During this project, I took the time to blog about the topic of my choice. For my line of inquiry, I chose to research about the Ebola virus. My preference in particular is learning more about scientific things and the current Ebola outbreak offered many different sources with lots of information. The best source I found was Moran Ki and his peer reviewed article. I found it when searching the NCBI, which is a government database focused on biotechnology. In the article I found hundreds of useful information, but I did not include a lot of it because it would be a repeat of my previous entries. Alongside his findings, were charts and statistics to support his claim. Also, he graduated from an accredited university in South Korea, where he focused on disease control and policy, which gave him a major lead over my other sources.
Another accredited source of mine is Salaam-Blyther, who's article I read to understand how Ebola affects other countries around the globe. One major reason I believe she is one of my best sources is because she originally came from the World Health Organization before she started her new career as part of the Congressional Research Service in the Library of Congress. This means that any information from her is probably valid and trustworthy because they provide research the the United States Congress.
Some problems that I faced when conducting my research was writing it in my own words. There is only so many other ways to write factual information down. I would sit for hours on end just to come up with one blog entry, but in the end I felt accomplished and I could not ask for anything more. Another problem I faced was keeping my paragraphs short. If you look at my blogs, it seems as though all my paragraphs are these monstrous blocks of text. If I knew better, I would have separated the information into multiple paragraphs. That way, it would not be so dreadful to read.
Originally, my inquiry question was what is Ebola and why are people so concerned about it. As I continued my research I found the answer to both of those questions, but this allowed more to come in, such as how can it be treated or are we prepared for a global outbreak? There was never a need to adjust my line of inquiry because anything I wrote about was going to be based on Ebola.
I am always willing to accept new information based on my research, but this being a factual matter, there really is no room for opinions. The only blog entry of mine that really had an opinion was my first blog. "Should we really be afraid of Ebola?" There were many opinions my source used to make his point, but I never had anything to counter them, so I went along with them.
The most interesting thing I learned throughout this research blog project was the fact that people are actually creating experimental drugs, such as the ZMAPP. Not stated in my previous blog, but I just recently found out that before the antibodies are injected into the tobacco plant. First, the virus is injected into mice and the ones that survive are harvested for the antibodies. Then, they are injected into the tobacco plants for replication.
As a researcher, I found new sources to find other than news sites. Now, I have access to an entire database of information, which before, I had no access to. Also, I found the NCBI, where tons of trustworthy information is stored.
If I were to continue this blog, I would want to research more on the cultural spread of the disease. Meaning, how does the aspect of culture help to spread the disease. Many people in Africa touch the bodies of their dead relatives as a last goodbye. Do they know what they are getting into? Or is it just out of respect and it does not matter to them?
After all my research, I can say that Ebola is a deadly disease, but it is nothing to be too terribly afraid of. Before, I thought that it spread fast and if one person got it all surrounding that person would get it, but you actually need to come in contact with the fluids of the infected person. I wanted my blog to be directed towards mature individuals who are interested in the disease because people need to be able to take this seriously and accept different viewpoints. They need to understand that it is real, but there is nothing to be afraid of.
Another accredited source of mine is Salaam-Blyther, who's article I read to understand how Ebola affects other countries around the globe. One major reason I believe she is one of my best sources is because she originally came from the World Health Organization before she started her new career as part of the Congressional Research Service in the Library of Congress. This means that any information from her is probably valid and trustworthy because they provide research the the United States Congress.
Some problems that I faced when conducting my research was writing it in my own words. There is only so many other ways to write factual information down. I would sit for hours on end just to come up with one blog entry, but in the end I felt accomplished and I could not ask for anything more. Another problem I faced was keeping my paragraphs short. If you look at my blogs, it seems as though all my paragraphs are these monstrous blocks of text. If I knew better, I would have separated the information into multiple paragraphs. That way, it would not be so dreadful to read.
Originally, my inquiry question was what is Ebola and why are people so concerned about it. As I continued my research I found the answer to both of those questions, but this allowed more to come in, such as how can it be treated or are we prepared for a global outbreak? There was never a need to adjust my line of inquiry because anything I wrote about was going to be based on Ebola.
I am always willing to accept new information based on my research, but this being a factual matter, there really is no room for opinions. The only blog entry of mine that really had an opinion was my first blog. "Should we really be afraid of Ebola?" There were many opinions my source used to make his point, but I never had anything to counter them, so I went along with them.
The most interesting thing I learned throughout this research blog project was the fact that people are actually creating experimental drugs, such as the ZMAPP. Not stated in my previous blog, but I just recently found out that before the antibodies are injected into the tobacco plant. First, the virus is injected into mice and the ones that survive are harvested for the antibodies. Then, they are injected into the tobacco plants for replication.
As a researcher, I found new sources to find other than news sites. Now, I have access to an entire database of information, which before, I had no access to. Also, I found the NCBI, where tons of trustworthy information is stored.
If I were to continue this blog, I would want to research more on the cultural spread of the disease. Meaning, how does the aspect of culture help to spread the disease. Many people in Africa touch the bodies of their dead relatives as a last goodbye. Do they know what they are getting into? Or is it just out of respect and it does not matter to them?
After all my research, I can say that Ebola is a deadly disease, but it is nothing to be too terribly afraid of. Before, I thought that it spread fast and if one person got it all surrounding that person would get it, but you actually need to come in contact with the fluids of the infected person. I wanted my blog to be directed towards mature individuals who are interested in the disease because people need to be able to take this seriously and accept different viewpoints. They need to understand that it is real, but there is nothing to be afraid of.