LBSU 302

Week 8- Literature Review

The Journey Ends...............

I guess this is hello for the last time fellow bloggers. It has been a wild ride I must say!

This week was very difficult for me, however I am happy that I was able to complete my final assignment, in what "hopefully", was the correct way. I hesitate because that is where my struggle began and ended this week (finding the correct writing organization for the information I had). Structuring and organizing a literature review was more difficult than I remember it being. Finding ways to group my sources and then arrange them was the hardest thing for me. Additionally, I found it impossible to shrink it down to 2-3 pages as required. There was just too much information to cover with six sources.

Writing a literature review was a long process, however, I believe I will use this process again the next time I am required to write an actual research paper. With all of your sources organized and summarized, it would be much easier, and would probably be a considerably better research paper.

Writing this literature review revealed a few unanswered questions for my research topic. Although there is plenty of information out there on ethics and therapist self-disclosure, I did not find any indicating the variances of reactions, and effects, of therapist self-disclosure between different ethnicity or age groups. This is an area that needs to be explored further. It is my theory that older generations may view therapist self-disclosure as inappropriate, but so far I have not located a study that addresses this aspect. I will however, continue the search!

As always, thanks for reading my blog!

LBSU 302

Week 7- Annotated Bibliography

My Journey's Almost Over......

Hello again fellow bloggers! Busy busy week, eh? This week I was looking for sources to fill the gaps in my research. I had found a number of sources that had the same general ideas about the ethicality of therapist self-disclosure, however, I needed more information with opposing views. I needed to find specific uses for therapist self-disclosure as well as specific contraindications of self-disclosure to complete my research. I again used Letherby Libraries to look for peer-reviewed articles as well as Google Scholar. When I found a source I was not too sure of, I applied the CRAAP test as well as Googling the authors, journals and publishers. 

I personally have found my topic to be very interesting, however that is probably because it will be very applicable for me as I enter my field of social work. With that said, there are a few things that even the average Joe would find interesting. For instance, before I started my research I hypothesized that all of the research information I found about therapist self-disclosure would state that it was completely unethical and that it should be avoided at all costs. However, not only was I 100% wrong, I also discovered that 90% of all therapists self disclose to some extent. I believed a false idea that therapists kept their personal histories private from their clients. Additionally, I had not thought about the unintentional self-disclosure aspect, such as profiles on social networks, journals that the therapist may have written, as well as decorations in the therapists office and the clothing that the therapist wears; all personal self-disclosures. 

As always, thanks for reading my blog! See you next week! 

LBSU 302

Week 6- Academic Integrity and Open Access Articles

My Journey Continues…..

According to the website plagiarism.org, 36% of college undergrads admit to paraphrasing and/or copying from an internet source without siting it. I think that it is important to note that this percentage is probably hugely distorted due to the fact that admitting to plagiary is admitting to a crime.

This week’s readings were highly informative for me. Although I was aware of the simple definition of plagiarism, I did learn something new. Specifically, I didn’t know that each source could have its own set of copyright terms. As a rule, I simply assumed that I could use any information in my research as long as I sited it. With that said, I have used many sources during my college education without searching for their copyright terms and adhering to those terms. I am embarrassed of my ignorance, however, now I can move forward with a better understanding and appreciation for copyright laws and how they pertain to me on my research journey.

With my new knowledge, I set out this week to find a source of information on my topic in Open Access Journals. It proved to be the most challenging research assignment for me thus far. I had no luck with the suggested online collections DOAJ and OAJSE, so I tried Google Scholar Open Access with the same results. I resorted to just plain Google and ended up with a great source! Although I had some trouble finding an Open Access source I am pleased that I now know many locations on the WWW to find free information.  During my search I looked very closely at each sources copyright terms and was shocked at what I saw. For instance, one source stated in its terms that it could be used as a source as long as no more than 500 characters were used, and of course, it was cited. I had no idea that copyright restrictions could be so specific! Having this new knowledge will forever change the way I look at information, as well as the way I use the information I find while doing research.

Thanks for reading my blog, and have an amazing week!

Information retrieved on 12-6-2015 from the following URL:

http://www.plagiarism.org/