Before I ever used blogs as a source of legitimate data I would have scoffed at the idea that any type of blog could be used in the academics. It would have been absurd, even now, after finding one I find might legitimize blogs, I am still disbelieving. As for why it is so hard for me to accept blogs is that as an English Major I was trained to use specific search engines and databases. A blog would have been a serious "no-no" if it was used as an academic source. Its hard to let go of old trainings, plus, previously, my experiences of blogs were just those silly blogs where people try to make their lives seem more interesting or hysterical by over exaggerating events and adding poorly drawn comics to illustrate the hilarity/misadventures of their lives. Useless/purposeless might have been my original though of blogs. This particular blog has changed my initial assumptions about blogs. Link to blog used Misconceptions Regarding Prostitution
While it is a blog that is no longer active, this particular user made use of the blog as a way to present clear, coherent information regarding the common misconceptions about prostitution. Something that I would never have expected to find on a blog. It uses reliable information, which is sourced, to present their opinions. Yes, it is biased, but the data in the charts they have is good. This particular type of blog I think illustrates that people shouldn't' just scoff at the idea that blogs are legitimate, like I did. They may just hold valuable information that would help them with their research. It might even be ok to say that you can get a good idea of cultural trends by reading popular blog posts, so maybe sociologists do use them. Who knows?
APA Work Cited
Misconceptions
regarding prostitution [Web log message]. (2010, April 20). Retrieved from
http://blog.lib.umn.edu/ander422/myblog/2010/04/misconceptions-regarding-prostitution.html
Hi Corey,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your post about blogs.
There are no black and white rules when it comes to information resources for research. All we can do is evaluate each source using our evaluation criteria in order to determine whether or not the individual resource would be appropriate for research.
The "Misconceptions Regarding Prostitution" blog is very interesting, in that the blogger used a blogging program to write a research paper. It is well-cited and would be appropriate to use for academic research. The articles cited would also be fine to use.
BTW--did you see these in your searches?
Vickie's Prostitution Blog
http://vickiesprostitutionblog.blogspot.com/
This is a blog dealing with women who have prostituted themselves or currently prostitute themselves...it captures their personal stories. This type of resource may be helpful in order to find out why women become prostitutes, and to determine if they really were forced into it.
There are a lot of other blogs that deal with prostitution as well...some interesting reading.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
Professor Wexelbaum