Learning Activity 10.3

The sad answer to the question ‘How can I know that I can trust what I am reading?’ is that an individual will never know with one hundred percent certainty. Unless you are there to watch a study play out you’ll never know for sure what actually occurred. Similarly, with reputable journals, they could be under a political or monetary influence. Then again, I’ve always been a pessimist and a skeptic, so perhaps it is my personal outlook on life that is influencing me to say that. I’m sure an optimist would think differently.

All the above being said, there are ways to reduce the risk that what you’re reading is based on flawed research. All of these ways have been discussed throughout the course alongside the evaluation charts in the textbook (Plano-Clark & Creswel, 2015). A report can display honesty in having a section dedicated to addressing their possible shortcomings, which can lead a reader to feel more confident in what their research. As far as the findings being consistent with what other researchers have found, a way to know for sure would be to research further into topics that are similar in nature.

In our notes for this chapter, it explains that author reputation is important. However, I can’t help but think that one article’s shortcoming shouldn’t define someone’s career. In tune with this, the question I would like to pose for potential discussion is the following: Would you, a consumer, be less inclined to take a highly credible journal article as legitimate if it was by someone who once published something subpar?

Source:

Plano Clark, V. L., & Creswell, J. W. (2015). Understanding Research (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.