-I actually didn't learn everything that I was hoping I would learn. I kept changing/ narrowing my topic so I had to keep look for different sources that covered different aspects of my topic. First I started looking at the control on concealed carry permits which then was narrowed/ changed to, why do people get conceal carry permits. After that I almost completely changed my topic to, elderly people with any mental problems should not be allowed to own a gun or have one in their possession. Once I landed on this topic I learned many new things that I would have never imagined. I was surprised by many of the stories and stats that I found in my research.
-One of the benefits of doing this assignment in phases was that it kept me organized and focused on finding sources and making sure they were credible. But one of the drawbacks was that I felt as though I was just finding sources because I had to for the assignment. Another thing that was not so good was that there was too much time in between assignments which allowed me to forget what I read in the last assignment. I felt as though I was starting over every time I did a new phase. But again I did like how we had to show how each source was credible and we had to summarize and respond to each source. I know that if I didn't have the specific assignment I probably would have skipped a few of the steps.
-I will most definitely approach research in interesting topics in a different way. In the past I just did a generic Google search and looked for anything that wasn't Wikipedia, but after doing this I will probably use the schools data base more often and even go to specific news articles and maybe even the occasional blog just to get someone else's point of view.
-I think in some ways this assignment has helped me so that I can confidently discuss a topic with someone. One way is that I now can think of better questions to ask that will either broaden or narrow a topic of discussion. Over all though, I don't think I will always be able to confidently discuss any topic. In order for me to do that I would have to either already be knowledgeable in the topic or have time to do a little research.
-The most important thing I learned about research was that just because a source might look credible doesn't always mean it is. It is important to do a little background research on the author and the source itself because anyone can put information on the internet. If the source doesn't have an author it doesn't make it automatically bad, but there does need to be research on the publisher of the source. If I don't use credible sources in a paper then I'm the one who loses credibility.
Saturday, February 23, 2013
Friday, February 22, 2013
Blog #7
Currency: I know this article isn't in the last 2 years like you wanted it to be, but I found that it had some very good information and was useful so the date didn't deter me any. It was published in 2010 and some of the information used within the article is from a few years earlier, but is still recent.
Relevance: Yet again as I did more research I was able to narrow down my topic choice even more so that I could have a good thesis statement for my paper. This article, along with others helped me to decided that I was going to make the argument that elderly people with mental illness should not be allowed to own a gun. Seems how the article gave me the idea for my specific topic the information is going to be relevant. Another reason it is relevant is because I have a great grandmother who is getting up there in years. Right now she doesn't have any mental health issues but you never know when something will happen. I will be able to somewhat relate to this article and apply it to my paper.
Authority: The author Dale Russakoff is a writer for the New York Times. He writes a blog for them that is based on the elderly community which makes him pretty knowledgeable on the topic of elderly people owning guns. Like I said, he writes for the New York Times witch is a credible source as well, but they do tend to be a little bias and lean towards the liberal side.
Accuracy: Russakoff used real life stories to try and explain his topic to his audience. Not only did he use real stories but he also quoted people who had experience with dealing with elderly people who need assistance. But like I said above, because he writes for the New York Times there is most likely going to be a liberal slant to the article.
Purpose: The purpose of the article is to inform the audience that there are people out there who have to deal with these situations and if you look in the right places you can find help. I would have to say that it is an opinion based article but only to a point; there is also a lot of true facts that are included. The way he uses the facts makes it an opinion based article.
Summary: One thing that stands out of this article is the first hand stories that are used to illustrate the main topic. The first story is about an old women who refuses to give up her handgun and how her son tries to deal with the situation. Another situation that is referenced is a shooting of a Dr. by an 83 year old man in a VA hospital. The last story that they use is about another old lady who wont give up her handgun because it reminds her of her husband, but the family is concerned with her safety and the safety of others so the give her a choice, get ride of it or move to a place where you can't have it. All of these stories describe the situation at hand; how do caretakers disarm the mentally unstable elderly? The article address that it is hard to get the law involved because even though it is illegal to purchase a gun when you are mentally ill, most of these people bought their gun when they were younger. Law enforcement can't really help but there are some organizations that will help families in this situation.
Response: Like i said earlier, I have a great grandmother who is getting old. The article said that the guns the elderly own are a symbol of independence just as driving is. A few months back my family had a situation where we tried to not let my great grandmother drive because she was having issues with her vision, but like in the stories we had a few problems. She viewed driving as her freedom and wouldn't let us drive for her unless it was my dad. So in a lesser way I understand where these families are coming from. On a different note, I found it really surprising that white males who are older are more likely to commit suicide and usually with a gun. So not only are the elderly a danger to society when they have a mental illness but they are also a danger to themselves. In the one situation where the old lady wanted to keep her handgun because it reminded her of her husband, I would suggest that the family just take all the ammunition so that it becomes just an object and not a serious weapon. I don't think that her family needed to completely take away her gun that clearly reminded her of her husband. There were better solutions.
Russakoff, Dale. "Guns in Frail Hands." New York Times. New York Times Company, 14 July 2010. Web. 21 Feb. 2013. <http://newoldage.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/14/guns-in-frail-hands/>.
Relevance: Yet again as I did more research I was able to narrow down my topic choice even more so that I could have a good thesis statement for my paper. This article, along with others helped me to decided that I was going to make the argument that elderly people with mental illness should not be allowed to own a gun. Seems how the article gave me the idea for my specific topic the information is going to be relevant. Another reason it is relevant is because I have a great grandmother who is getting up there in years. Right now she doesn't have any mental health issues but you never know when something will happen. I will be able to somewhat relate to this article and apply it to my paper.
Authority: The author Dale Russakoff is a writer for the New York Times. He writes a blog for them that is based on the elderly community which makes him pretty knowledgeable on the topic of elderly people owning guns. Like I said, he writes for the New York Times witch is a credible source as well, but they do tend to be a little bias and lean towards the liberal side.
Accuracy: Russakoff used real life stories to try and explain his topic to his audience. Not only did he use real stories but he also quoted people who had experience with dealing with elderly people who need assistance. But like I said above, because he writes for the New York Times there is most likely going to be a liberal slant to the article.
Purpose: The purpose of the article is to inform the audience that there are people out there who have to deal with these situations and if you look in the right places you can find help. I would have to say that it is an opinion based article but only to a point; there is also a lot of true facts that are included. The way he uses the facts makes it an opinion based article.
Summary: One thing that stands out of this article is the first hand stories that are used to illustrate the main topic. The first story is about an old women who refuses to give up her handgun and how her son tries to deal with the situation. Another situation that is referenced is a shooting of a Dr. by an 83 year old man in a VA hospital. The last story that they use is about another old lady who wont give up her handgun because it reminds her of her husband, but the family is concerned with her safety and the safety of others so the give her a choice, get ride of it or move to a place where you can't have it. All of these stories describe the situation at hand; how do caretakers disarm the mentally unstable elderly? The article address that it is hard to get the law involved because even though it is illegal to purchase a gun when you are mentally ill, most of these people bought their gun when they were younger. Law enforcement can't really help but there are some organizations that will help families in this situation.
Response: Like i said earlier, I have a great grandmother who is getting old. The article said that the guns the elderly own are a symbol of independence just as driving is. A few months back my family had a situation where we tried to not let my great grandmother drive because she was having issues with her vision, but like in the stories we had a few problems. She viewed driving as her freedom and wouldn't let us drive for her unless it was my dad. So in a lesser way I understand where these families are coming from. On a different note, I found it really surprising that white males who are older are more likely to commit suicide and usually with a gun. So not only are the elderly a danger to society when they have a mental illness but they are also a danger to themselves. In the one situation where the old lady wanted to keep her handgun because it reminded her of her husband, I would suggest that the family just take all the ammunition so that it becomes just an object and not a serious weapon. I don't think that her family needed to completely take away her gun that clearly reminded her of her husband. There were better solutions.
Russakoff, Dale. "Guns in Frail Hands." New York Times. New York Times Company, 14 July 2010. Web. 21 Feb. 2013. <http://newoldage.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/14/guns-in-frail-hands/>.
Friday, February 15, 2013
Assignment #6
CRAAP Eval.
Currency: This particular academic article was published November 2, 2004, which makes it recent but not as current as other articles. Within the article it uses information and data from the 1990's which dates its sources. Even though the info isn't extremely current it still gave good ideas pertaining to my argument of who has a permit to conceal a handgun and why they do.
Relevance: The article was focused on reason why people get a conceal carry permit in Louisiana and who is more likely to get one. The info and ideas presented within the article brought up questions in my mind and helped me narrow down my topic even more. Though now I need to find another source that is similar but that focuses on a different state or part of the country.
Authority: The fact that this is an academic article gives it a sense that the information included must be truthful and accurate. There are also a bunch of sources listed at the bottom of the article which indicates that there was a good amount of research done before writing the article, which gives the authors even more credibility. Speaking of the authors, both Stephen and John are professors at the college level and teach something that has to do with criminal justice. They also have collaborated together to write multiple different articles on the topic of criminal justice.
Accuracy: The article is accurate for its time frame but might be slightly out of date. That doesn't mean that the information wasn't accurate at one point. The information that the two professors give is relevant to the topic they are discussing, there weren't any grammatical errors that I noticed and the evidence that they use to support their argument is from the Louisiana State police or other state officials, making it credible information. The way that they present their ideas doesn't have much of a bias side. The only thing that I could see as biased would be the fact that they continually say that people don't get carry permits because of the crime rate in their area. They keep bringing up the point that there are other reasons for getting a carry permit.
Purpose: The intent of the authors is to inform the reader and to teach them of other reasons why people get carry permits. The authors address all angles of the argument and make it clear that they aren't trying to force you to agree on any one particular idea. The way that they wrote the article makes it seem as though they want you to agree with them but it isn't pushy.
Summary: The main topic of the article is basically the reasons why people in Louisiana get conceal carry permits. First they bring up the idea that people get them because of fear of victimization. They don't want to be singled out for any particular reason so they get a permit to conceal a handgun in case they need it for personal protection. The authors of the article bring up the point that this might not be the only reason for people to get one. There are the ideas that depending on your economic status, race and/or geographic location you could be more or less likely to have a conceal carry permit. They suggest that these other ideas are a better way to judge whether or not someone is more likely to get a conceal carry permit.
Response: While I was reading the article I was able ask myself questions like: do these same ideas relate to other states or the US as a whole? and, what other things could determine why someone gets a conceal carry permit? These thoughts/ questions that came up helped my to finally narrow down my topic to, what determines why people get conceal carry permits in the south vs. the north and who is most likely to have one?
Another thing that made me want to focus more on this specific topic is the stats that were in the tables included in the article. The one particular table that caught my eye compared the race, age and gender of people who had a licence to carry a concealed handgun in 1998 in Louisiana. The fact that %29.6 of people who have a licence to carry are in the age range of 50-59 and only %5.3 are ages 20-29! I found this to be backwards of what I was thinking. I want to know if this these numbers are similar in other areas of the country and maybe even find out why these numbers are so different than what I was thinking.
Costanza, Stephen E., and John C. Kilburn Jr. "Circling The Welcome Wagons: Area, Income, Race, And Legal Handgun Concealment." Criminal Justice Review (Georgia State University) 29.2 (2004): 289-303. SocINDEX with Full Text. Web. 15 Feb. 2013.
Monday, February 11, 2013
Assignment #5 (more sources)
Currency: This article/source is recent, but the information is based on 2001-2009 stats which is still recent enough to be relevant to my topic.
Relevance: The information included in the article gave a good comparison of criminal activity between people who have a concealed carry permit and those who don't.
Authority: I couldn't find any information about the author so it might not be as credible as I think, but at the end of the article it gives a long list of sources that were used.
Accuracy: The information in the article seems accurate and not unrealistic.
Purpose: The main purpose of this article seems to be to give the audience an idea of the criminal activity between concealed carry permit holders and non holders. The article does seem to have a slight bias saying that concealed carry permits are not a bad thing.
Response:
I found it really surprising that the numbers were so dramatically different between those who have a permit to conceal a handgun and those who don't. One thing that is important to note is that the data was collected from Texas and not the entire US. Because it is focused on a specific area it doesn't cover different states that have different laws and crime rates.
One question that I thought of while I was reading the article was whether or not some of the info was as accurate as it was stating and is their argument a popular one or is it original. I kind of answered the second one for myself. I would have to say that the argument presented is one that is popular among people who are for having concealed handguns.
In order for me to use this information I would want to do some more basic research to make sure the numbers used are accurate and not completely unrealistic.
Szu-hsuan1 Lin, et al. "When Concealed Handgun Licensees Break Bad: Criminal Convictions Of Concealed Handgun Licensees In Texas, 2001-2009." American Journal Of Public Health 103.1 (2013): 86-91. OmniFile Full Text Select (H.W. Wilson). Web. 11 Feb. 2013.
plagiarism response in class
According to the quote plagiarism takes away from your learning experience witch is exactly what I would catagorize it as. When you plagiarize you aren't being creative and comming up with your own ideas. Plagiarism is significant and important because not only is it unethical but it also takes away from your individual learning experience. The quote makes me thing that there are many different reasons as to why plagiarism is a bad thing.
Isserman, Maurice. "Plagiarism: a Lie of the Mind." Chronicle of Higher Education. Vol. 49, issue 34, p B12-B13. May 2, 2003. Database:OmniFile Full Text Select.
Isserman, Maurice. "Plagiarism: a Lie of the Mind." Chronicle of Higher Education. Vol. 49, issue 34, p B12-B13. May 2, 2003. Database:OmniFile Full Text Select.
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
new source
This time I went a different route to finding a source. This time I went to LBC.edu and went to the online library where I found a great article that discusses the topic of concealed carry permits within the United states. Again with the CRAAP test:
Currency- This article was posted September 8, 2006. Even though that might not seem that long ago, it is. Some of the info is out of date but it allows me to be able to compare how the laws of concealed carry permits have changed between then and now.
Relevance- The article is based on the topic of concealed cary permits and the way different states control it. The audience is most likely young adults that are curious in how some states are different with their laws. It also allows the reader to do more research and compare those laws to more recent ones.
Authority- Since I found this article through LBC's online library database I would have to say that it is credible. I believe LBC would not have put it up for it's students to use if the source wasn't credible.
Accuracy- There are no noticeable grammatical errors, and the information included in the article is accurate for it's time. The laws have obviously changed since 2006, but I will still most likely use it because it allows me to compare the changes that different states have made since then. There is also a lack of bias within the article because it addresses both sides of the argument (for gun control & pro guns). Later in my summary I will discuss the arguments presented by both sides.
Purpose- The purpose of this article is to inform the reader of gun laws and specifically concealed carry laws in the United states. The article doesn't give any one sided opinions or real experiences as to why the laws are the way that they are; it is completely factual.
Summary-
Throughout the United States and it's 50 states there are 2 that don't allow any concealed guns, 11 states that only allow law enforcement to carry a concealed gun, 35 states that only have basic requirements for getting a concealed carry permit and 2 states don't require any permit for a concealed gun. Some people agree with the basic requirements while those who are in favor of gun control say that there should be fewer guns on the streets because guns cause more shootings and they are usually used for self defense. People who are pro-gun say that guns reduce crime and the risk of a criminal attacking.
*I must remind you again that this information is not accurate to today's laws but the opinions of the 2 sides is still roughly the same.
"Concealed-Weapon Laws (sidebar)." Issues & Controversies On File: n. pag. Issues & Controversies. Facts On File News Services, 8 Sept. 2006. Web. 6 Feb. 2013. <http://www.2facts.com/article/ib110473>.
Currency- This article was posted September 8, 2006. Even though that might not seem that long ago, it is. Some of the info is out of date but it allows me to be able to compare how the laws of concealed carry permits have changed between then and now.
Relevance- The article is based on the topic of concealed cary permits and the way different states control it. The audience is most likely young adults that are curious in how some states are different with their laws. It also allows the reader to do more research and compare those laws to more recent ones.
Authority- Since I found this article through LBC's online library database I would have to say that it is credible. I believe LBC would not have put it up for it's students to use if the source wasn't credible.
Accuracy- There are no noticeable grammatical errors, and the information included in the article is accurate for it's time. The laws have obviously changed since 2006, but I will still most likely use it because it allows me to compare the changes that different states have made since then. There is also a lack of bias within the article because it addresses both sides of the argument (for gun control & pro guns). Later in my summary I will discuss the arguments presented by both sides.
Purpose- The purpose of this article is to inform the reader of gun laws and specifically concealed carry laws in the United states. The article doesn't give any one sided opinions or real experiences as to why the laws are the way that they are; it is completely factual.
Summary-
Throughout the United States and it's 50 states there are 2 that don't allow any concealed guns, 11 states that only allow law enforcement to carry a concealed gun, 35 states that only have basic requirements for getting a concealed carry permit and 2 states don't require any permit for a concealed gun. Some people agree with the basic requirements while those who are in favor of gun control say that there should be fewer guns on the streets because guns cause more shootings and they are usually used for self defense. People who are pro-gun say that guns reduce crime and the risk of a criminal attacking.
*I must remind you again that this information is not accurate to today's laws but the opinions of the 2 sides is still roughly the same.
"Concealed-Weapon Laws (sidebar)." Issues & Controversies On File: n. pag. Issues & Controversies. Facts On File News Services, 8 Sept. 2006. Web. 6 Feb. 2013. <http://www.2facts.com/article/ib110473>.
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