First Essay: Evaluating Sources

Robert Kidd

Essay 1: Evaluating Sources

For my entire life I have been a seeker of knowledge. Sometimes it would be something as trivial as how to shine a pair of shoes, and Other times it would be as serious as questioning the meaning of life. Since I was a toddler I was always the kid asking everyone why things were the way they were. It seems there is/was a driving force that compelled me to want to know about things. Throughout my life the sources for information were always very informative and they are similar I suppose.  Some people want to know the “what” I, however, want to know the “why.”

            For my entire life one of my biggest sources for information has been my dad. He’s one of those guys who seems to know just enough about everything, which means he can do almost anything. I always had a million questions for him and rarely got an answer like “I don’t know”. Since I was very young I loved being read to and later learned to love reading myself. In elementary school I spent many summers, much to my dismay, reading aloud to my mom. I would read American classics like Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer. A childhood of reading, and discussing ideas with my father is what shaped my information gathering predilections into what they are today.

            Throughout middle school and high school I still loved reading, but often found myself being forced to read things that were boring. I was especially bored when we would read the classics! During my time in middle school, I learned that a very powerful tool for finding information was the computer. My generation has literally grown up with Google and it is undeniably one of the most common sources for information. Once we learned how to use the Internet, everything changed. There really were articles out there on the exact topic you needed and you could access them in seconds.  During the time from 6^th to 12^th grade I did learn that there was another very common source of information: friends.

            Before middle school there was no need for gossip. I was at a small private school and had been in class with the same 28 kids for my entire life.  We would often all adopt a given pastime and we would absolutely master it. A lot of our information gathering was done through trial and error and through each other. At our school we learned everything from caring for farm animals to pottery to archery. I can definitely say we became our own sources. In 8^th grade I switched to public school and my sources were pretty typical. They included the Internet, books from the library, and my peers.  All of these resources from my entire life of learning all have different uses and bring different things to the table.

You can often tell what kinds of things you will find in a source just by knowing what kind of source you are looking at. The main sources I use for academic writing are, scholarly articles, books, educational videos, and sometimes, the media.  When I am looking at a scholarly article I can expect to find the results of some tests or studies, which back up their opinions or findings.  They often contain similar writings like the following: “Results indicated significant differences in the personality styles of intrinsically and extrinsically religiously oriented students.” (Silva 1) This was a quote from a psychology article that is talking about the different personalities of people who are self-motivated and people who are not.

The scholarly articles are usually very specific and revolve around a single idea or point. Sometimes I find that they are good for single pieces of information, but generally don’t have a huge amount of information.  Books are also good sources for information. They will have a broader scope of an issue, and give the author enough time to explain his/her thoughts on a particular subject. In a book about freeing oneself from nicotine the author gives the reader a page and a half of information on dopamine, while a standard article may give the reader a single sentence on a single topic. The simple fact that the author has time to fully explore ideas and opinions means that we learn that much more about a given topic. Then, we can create our own ideas about topics because we have a greater understanding of the information. The third source of information that I use is the educational video. Videos are a great way learn about a challenging topic. They give us information and allow us to learn through seeing and hearing. The last type of source is the media. Depending on how mainstream your topic is you will probably be able to find two or more views on the issue. The media tends to discuss issues in depth online or in articles but generally scratch the surface when on television. No matter what, the type of information the media presents is entertaining and engaging. You can count on news articles to be packed with facts, and they are usually about issues that the average person would like to know more about. This excerpt shows the broad audience some media articles can attract. “Cigarette and alcohol use among teens is at the lowest level in decades, but marijuana use is on the rise, according to a survey released on Wednesday.” (Keiper 1)  This not only captures the readers attention, it also has information for Teens, parents, smokers, drinkers, and marijuana users.

            Earlier I found two sources on the topic of quitting smoking and I can expect to find different types of information in each one. The first source is a full-length book written for the smoking population. I expect to find a lot of information about all aspects of smoking tobacco and also plenty of facts and anecdotes as well. The second source is a scholarly article on the same topic. I came assume that there will be less information on quitting than the book but I may find the results to a study or some research.  I expect the book to be more useful to me because it is longer and, once again, the author has time to thoroughly explain his ideas, opinions and experiences.

            After reading both sources it is clear they were meant for two different audiences and one of them did not contain information that is useful to my paper. I am looking for information that would help people get through the quitting process and also teach them about their addiction. The scholarly article is focused on the motivation to quit. The information I found was interesting but not really what I was looking for. This excerpt gives a good overall summary of their article: “Self esteem related to quitting was positively related to desire to quit, expected success at quitting, confidence in quitting, and motivation to quit.” (Mazure 1) They are interested in the psychology behind wanting or not wanting to quit. Even though their focus was not on my specific topic I did learn some interesting facts about motivation. They are also curious about the reasons why people may choose not to seek treatment. This is illustrated in the next excerpt:  “Little is known about beliefs about quitting and treatment motivation in non-treatment seeking smokers.”  (Mazure 1)  This tells me that their target audience is people who are treatment seeking and want to quit smoking. The information from this article was not useful but what I found in the next source was information that is.

            The book was able to give me lots of information about quitting and also many facts about the quitters’ enemy: nicotine. It was able to explore the entire idea of quitting and give the reader real life stories of quitters, one of which is the author. In the very first chapter he gets the readers involved by saying the following: “Remember how you body reacted to that first-ever inhaled puff, dip, or chew of tobacco? Although some took to smoking like fish to water, what most recall is how utterly horrible it tasted.”  (Polito 13) This breaks the ice and makes the reader comfortable. Either way, he is referring to your experience because he talks about both kinds of first experiences. Then later he explains the feelings we got from smoking: “In addition to producing a noticeable “aaah” reward sensation, the brain records the entire event in what may be the highest definition memory (plasticity) that the mind is capable of producing. It’s what researchers call “salient” or “pay attention” memories.” (Polito 14) This excerpt is stating how our brain gets a pleasurable experience when nicotine is absorbed into the body. While both sources were about quitting smoking clearly one was more useful than the other. I feel that the book will be more useful to my paper than the article for some simple reasons. First, it has more information to offer. Second, it gives examples and personal experiences of the challenges and difficulties a quitter will face. And thirdly, it addresses the topic of my paper. Using these sources for my paper I would start by giving the reader some of the information that has been given to me. My paper would answer the simple question of why people should quit the use of tobacco and also nicotine. The information I found will help me complete all of these aspects and is from a reliable source.

            From the very first information I absorbed from picture books to the complex arguments I have found in college level articles I can safely say that my information gathering techniques have evolved with the level of academic writing I am required to do. In the future there may be better sources but for now I feel that books are the best. Though time consuming and complex they do seem to offer the most information and best developed ideas of the sources at my disposal.

Works Cited 

Keiper, Lauren. “Teens Using Cigarettes, Alcohol Less but Smoking Pot More.” Msnbc.msn.com. Reuters, 14 Dec. 2011. Web. 30 Jan. 2012. <http://www.msnbc.msn.com/‌id/‌45671219/‌ns/‌health-addictions/‌#.TycY_JjDbao>.

Mazure, Carolyn M., Sherry A. Mckee, and Andrea H. Weinberger. “Perceived Risks and Benefits of Quitting Smoking in Non-treatment Seekers.” Addiction Research & Theory (Aug. 2010): 456-463. Web.ebscohost.com. Web. 25 Jan. 2012. <http://web.ebscohost.com>.

Polito, John R. Freedom from Nicotine the Journey Home. Goose Creek: FFNicotine.com, 2009. E-Book file.

Silva, Adilia, and Sumaya Laher. “Religious Orientation and Personality Styles in Psychology Students.” Web.ebscohost.com. Ebsco Industries, 1 July 2011. Web. 30 Jan. 2012. <http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.vccs.edu:2048/‌ehost/‌detail?vid=3&hid=106&sid=266bfff8-7361-489f-9ce1-5118dad93b9f%40sessionmgr111&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=a9h&AN=66960373>.