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Coffeehouse post 3

From reading those 2 readings, I can conclude that there were some things mentioned especially in the Alexandria Lockett reading that really made me realize was absolutely true and some things I learned that were helpful.

There is a part in the text written by Lockett where she says that by following a certain style or layout for a paper they think they will have an excellent paper. This really stuck out because, usually we do these papers because the instructor tells us to/it’s part of our grade therefore writing the paper to satisfy our instructor’s expectations on how the paper should be written. It’s not about satisfying them, it’s more about making sure we are able to know the components on how to write an actual research paper correctly, which eventually becomes a very big needed life skill to have in the future. Along with this though, there are many things we take for granted for example technology; we use it basically every single day and having this resource helps us out a lot when we want to learn something/get information. It’s not like years ago that we’d have to go to a library, use the Dewey decimal system to find a certain book on the shelves. I’ve also learned that Colleges/Universities/Educational Institutions have their own databases and or libraries that everyday people have access to. It’s almost like those who are privileged to have these resources are those who have money or certain circumstances that give them access to these resources while the rest don’t. Almost like being a part of a “hierarchy” or a “survival of the fittest” in terms of learning/retaining information.

In the Wikipedia page I learned that the word research came from the Middle french word recherche (defined as “to go about seeking”) but the term is obtained by the Old French term recerchier (re + cerchier; sercher defined as search). Usually words are derived from Latin or Greek words but this was my first time hearing French influence on an English word. It’s mind blowing to me how “research can be used in various ways other than history, and science. There’s purpose for it in art works as well, rather than the classic history method to learn from. Along with research though comes the danger of something being biased, an article not being done correctly and other components. Lastly however, I learned that there’s A LOT of money being given into research and development. It’s crazy to me how much money actually goes behind the scene to bring people information we are curious about or need to know.

1 Comment

  1. Professor Sean Scanlan

    Cindy,
    Thanks for this Coffeehouse. Good writing and fantastic points.
    -Prof. Scanlan

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