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.