Week 3: Assignment 2

With this week’s tutorials and new tools/strategies, I was able to find books/e-books with much more detailed information about my topic. The Leatherby Libraries and Google Advanced search tools helped me to find specifically what I was looking for. The tutorials and text taught me how to enter the proper key words in order to find specific information. In my case, I did not use the “and” or “or” terms; however that information will be useful for my future research.

            After finding several relevant and current sources, I decided to use the book, Understanding eating disorders: integrating culture, psychology and biology by Yael Latzer, Joav Merrick, and Daniel Stein. This book provided me with more information about cultural aspects of eating disorders as well as the history and psychological changes. The only frustration I had during this process was the amount of information that I had to skim through. Because books are much lengthier and contain additional information, I felt it somewhat overwhelming to have to skim through and see if the books was appropriate and informative. 

Week 2: Assignment #2

Before beginning my research I thought I was going to find a lot of sources with repetitive information such as definitions and symptoms. However, I was surprised at the variety of information that I found. There were sources which discussed risks factors and treatments, some discussed the different effects caused by different cultures, several sources talked about the effects on the developmental domains, and others explained the impact of socioeconomic status on eating disorders. The most interesting knowledge that I gained from this research was that eating disorders not only occur during adolescence, but can begin in childhood years as well. I also learned about the percentages of adolescents who struggle with eating disorders and the large percentage of adolescents who neither find help nor tell people about their disorder.

            By using the CRAAP guide and the reference sources I was not only able to find several sources, but I also learned new search strategies. To be more specific, I had never used the Google Advanced Search before. I felt like it helped narrow down specific searches which decreases the amount of time needed to go through the large amount of results. With that tool I learned that by changing the last update date, the results will be much more current. Aside from learning new search strategies, I also found different and relevant aspects of my topic which I would like to further research. One is the sociocultural aspect of eating disorders. I want to further research the way adolescents in different cultures experience eating disorders. 

Week 1: Assignment #2

Hello my name is Guadalupe Perez, but many call me Lupe. I am 21 years old and now a junior. My major is Early Childhood Education and I am hoping to have my Bachelors in about a year and a half. This is my first term with Brandman. I have already received my A.A. from Allan Hancock College and have taken several courses at San Jose State. I have recently married and now have a newborn. Although my circumstances have changed, I still wish to become some sort of advocate or counselor for children and their families as my future career. I want to be able to work with families and provide them with services and resources.

                Although I have not chosen a specific career yet, there are several aspects which I would like to do further research on. Because my major before was child and adolescent development, I would like to research more in depth about early childhood development. More specifically I would like to research about things such as reading to infants, breastfeeding, and language development. By taking this course, I feel I will obtain the knowledge and practice needed in order to improve my research skills. One skill which I would like to improve most on would be evaluating websites and articles and ensuring they are legitimate.