Hello all!
For me, the two papers I am taking over summer school are my sixth and seventh papers for the year. So here I feel like I have learnt to adequately research for an assignment. However, I have not written a position paper before. I wish this paper for me had of been in the first semester. And so, for anyone who is a first time student over summer school, what an excellent choice!
I chose to do the immunisation topic, all the other subjects were extremely interesting as well, but I personally wanted to know more on the subject and the reasons behind why people choose not to immunise their children. For example, fears that vaccinations cause Autism (not proven). I also wanted to find out more on why we need to keep immunisations up to date, and how we differ from other countries. Like in Africa, millions of lives could be saved by simple vaccinations. But, unlike New Zealand, they don't have easy access or a timetable to go off.
What I found hard was to stay on topic as the information on immunisations is huge, with research being conducted all over the world on the pros, the cons, along with the history of a number of diseases, what has and hasn't worked, and some really scary stories from parents who had immunised or not immunised their children with extreme reactions.
What I could have done better in my research is writing down some ideas before I began. There is so much information out there I kept getting lost and compiling too many ideas instead of focusing on a set of points I could have written down first and stuck to. After reading in Week One about position papers, I used these to come up with some ideas and set these in stone. I have started my draft, and I am extremely happy with my introduction.
Good luck for Week Three!
Son's ordeal was our fault, say parents (Here is a story that broke my heart, a story on vaccinations).
Hi,
ReplyDeleteThat was a good read and nice insight to your process. paragraphing was really good i thought with good structure and length.
I know how you feel with the wealth of information :)
Sean
Hi Jaimi,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on needing to write down a set of ideas at the start and sticking to them as I found it was easy to suddenly feel off track with information. You have given a good account of your research process, highlighting what your thoughts were at the start of the process, your challenges and things you could have done better at the start. I think we, as your audience, can all relate to what you are saying in your blog!