Assignment 3/14

I used a new database found on GALILEO.  I browsed by subject and found a database called Worldwide Political Science Abstract.  After changing my key words three times, I found 1 result that related to my topic.  This database seemed to me as if it was harder to use.  I had to be really specific to get anything close to what I was looking for.  I only got 1 result, but in the end that one article was really helpful.  In the future I would not choose this database again, just because of the inconvenience.  It seems as if the only database that has worked for me is Academic Search complete.  The same keywords that I used for Academic Search Complete did not work so much for Worldwide Political Science Abstract.  My keywords were: antidepressants AND effectiveness OR efficiency AND natural depression OR depression.  When using the new database I had to switch effectiveness to good and active to good. 

Assignment 2/14

The presearch of background information helped a lot to refine my search.  Searching it on the GALILAO helped me change and choose a better topic.  At first my topic was on total institutions, after searching it on academic research I realized that there was not a lot of results and should choose a better topic.  My second choice became my better choice.  When I searched results for antidepressants many reliable results came up.  The results varied and gave my options to talk about for one topic.  I think that my topic should be narrowed down, also that it may be too broad.  I should make it easy enough to find information but not easy enough to find the answer in 10 minutes.  My research question is “Are antidepressants an effective way of treating natural depression?”  The book I found in the library is The Antidepressants Era, by David Healy (RM332.H42)

Assignment 2/12

Doing research in this class is completely different then the way I have done it last semester and throughout my grade school career.  Usually I go onto Google and try to avoid Wikipedia and look for websites that end in org.  In this class I am certain that anything found within the databases are reliable information to use in an argument or paper on a scholarly level.  Over the last couple weeks everything has made sense to me accept for looking for a book on other schools websites.  I remember you saying something about making a PIN, but I still haven’t and do not know how.  Another thing that is still confusing is checking out a book.  I know how to find and locate the floor of the book, but how do you actually find the book without knowing how to use the call number.   I would like us to have more resources other than GALILAO databases relating to our research. 

Assignment 1/31

At this point I have somewhat narrowed down my topic.  One of my topics is about the efficiency of total institutions in society.  Total institutions are facilities or programs that keep individual isolated form society for a purpose.  My second topic is about the efficiency of anti-depressants on humans. Are the benefits of the drug outweighing the side effects of depression and addiction?  When I searched for books, the words that worked best were; antidepressants, effective, depression.  The ones that didn’t were effective and natural depression.   For total institutions, I tried total institutions effect society.  No results were found after many tries so I decided to go with my second option.  It seemed easier to find articles on antidepressants.  An example of a primary source that I might be able to use would be a book that I find in the library on anti-depressants. 

Assignment 1/29

There are so many different information sources that can be used on the internet to research my topic.  Normally the first site that I would go to would be Google to find information.  Google results are not always the most creditable to build an argument from.  Information sources that I will be using are the data bases found on the UWG library website.  GALIAO is where I will look for the databases; academic research is a data base where I have looked and found good, reliable information to cite during my research.  Disciplines that might have an interest are sociology and phycology.  Doctors will be interested to know if they are prescribing the right people and drug for the symptoms of a patient.  Layers would want to know in case they were defending someone that was addicted to the drug or taking it to ease their depression. Therapist will need to know the effectiveness.  They will need to give the candidate the right assessment to see if they are a good candidate for the drug.  They all are responsible in some way and should take an interest in my topic. 

Assignment 1/24

After being absent for many classes, the first day that I came back was an overload of information.  I did a lot of in class research with the professors help and my peers.  I learned almost everything in on day while doing my topic selection worksheet.  That is the class that I will refer to for this blog assignment.  A keyword that I learned was data base.  GALILO is not a data base; it is like storage of all the databases on the website.  I learned that antidepressants must be prescribed after an assessment is done by your doctor or therapist.  I learned that some pregnant woman do take antidepressants during and after their pregnancy.  While searching for information I learned that this is the most controversial thing surrounding antidepressants.  The thing that I am interested in is the effectiveness of the drug and the addiction rate to these antidepressants.  This class finally gave me an understanding of what we were doing in the class and how to formulate a good research question.  One that was not too broad but not easy to find without doing research.  My approach to the project is better now sice concepts and terms are clearly understood.

Assignment 1/17

Two topics that I would be interested in researching are total institutions and medication taken to control natural emotions.  Total institutions are places that strip an individual’s identity to make them learn a lesson or become one with the group.  The reason why I chose total institutors was because I am learning about this in sociology.  It interest me to research if places like prison, boot camp, and rehab are effective methods of discipline, and are they worth the money tax payers put into them, and the time the residents spend there.  Antidepressants interested me because I always hear about the negative side effects and misuse of the drug.  I want to research the addiction rate and if the drug really does help the user more than it hurts them.  Anti-depressants are a common drug taken all over the world and prescribed heavily.  I want to research the good and bad to make a judgment of my own by getting stats and facts.  I want to understand if the drugs should be avoided or recommended.