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Week 12

This week in class, we discussed the foundations of constructing a research paper. Using the CRAAP test, we can evaluate whether the sources we used are relevant or credible enough to be used in our research essays. Luckily for us (thanks to our FYE teacher), we do not have to actually write a research paper, which is nice. Not to mention, as honors students, we should already be pretty familiar with writing research papers so it's nice to catch a break.

 The CRAAP test helps us evaluate the sources in five categories: Currency, Relevancy, Authority, Accuracy, and Purpose. If the source passes all five of the test parameters, then it is a viable source to be utilized. If it fails to meet some criteria, then you should have a look for another source in order to keep your research paper as professional as possible.

 My (fake) research paper topic is about the behavior of ants resembles human civilization and the parallels that can be made between the two species is fascinating. The social structure of an ant colony is not too different from ours. The call for violence through wars in both species are started by a desire or infringement on territory or necessary resources. There are many other astounding comparisons that can be made, but this blog post is about finding the right sources for a paper.

 The first source I found is Ant Wars. It is a site largely recognized for its interesting articles written by experts in their respective fields. This article was written in 2016 by Sean O'Donnell, PhD; Associate Department Head, Professor, Department of Biodiversity, Earth & Environmental Science, Drexel University. In his article, he also references other credible researchers and adds their information to support his conclusions. It was an informative article and to my amateur-knowledge, there was no misinformation.

 The second source is from the Discover search through Georgia Southern. "Like Ants: A Model for Human Civilization?" is a very interesting (but long) article where the author, Andy Turnbull, finds in-depth comparisons between ant and human civilizations and what makes them work, survive, and thrive. Andy uses the comparisons to ask the audience, "Ants have existed for 100 times longer than humans and our civilization parallels theirs, so what makes them work and where do humans fall of that path?" Although I cannot seem to find information on the author's background and credibility, the article was written in 2017 and seems like a very educated and informative document.

 Image result for ant


Sources:
http://serious-science.org/ant-wars-6652
https://eds.a.ebscohost.com/eds/detail/detail?vid=4&sid=cd5d1de8-1aad-4229-9a5c-9123528ea5eb%40sessionmgr4007&bdata=JkF1dGhUeXBlPWlwLHNoaWI%3d#db=e900xww&AN=1637064

Comments

  1. Matthew ANovember 10, 2019 at 2:32 PM

    That's a pretty cool and interesting topic you choose. I would have never thought about the civilization pattern and structure for ants and humans. The "CRAAP" test is a pretty useful tool. I enjoyed reading this blog post!

    ReplyDelete

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