Original Research

I have never done my own original research. Original research is different from library research since original research is based on information that you have collected from surveys, interviews and such. Library research can guide you in the direction of what kinds of questions to ask people in your research population, it can also show you what has already been researched so you know what might not have been researched before, thus starting a new topic for original research. Cons of library research: information might be outdated, might be biased based on sources. Pros of library research: hard work of finding the facts has already been done for you. Critical thinking skills required for both: reflection, reasoning, analysis, interpretation. The most important skill for library research is interpretation because you can gather information but you must be able to understand what you have gathered. While the most important for original research is analysis because you must analyze your findings in order to present actual and factual information based on your findings.

Statistical Information

I was able to find 2 sources that gave statistical information about the ex-incarcerated and they both gave sources of where their information came from but I didn't find much information about how it was actually collected and/or analyzed. I was assuming that the governemtn document would explain this since they are trying to convince us of issues being faced.

Finn, P. (1998, March). Successfull job placement for for ex-offenders. Retrieved from  https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles/168102.pdf

Western, B. The impact of incarceration on wage mobility and inequality. Retrieved from  http://scholar.harvard.edu/brucewestern/files/western_asr.pdf

Checking In

As I am preparing for my semester research project, I think the presentation part is going to be the hard part. I haven't ever created my own slides so that might be a slight challenge for me. As far as getting information, I still have the last couple of sources to get information from but I am well on my way to the end of the road.

As far as other classes and everyday research, I have used some of the tools that we learned and have come up with some pretty good information.

Intellectual Property

Hmmm, a definition for intellectual property... well I have never heard of this so let me take the words and try to figure something out. I would have to say it has something to do with the workings of the mind and it those workings belonging to the person who "owns" the brain.

According to wikipedia: Intellectual property (IP) is a term referring to a number of distinct types of creations of the mind for which a set of exclusive rights are recognized under the corresponding fields of law.  Under intellectual property law, owners are granted certain exclusive rights to a variety of intangible assets, such as musical, literary, and artistic works; discoveries and inventions; and words, phrases, symbols, and designs. (1)

So it sounds to me that in every day life when I say something that isn't recognized by the English language, this might be intellectual property. Also, I think this blog that you are reading is my intellectual property.

The concept of intellectual property would be no longer "owned" if things were to be manipulated or shared. This would say that the creator of the IP would never get credit and anyone could change what was created and make it something else completely.  (I'm not too sure I understand that last question that I am supposed to be answering here)



(1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intellectual_property

Urvashi Vaid Presentation

    Prior to attending this event I thought that it was going to give me a lot of information on the struggles being faced with the fight for same-sex marriage. Although I don't know much about this topic, I do know that it i a fight that has been going on for a while.
    The information was presented in a way that focused more on what people should already know about this topic. Although I did hear some facts that I hadn't known before, I felt like I was a bit out of place having not much background information.
    One thing that I had never heard before was the comparison of poverty in homosexual versus heterosexual families. Urvashi said that there is more poverty in homosexual families but I don't think that this is a fair comparison. She didn't mention the number of families that were compared. This is important to take into account especially when the divorce rate is so high. I don't understand how she can compare these 2 relationships when most heterosexual families are single parent raised families.
   Urvashi Vaid is an authority on this topic as she is has spent most of her life researching and working with the homosexual community and issues that they face.
   I have to be honest and say that I didn't take much away from this presentation. Although Urvashi is a great presenter, I feel her forceful approach was hard to follow and she had made a lot of assumptions about her audience. She is very knowledgeable about the topic but that doesn't mean that her audience is on the same level. Like I said earlier, I felt a bit out of place.
    There was a question asked by one of our classmates but I was unable to clearly hear the question but it had something to do with Urvashi's concern with heterosexuals. Since I couldn't hear the question, I can't say whether she responded well or not. But she did give it a shot and the student seemed to be satisfied with the answer.

Google 101

When I think of google, I think of the "all-knowing". Wel,l little did I know I haven't even been using google to its full potential. I have learned that there are language tools to help you translate things, you can search news by country, you can input an image to find out what it might be called, using the "~" will return related terms to what you are searching for. I also had no idea that you could search for things based on the suffix of a web address (ie: .gov, .edu, etc). Using the "~" will definitely help me search for information on my research topic since there are many different terms for "prisoners". In my everyday life, I'm excited to use the picture tool. I ocasionally come across things that I am not familiar with and would loveto know what they may be called. Although, a smartphone will need to come first for that.

So before google 101, I loved google and use it daily. Now, I can use it to its full potential and hopefully get even more information on everything.

Google: MY all-knowing!

13: Review research assignment question

Based on the research that I have done so far on the challenges faced by prisoners being released into society, I have found that most of the questions for the presentation can be answered. Although, I have yet to find an organization that educates people about my human population. I have found out what challenges there are but I can't seem to find many programs that help those being released or even help their families prepare for their return. I especially haven't found anything educating the public about the return of prisoners to society. In the article that I have found, there were some interesting viewpoints from people that have worked with the newly released and I can understand what challenges they are facing. I do find it quite interesting that there are so many people in prison that will one day be set free and there aren't programs for them to help them prepare for their release. The prisons seems to provide "programs" but who is to say that they are worth anything, especially when CA is letting thousands of prisons free because of overcrowding.

Something to still find out... now that I know their challenges, how can these people be helped back into society so they can stay a part of society rather than a statistic.

As Professor Wexelbaum mentioned in an earlier post of mine, maybe I'll get more answer from a government search but I don't know how true things will be. Not sure I totally trust what the government has to say, guess I'm one of "those" people who thinks the government may be a bit corrupt. But that's a whole other topic.