Scholarship in Communication Studies
Whether engaging in an interpersonal communications class to a theory class on rhetorical criticism, primary scholarship frequently appears with a strong presence within the Communication Studies Major at San Francisco State University. Reading, analyzing, and internalizing the content within primary scholarship is vital to the success of an individual. Primary scholarship refers to peer reviewed sources or original academic work; a legal decision, performance, a journal article reporting research, books or a chapter from a book. They all constitute as a primary source if it is original work that has been peer reviewed. Secondary sources differ from a primary source or primary scholarship since it is not new information. It is reporting and summarizing a primary source. A text book would be an example of this or even when students write essays using primary scholarship. A secondary source is simply information that is being revisited and complied into a summary from some sort of original work.
There are plenty of different types of primary scholarship; to reiterate there are books, chapters from books, research articles, performances, speeches, and legal decisions. To critically evaluate primary sources means to not judge the work in terms of liking what is said or not said; but to be open to what is being consumed in way that allows for questions to be asked upon consuming information from an author.
To pose the question of why the ability to critically read and evaluate primary sources is important is to ask what the importance of thought and knowledge is. When reading a piece of original work, it provokes a flow of different thoughts and ideas. It involves making connections with other ideas and work in unrelated fields. Reading about different ideas or information has made me think about the world in a different way. Having knowledge is power. It can shape the way we view reality. It allows for further questioning of a subject and to see intersectionality. It serves as a catalyst for thought provoking questions that could further research and create change. To be able critically evaluate a primary source brings knowledge at the hands of any given individual. It allows for one to internalize passively or to adventure further down the rabbit hole on a self-guided research trek that could potentially lead to a passion. Knowledge is power and to have the ability to critically evaluate primary sourced knowledge is to continue the flow of thought after the last period has been added to the essay.
In almost every class that I have been a part of I have had to interact and get familiar with some sort of primary scholarship. In an interpersonal communications class I was involved in a project where I had to evaluate a peer-reviewed journal article relating to communication privacy management theory and give a presentation on what I had read about. The article examined a profile of those who were likely to share friends’ confidential secrets. It put a microscope on a specific subject to further understand human processes. The article looked at the different factors that might play into why one might reveal a friend’s secret. It examined gender, tendency to gossip, valence, depth, honesty-accuracy, as well as loneliness. In the end the study found that people who were more likely to share in depth and had the tendency to gossip were those were likely to disclose a friend’s secret to another person.
The process in which I evaluated this journal article involved re-reading over certain areas of the article to try to fully understand what it was the author was trying to communicate. Since there were different faucets of human qualities being evaluated the researched seemed fair in that it looked at serval different qualities in humans. Not only that I thought it was important to read over the limitations of the study in order to get a feel for where the study fell short and also to even maybe think of some of the places where the study could even have improved on. I also took into account the measurements and how the study was conducted because if there was room for biasness it would have an effect on the way I interpreted the research.
Overall having the opportunity to read and evaluate this type of research helped with understanding a small bit of how human processes work. It gave me knowledge on how privacy management works and allowed me to apply my newly acquired knowledge to real life. It sparked questions that furthered my research beyond what was required to read.
It is one thing to read a piece of primary scholarship and to evaluate it but to truly understand what is being read and to translate it to a group of people was the most difficult part of the assignment. To give a presentation on a given subject showcases an understanding of the material you have read. To be able to explain material in a way that is easily digestible and relatable to an audience shows mastery of information. For me mastering the material that was given to me was practice for later assignments in the major. Critically evaluating a piece of primary scholarship is a tool that was given to me though opportunity and practice.
There was importance in this assignment in that it taught me that reading and applying knowledge is powerful. It allows you to make connections to other ideas. It also served as a practice of thinking critically and not passively reading information and believing it. It asked me to further my thoughts and questions on the subject matter.
Again, to pose the question of why it is important to be able to critically evaluate primary scholarship is to ask why knowledge and thought is important. My experiences in interacting with primary scholarship has taught me to critically think about what I am reading. It has served as a catalyst for other thoughts, ideas, and questions that lead to expanding on a subject. It has shaped my thought process. Knowledge is power and to not allow oneself to partake in critical thinking and evaluation of original scholarship is to hold back on expanding knowledge.
Photo Source: Personal Photo
There are plenty of different types of primary scholarship; to reiterate there are books, chapters from books, research articles, performances, speeches, and legal decisions. To critically evaluate primary sources means to not judge the work in terms of liking what is said or not said; but to be open to what is being consumed in way that allows for questions to be asked upon consuming information from an author.
To pose the question of why the ability to critically read and evaluate primary sources is important is to ask what the importance of thought and knowledge is. When reading a piece of original work, it provokes a flow of different thoughts and ideas. It involves making connections with other ideas and work in unrelated fields. Reading about different ideas or information has made me think about the world in a different way. Having knowledge is power. It can shape the way we view reality. It allows for further questioning of a subject and to see intersectionality. It serves as a catalyst for thought provoking questions that could further research and create change. To be able critically evaluate a primary source brings knowledge at the hands of any given individual. It allows for one to internalize passively or to adventure further down the rabbit hole on a self-guided research trek that could potentially lead to a passion. Knowledge is power and to have the ability to critically evaluate primary sourced knowledge is to continue the flow of thought after the last period has been added to the essay.
In almost every class that I have been a part of I have had to interact and get familiar with some sort of primary scholarship. In an interpersonal communications class I was involved in a project where I had to evaluate a peer-reviewed journal article relating to communication privacy management theory and give a presentation on what I had read about. The article examined a profile of those who were likely to share friends’ confidential secrets. It put a microscope on a specific subject to further understand human processes. The article looked at the different factors that might play into why one might reveal a friend’s secret. It examined gender, tendency to gossip, valence, depth, honesty-accuracy, as well as loneliness. In the end the study found that people who were more likely to share in depth and had the tendency to gossip were those were likely to disclose a friend’s secret to another person.
The process in which I evaluated this journal article involved re-reading over certain areas of the article to try to fully understand what it was the author was trying to communicate. Since there were different faucets of human qualities being evaluated the researched seemed fair in that it looked at serval different qualities in humans. Not only that I thought it was important to read over the limitations of the study in order to get a feel for where the study fell short and also to even maybe think of some of the places where the study could even have improved on. I also took into account the measurements and how the study was conducted because if there was room for biasness it would have an effect on the way I interpreted the research.
Overall having the opportunity to read and evaluate this type of research helped with understanding a small bit of how human processes work. It gave me knowledge on how privacy management works and allowed me to apply my newly acquired knowledge to real life. It sparked questions that furthered my research beyond what was required to read.
It is one thing to read a piece of primary scholarship and to evaluate it but to truly understand what is being read and to translate it to a group of people was the most difficult part of the assignment. To give a presentation on a given subject showcases an understanding of the material you have read. To be able to explain material in a way that is easily digestible and relatable to an audience shows mastery of information. For me mastering the material that was given to me was practice for later assignments in the major. Critically evaluating a piece of primary scholarship is a tool that was given to me though opportunity and practice.
There was importance in this assignment in that it taught me that reading and applying knowledge is powerful. It allows you to make connections to other ideas. It also served as a practice of thinking critically and not passively reading information and believing it. It asked me to further my thoughts and questions on the subject matter.
Again, to pose the question of why it is important to be able to critically evaluate primary scholarship is to ask why knowledge and thought is important. My experiences in interacting with primary scholarship has taught me to critically think about what I am reading. It has served as a catalyst for other thoughts, ideas, and questions that lead to expanding on a subject. It has shaped my thought process. Knowledge is power and to not allow oneself to partake in critical thinking and evaluation of original scholarship is to hold back on expanding knowledge.
Photo Source: Personal Photo
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