Journey: Inventory

I think of research assignments as journeys. I am going from one place (ignorance/curiosity) to another (expert knowledge).

When I start a research project, the first thing I do is start an inventory:

• What do I need to satisfy this project?
• What do I already know?
• What do I need to locate to complete the project?
• How am I going to do it?

What do I need to satisfy this project?

According to the class syllabus, the final project will include a Research Guide and a Presentation. I am going to use one page of this blog for my Research Guide. I will embed my Google Slide presentation in another blog page

The parts of the Research Guide are listed in the syllabus:

1. Title
2. Answer Page:
1. Scenario
2. Narrative
3. Topic Knowledge (in general)
3. Search Terms & Strategies
4. Annotated Bibliography:
1. Five sources of three different types"
1. Website
2. Book
3. Articles (one must be scholarly)
4. Newspapers
5. Government document
6. etc.
5. Analysis of a Library Subscription Database
6. Valuable Website
7. Bad Website

What do I already know?

I know that confirmation bias is a big problem when it comes to trying to change people's minds. I read about it several years ago, and it fit why it's so hard to get the people in my family to stop arguing about politics. Confirmation bias is when people are shown evidence that proves their beliefs are incorrect, but they ignore it and cling to their beliefs that much harder by using selected sources that bolster their beliefs. I found two articles about confirmation bias: a short essay in Scientific American and an encyclopedia article from the Encyclopedia of Social Psychology .

About eight years ago, I used a book catlled unSpun: Finding Facts in a World of Disinformation by Brook Jackson and Kathleen Hall Jamieson. It is a good book about political and marketing disinformation.

I have also used three fact checking Websites in the past:

Factcheck.org- news stories and politics; links to other sites

Politifact.org - news stories and politics

Snopes.com - urban legends, e-mail scams, and politics

What do I need to locate to complete the project?

A minimum of three sources besides the ones I already know about: one book and three Websites.

How am I going to do it?

I am going to use the sources I find as I complete the various exercises in this course.