my research question hasn't really changed. I have been able to find words that get the best results for my topic that I haven't had to do much with changing my research question. My biggest challenge I have encountered in composing a research question has been getting started. I was unsure of what direction I wanted to go with my research question since it is such a "touchy" and I didn't know much about the population. I think I overcame this challenge by doing a lot of research and finding a topic that I am interested in.

Your Population

I have found a lot of good information on cocaine and the effects it can have on the body. It is because of this information that my assumptions have changed some. I am more aware of how addictive it can become. Having never done drugs or any substance that can lead to addiction myself, I could not put myself in the situation where cocaine could take over my life. But after reading stories about people who have, I have a better understanding for it. A question that I have now about my population is what kind of rehab facilities are available for people who have been addicted for so long. Although this doesn't directed related to my project, I became curious as to the different types of rehabs after doing some much research on cocaine and how it destroys lives.

So far I have mainly come up with a lot of facts that will support my research project. I have found some stories that will also come in handy too. I have even found pictures of people that show the physical effects of cocaine after just a few years of using.

Encyclopedia vs Wikipedia

After learning about encyclopedias in class and doing a little research of my own, I realized there are both pros and cons when it comes to using encyclopedias and Internet sources like Wikipedia. To start off, encyclopedias are very reliable. They have been edited, revised, and edited again. The information is as current as the encyclopedia's publishing date. The information also comes from people who are very educated and knowledgeable on the subject. They know their stuff! However, there are some cons when it come to encyclopedias. Encyclopedias can be very biased. Only information that the publisher and editor want to see are present in the books themselves. As Professor Wexelbaum showed, a whole section or population of information could be missing based off of the companies preference.

Wikipedia is a search engine that I still have mixed feelings about. My high school teachers drilled into my head that Wikipedia is not a reliable source and never to use it when writing papers. I can see positives and negatives on both sides of it. As for the pros, there seems be information on any topic on everything imaginable. Wikipedia has it all! However, the problem with Wikipedia is that anyone could write information about the subject no matter their creditability on it. I can remember my teacher bringing up multiple searches that had misinformation on the subject.

I am actually having problems location print encyclopedias and E-encyclopedias on my subject. I'm not sure if I am looking in the right spot, or using the wrong words, or if there are none available on my topic, but I plan on asking Professor Wexelbaum for help next class period.

Finally, I would have to say that using Wikipedia is more appropriate in my research presentation at this time because I have yet to locate an encyclopedia. Wikipedia had a lot of information on my subject that I thought was very useful. I was definitely able to find information that I can put into my research presentation project.