self assessment and analysis of research

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After reviewing my work for originality and potential unintentional plagiarism, I have learned that … it is easy to accidentally plagiarize. However, I also learned that these tools are imperfect becasue they also detect things that are technically common knowledge. In this sense, the results of the Turnitin test should be critically reviewed. Correspondences do not necessarily indicate plagiarism has occurred, but it is great to have the ability to self-check, to improve my own skills in citation.

After reviewing my work for logic and potential fallacy errors, I have learned that… I am prone to slippery slope arguments. For example, I can be a bit alarmist in my reasoning that fake news is “a serious problem that exacerbates ignorance and undermines democracy.” I also claim that the only solution to fake news is education. Although I do believe this, saying that there is “only” one solution is illogical. At the same time, I do believe that a democracy does depend on freedom of information, and on an educated, enlightened public. It would be difficult, if not impossible, to refute that claim using either facts or logic.

I plan on correcting these issues by … first becoming more familiar with how to distinguish between common knowledge and proprietary information. Second, I can correct the issues I am having by reviewing and rewriting my work. I also believe that I can prevent logical fallacies simply by doing more research. The more I learn, the more I can come to rely on factual evidence and data rather than on emotional or psychological appeals.

One of my best passages is … I believe my first two body paragraphs are strong because they are presented logically and systematically. For example, in the first body paragraph I wrote, “One of the main reasons why fake news proliferates is that people tend to believe things that they are already familiar with, or which confirms their prejudices. Prior exposure to a fake news story makes a person more likely to believe in the veracity of the information. The prior exposure phenomenon is a type of confirmation bias, whereby “we pick out those bits of data that make us feel good because they confirm our prejudices,” (Heshmat, 2015, p. 1). Following the recommended format for the research paper, I used quotes from the sources to back up my claims, and then discussed the quotes and the claim in greater depth. In this way, I developed my argument in a logical and coherent manner.