RJA #11c: Thesis Statement Check

Comment #1

Comment #2

Internet Research Project

Blinkx is a great tool for finding up-to-date video news on popular culture as well as political news. It also serves as a means to find travel information in video form as well as media relevant to kids, teens and adults. The only problem I find with Blinkx is the requirements to actually view content. Many videos I attempted to watch were in a specific media type that my computer as well as a couple others could not view. A special media player was needed to view content; which made this website almost unnecessary. I then went to YouTube and was able to view the videos with no problem. So the hype and glamour of this relatively new database was downplayed by the inconvenience of installing a specific program.

RJA #7c: Field Research Plan

I have come up with two different options for my field research plan. (1) interview and (2) survey. I am still in the preliminary stages of deciding on questions.
(1) Annjanette Alejano-Steele is the former director of the department for Womens Studies and a current professor.
(2) Questions that could be included in the survey:
>When a man and woman have identical garments dry cleaned, who pays more? for what
reason?
> Identify two areas of obvious sex discrimination
>What is the wage gap? How much is it?

RJA #7b: Internet Research Tool Test

Resource Searched: Blinkx.com
Keywords: Women's rights, Rights disparities, incongruous rights
Strategies: To my knowledge, search operators do not work well in Blinkx. Boolean operators worked.
Date of Search: 10/1/09, and 10/5/09
Number of Hits: 1437, and 983
Relevance: 1 or 2 (Blinkx is a video or digital media database which doesn't prove to be extremely effective for an academic search)

RJA #7a: Internet Research Tools

Most often I use Google as a primary search tool. I use Google because it is convenient, simple and fast. While Google is simple and convenient, it is non-specific and time consuming. Most of the time I spend on Google is to refine my search and actually find relevant information. I may search for a specific cause of Lyme disease and come back with results detailing recipes for Key Lime pie, or an address for a tile company that sells limestone tile.

RJA #6b: Search Strings

Search Engine Math
1. level+extent+women's rights+gender inequality

Boolean
Political AND social NEAR Civil rights OR minority rights OR female rights

RJA #6c: Protopage

My Protopage link

RJA #4a: Generating Keywords

On What level and to what extent do women's rights disparities exist?

FO: Levels; extention; women's right, woman rights, woman right; disparity.

RE: Areas, political, social, personal, laws; human rights, civil rights; inequality, discrepancy, lag, disproportion; present, survive, persist, subsist.

ST: Echelon, plane, point, rank, altitude; amount, scope, size; suffrage; difference, gap; live, remain, thrive.

LOG: Human rights>social rights>civil rights>minority rights>women's rights

RJA# 4b: Writing Search Strings

Search Engine Math
1. level+extent+women's rights+inequality
2. political+social+human rights+disparities

Boolean
1. Inequality AND (Womens rights OR human rights)
2. Political AND social NEAR Civil rights OR Minority Rights

RJA #4c: Checking Research Questions

Nicole Garza comment link


Sam comment link

RJA #2c: Delicious Account

My Delicious account

RJA #2b: Research Topic

The majority of the domestic population (as well as globally) believe that women have gained equal rights to men on a large social arena and there is no need for feminism or feminists; essentially the fight is over for women's rights. Feminist citizens, lobbyists, politicians etc. understand that the fight is far from over. Although women have fought for and won many rights, areas of disparity invariably exist. Areas like the wage gap between men and women in comparable positions; federal protection against discrimination on the basis of sex; efforts that are being made to make the playing field equitable are far different than those being made globally. I still would like to know to what extent these disparities exist. And do they exist on a social, political or just a personal level? and furthermore, how do we achieve educating the world about these differences and make them completely recognized?

RJA #2a: Possible Topics

Women's rights disparities...do they exist? and on what level? to what extent?

Research Journal Assignment #1: Areas of Academic Interest

• Women's rights: I'm interested in the common misconceptions most people have about the rights that women have and don't have. i.e., most people believe that women have gained equal rights to men on a federal level when in fact there is no federal protection on the basis of sex.


• Equality: I believe to be self-explanatory. Equality is simply impartiality. Unconditional equal treatment, recognition, and respect.


• Humanity: My definition of humanity includes: Acceptance of all people regardless of age, sex, gender, sexual-orientation, religious beliefs, education levels and lifestyle.

• Psychology: How do an individuals thought processes affect health and the ability to function in society? For example...a huge part of spiritual, physical and emotional health revolves around the overall health of the mind and brain. the efficiency and amount of brain function influences health and in many ways happiness.


• Sociology: How does daily interaction for members of an in-group (people belonging to the same social group) appear to those of an out-group (those belonging to a group different than the in-group)?. For example...the daily routine and treatment of a woman of color by members of society will appear different to a man, or even to a white woman and visa-versa.
  

In order for society as a whole to advance, equal rights for all citizens must be acknowledged. Not only in a lawful sense, but also in the application of institutionalized practices and treatment of all people. In order to accomplish equal rights, an understanding of how the dichotomist relationship between group sociology and individual psychology affect the interaction of all people must be achieved. Also, on a more elementary level, recognition of the existence of inequality is integral in the fight towards egalitarianism and humanity.