RJA #10b: Argument

RJA #10b: Argument

Precise claim:
Understanding the main theories behind violence and aggression, especially genetic and biological theories, will help to get into the brain of violent individuals.

Reason 1:
Unattractive, or disfigured, individuals are more likely to be violent delinquents.

Warrant:
It is a strong possibility that unattractive individuals are treated differently that attractive individuals, which could lead to the development of crime. It is also very likely that attractive individuals are more likely to get away with crime. (Nurture)

Reason 2:
Injuries to certain areas of the brain inhibit emotional regulation.

Warrant:
When emotional regulation is physically hindered violent acts are more likely to take place because reality may be skewed. (Nature)

Reason 3:
There is a strong correlation between temperament and body type.

Warrant:
Individuals with mesomorphic (muscular and hard) body types are aggressive and require a great deal of physical activity, thus they are more likely to be involved in violent and aggressive activities. (Nature)

RJA #10a: These Statement

RJA #10a: Thesis Statement–

Research Question:
What are the genetic and biological etiology theories of violence and aggression?

Precise claim:
Understanding the main theories behind violence and aggression, especially genetic and biological theories, will help to get into the brain of violent individuals.

Reasons:

~Neuroscience provides valuable information about the ongoing nature vs nurture debate.

~The brain contains the cerebral cortex and limbic system, which consist of grey matter and nerves cells involved in the regulation of emotions. If these areas are damaged, individuals may be more prone to violent behavior.

Complete thesis statement:

Understanding the minds of violent individuals heavily relies on biological and genetic theories of violence that provide valuable information about aspects of nature versus nurture, which are at the forefront of an ongoing debate, as well as important information about the anatomy of the brain and different systems that assist in regulating emotions.

RJA#9: Evaluation of Sources

RJA #9: Evaluation of Sources–Select six of the sources you’ve found on your topic, including one book, one periodical article, and one website. Following the guidelines in “Evaluating Sources of Information,” evaluate these sources. Post your evaluations in your blog. Be sure you include bibliographic information for all six sources, including a web address or link for the website(s).
If you need to, continue searching for reference works, books, and periodical articles on your topic. Update the appropriate posts on your blog if you find more sources. Don’t forget to bookmark relevant sites in your Delicious account and add any relevant RSS feeds to your Protopage.


Salter, A.C. (2003). Predators: Pedophiles, rapists, and other sex offenders: who they
are, how they operate, and how we can protect ourselves and our children. New
York, NY: Basic Books.

Internet Research Project

Name of and link to the tool: inSuggest

Summary or description of the tool: inSuggest is a search engine that does exactly that- suggests websites, images, and helps the user bookmark relevant information. inSuggest gives recommendations on where to find relevant websites or images based on information entered by the user. Results are based on user opinions from fellow inSuggest users. inSuggest neatly organizes search results with a large thumb-nail picture preview to the left of a short summary of the website as well as tag words.

Strengths: useful for bookmarking when using with del.icio.us account, neatly organized search results, good search recommendations

Weaknesses: does not search keywords easily, poor images results

Search engines, directories, and other applications searched: inSuggest has the ability to search the web, images, or to search your personal bookmarks via del.icio.us. Using it in accordance with del.icio.us is a good way to save time and find relevant resources based on a pre-determined list of bookmarks.

Databases: inSuggest can be used in accordance with de.lici.ous.

Operators: It is easiest to use a webiste, or bookmark, that is useful to the research topic and to find related resources that way. inSuggest did not work as well when searching using keywords.

Case sensitivity: I did not find a high level of case sensitivity.

Stop words:

Advanced search function: I did not find an advacned search function.

Limits: inSuggest is limited because it is based on suggesting additional resources, meaning that it is not necessarily meant to "find" new resources, rather it is meant to find related resources that might be useful.

Sorting: You can bookmark websites in your de.licio.us account and use those bookmarks to sort through results using inSuggest.

Display: The display is nice and neat, it gives the user a concise view of the websites in their search results. When putting the mouse over a result, it becomes larger and more visible.

Help function: There is a tutorial labelled "how it works" in the lower right-hand corner that gives a quick run-down of how to navigate inSuggest and what to expect.

Special features: inSuggest has the feature of dragging relevant websites to the top of the page, and it then pulls up a new list of websites also favored by users who liked the initial site. This is useful because it allows the user to save the website and come back to it, and the search results, easy is needed.

RJA #8c: Multimedia

RJA #8c: Multimedia

Resource searched or tool used: Blinkx
Keywords used: +violence +aggression +causes
Search strategies used: Engine math
Date of search: 10/9/09
Number of hits: 1,485
Relevance of hits (on a scale of 1 to 5): 4
~Some of the results that came up are very relevant, involving experts in the field of Psychology regarding the topic of violence and aggression. Other results discussed the topic in other parts of the world, which provides an interesting contrast from my everyday norm, and what I am most familiar with. Further more, other results discussed the evolution of violence and aggression.

RJA #8b: Social Media

RJA #8b: Social Media

Tool used: Google Blog Search
Keywords used: +consequences +violence +aggression
Search strategies used: Engine Math
Date of search: 10/9/09
Number of hits: 17,530
Relevance of hits (1-low, 5-high): 4
~While skimming blogs that contained arguements about my search topic, there were a few results that are very relevant to my search and that I will be dissecting more in depth.
__________________________________________________

Tool used: Blog Catalog
Keywords used: +consequences +violence +aggression
Search strategies used: Engine Math
Date of search: 10/9/09
Number of hits: 724
Relevance of hits (1-low, 5-high): 2
~There wasn't as much of a variety as Google Blog Search had, and the results were less organized.

RJA #8a: Websites

RJA #8a: Websites

Tool Used: Google
Keywords used: +etiology theories +violence
Search strategies used: Engine Math
Date of search: 10/09/09
Number of hits: 9,400,000
Relevance of hits (1-low, 5-high): 4
~I like using Google because it is the search engine I am most f amiliar with, and although it returns a vast number of results, the most relevant are typically toward the beginning of the list.
__________________________________________________

Tool Used: WebCrawler
Keywords used: +definitions +violence aggression theories
Search strategies used: Engine Math
Date of search: 10/09/09
Number of hits: 48
Relevance of hits (1-low, 5-high): 3
~Some results were awesome, and I will probably use the site again. However, some of the results had very little to do with my search topic.
__________________________________________________

Tool Used: All Plus
Keywords used: +consequences +violence +aggression
Search strategies used: Engine Math
Date of search: 10/09/09
Number of hits: 148
Relevance of hits (1-low, 5-high): 4
~I really liked this search tool because it encorporated a number of different websites, but seemed to only present results that were relevant to my search.
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RJA #7

RJA #7a:

Mainly when researching I use Google I like using the website because it is easy and usually can retrieve concise results. In many cases Google has also turned me on to a number of articles that have changed or greatly enhanced my topic at hand. In accordance with this articular project I also used the site Debatepedia I liked this site because it clearly presented two sides to a topic and within those arguments had a number of links to go to supporting articles. I liked this in particular because, like Google, Depatepedia got me thinking about different avenues I could take with my research. But, unlike Google, Depatepedia is much easier to sift through important information with.

RJA #7b: Internet Research Tool Test–

Assigned internet search tool: inSuggest

• Keywords used: +violence +psychology +theory
  
• Search strategies used (including operators and types of searches): Engine math
  
• Date of search: 10/4/09
  
• Number of hits: 9,000
  
• Relevance of hits (on a scale of 1 to 5): 4

• Keywords used: location +violent +acts
• Search strategies used: Engine math
• Date of search: 10/4/09
• Number of hits: 19,000
• Relevance of hits: 2

• Keywords used: violence AND aggression AND psychology
• Search strategies used: Boolean
• Date of search: 10/4/09
• Number of hits: 27
• Relevance of hits: 4
  

RJA #7c: Field Research Plan–

For my field study I will ask my professor, Dr. Morris, questions regarding various aspects of the main theories of violence. I want to know the root of the various types of violence (nature vs nurture) and where the current debate stands on nature and nurture pertaining to violent offenders and violence in general. I will also include information from a lecture I recently sat in that was conducted by Denver probation officers who monitor sexual offenders, as well as a separate lecture from a best-selling author regarding internet violence. I plan on dissecting their lectures and focusing on what they have established as the cause for escalation to violent crimes, and put their information into appropriate categories of violence. I also want to incorporate neuroscience and examine what happens to certain individuals' brains as a violent act is occurring (both perpetrator and victim).

RJA #6

RJA #6a: Periodical Articles–Using databases from your college or public library or the web, search for periodical articles on your research topic. Keep electronic copies of the articles you want to read. Some databases, like EBSCO, allow you to e-mail copies of the articles to yourself. Of course, you may also print them out to read. Also browse the periodical section of the college and local public libraries. If you can’t check out the issues of the periodical, you will probably want to photocopy any useful articles you find.

Record the following information for each periodical article you find that you want to use:

• Name(s) of author(s)
• Title of article
• Title of periodical
• Volume and issue number (if available)
• Date
• Pages on which article appears

If you identify any electronic articles that would be useful, you also need to record the database or website where you accessed it, the library from which database was accessed (if applicable), the date you accessed it, and the web address for the subscription database or the article itself.

In addition, record the following information in your research journal for each search you conduct:

• Resource searched
• Keywords used
• Search strategies used (including operators and types of searches)
• Date of search
• Number of hits
• Relevance of hits (on a scale of 1 to 5)

RJA #6b: Search Strings–Based on the comments you received last week and the instructions and reminders here, revise the search strings you wrote for Research Journal Assignment #4 and post your revisions in your research journal.

RJA #6c: Protopage–Create a link to your Protopage.

Use the department and course number (ENG 1020 or ENG 122) and other appropriate tags (”Labels” on Blogger) for each of the three posts.