Note: All responses must be supported by information from your readings. Provide specific quotations or data to validate your position in each response. Use APA (American Psychological Association) style in-text citations and references.
Part 1
- Where did the author of the Brookings Blog get the scientific information he/she is reporting (the “source”)? (Give the full name of the journal or publication, website, etc.)
- Does this source have a special purpose or goal? (Go to the website of the journal/publisher and see who publishes this (i.e., what organization or government agency), and check their stated objectives or goals. Is this a “peer reviewed” scientific journal?)
Use the EC (Excelsior College) Library resource, Evaluation Criteria, to help you evaluate a source.
Part 2
- Is there a difference in the information/data you find in the blog compared to the information provided in the module resources, the WHO (World Health Organization) Fact Sheet, and the Policy Brief that published the research?
- Is there a difference between what you learned from this article and what you thought before? Do you think the American public would agree with the findings reported in the news article? Why or why not?
Give concrete examples from your readings to support your positions on each question.
Part 3
- Do all the scientific sources you have examined on this topic provide data or information that supports the premise of the blog?
- Did the blog reporter find any scientists who disagree or use key words that indicate these are theories or possibilities instead of proven facts? Give specific quotations and examples to support your response.
- What two questions do you wish you could ask the author of the blog and/or the authors of the reports provided in the module readings?
Give concrete examples from your readings to support your positions on each question.
Part 4:
- Does the evidence suggest correlation or causation? In other words, do the data suggest that two factors are correlated with one another, or that changes in one actually cause changes in the other?
- Is the evidence based on a large sample of observations or just a few isolated incidents?
- Does the evidence in the scientific literature, provided in the module readings and other sources you have located, support the claims made by the author in the blog?
- Does the reporter exaggerate or overstate the findings in any sensationalized manner?
Give concrete examples from your readings to support your positions on each question.
Part 5: Now, answer the following concluding questions:
- Do you trust this Brookings Blog story to provide accurate evidence of the health concerns associated with climate change?
- Is the data and analysis in the Brookings Blog supported by the data used in the Original Policy Brief from the Future of Children and the WHO Climate Change and Health Report?
- Based on your answers to the Tool Kit questions and everything you have read on this topic, do you think the Brookings Blog is an accurate report of the impact of climate change on our health?
Give concrete examples from your readings to support your positions on each question.
Use this space to provide complete APA style references for any and all informational sources you used, including the news article. Refer to the EC Library Tip Sheet on writing references in APA style [PDF, file size 46 KB].