Wow, we made it to week three, feels like month three to me. Workload has finally reached a steady, constant amount in each of my classes and I have my first round of exams next week. This semester is definitely anything but ordinary, but I am very thankful for my professors that try to make the class environment as normal as possible.
I can safely say that this english class is different from any other english class I took in high school. When I signed up for this class, I knew it would be a different experience, but I didn’t really know what to expect, especially within the research side of the class. These first few weeks have consisted of learning to find and examine sources we may use in our research. I can already tell that this english class is by far the best one I’ve ever taken, especially since it focuses on my favorite subject, Health and Medicine.
This past week in English 105i we delved deeper into analyzing and testing the credibility of sources we are researching. Checking the background of the sources and really taking into consideration the genre of the source. Whether it be an article, post, or some other genre that may better suit our research articles. We also learned more about the importance of bias affecting studies done within research. When I watched the video of the Volkswagen emissions scandal, one of the first things that was brought to my attention was how science isn’t always reporting the truth; lots of things can be swept under the rug, especially when large companies are involved. Not only did we watch that video, we also watched “Scientific Studies with John Oliver”, where he discusses the distortion of fact that studies go through by the time they reach the popular audience through the news. News anchors know that in order to interest the general population in new scientific studies, they have to come up with a good punch line and make science seem more like “gossip”. This truth blew my mind. Coincidentally, we were also talking about bias and fitting research methods in my psychology class last week. When doing research, there are a lot of factors to take into consideration, factors such as: experimenter bias, sampling bias, observational versus experimental studies, etc. All of these factors lead to the credibility and “legitimacy” of a source used within research, which is what we focused on heavily this past week in english.
As we wrapped up class on Thursday, we talked about our next feeder assignment. This feeder focuses more on one source and the studies that are explained within it. This challenges me to look deeper and truly analyze the credibility of the study in order to find any possible gaps within the research design in order to include those points in my article.
After completing this week of english I feel much more confident in my ability to find reliable sources within more complex databases. And as I head into this next week I am looking forward to learning and growing more in my knowledge of research and medicine. And while this year of college may not look like any other, I await the days when life feels more normal. For now, I am grateful that I get to attend my first in-person college class next week and anticipate for the day when I get to go to a UNC v. Duke basketball game in person as well.
-Miranda Layne
Featured Image Source:
UNC men’s basketball: Garrison Brooks with the BIG DOG dunks vs. duke – YouTube. [accessed 2021b Feb 16]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOMq10wTH_c.