Assignment:
I. Part
1. Choose one of the popular/consumer articles on a health-related topic/issue from the list below.
a. Los Angeles Times, January 2015 - Few heed restaurant calorie postings, but numbers are growing
b. NPR, February 2015 - Preventing Suicide with a 'Contagion of Strength'
c. The Atlantic, March 2015 - How Incarceration Infects a Community
d. The Washington Post, March 2015 - Zero-tolerance school drug policies only make drug use worse, a study finds
e. Reuters, May 2015 - Pregnancies more common among lesbian, gay, bisexual youths
f. NBC News, June 2015 - Sleeping pill use raises car crash risk
g. The Huffington Post, July 2015 - Obesity Warning: Patients 'Unlikely' To Achieve Healthy Body Weight After Becoming Obese
h. Chicago Tribune, August 2015 - Report: States with high gun ownership see more officers killed
i. Health Day News via U.S. News and World Report, September 2015 - More Cavities Seen in Kids of Chronically Stressed Mothers
2. Briefly explain what is the health-related topic/issue described in the popular/consumer article you accessed through the link provided above.
3. Complete the questions/tasks below using information from the popular/consumer article.
a. List the title of the article.
b. List the authors using the American Medical Association format.
c. List the journal or periodical in which this article was published.
d. List the year the article was published.
e. What year were the data described in the article collected?
f. How many pages are in the popular/consumer article? What is the range of page numbers (e.g. 121-139)?
g. How many references does it cite?
h. Describe the "audience" for this article (who are the readers?)
i. Describe the main message of this article.
j. Describe the main headings used in this article. Why do you think they used these headings?
k. Describe some of the limitations or flaws of this article.
II. Part
4. Using the library databases, find the EXACT academic (peer-reviewed) article referenced in the popular/consumer article you used in Part I (Popular Literature) above.
a. List the title of the article.
b. List the authors using the American Medical Association format.
c. List the peer-reviewed journal in which this article was published.
d. Provide the Index Medicus/National Library of Medicine (NLM) abbreviation for this journal.
e. List the year the article was published.
f. What year were the data described in the article collected?
g. How many pages are in the article? What is the range of page numbers (e.g. 121-139)?
h. How many references does it cite?
i. Describe the "audience" for this article (who are the readers?)
j. Describe the main message of this article.
k. Describe the main headings used in this article. Why do you think they used these headings?
l. Describe some of the limitations or flaws of this article.
III. COMPARISONS
5. Describe TWO similarities between the consumer article and the academic article (OTHER than they are on the same topic).
6. Describe TWO differences in content between the consumer article and the academic article (OTHER than the format in which they were published). In your opinion, how significant are these differences? For example, do both articles send the same message to the readers? How or how not?
7. Provide any comments you have about the articles or in response to reading the articles.
IV. FORMAT
8. The format of this assignment must include or be:
a. Typed, using 12-point font and 1-inch margins
9. PROOFREAD your document before turning it in, as I will deduct points for incorrect grammar, syntax and spelling.
10. Turn in a copy of both articles in addition to your responses to the questions/comments above.