Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Senior Project Online Source 3



“Specific Page Title or Article Title”
 Ex: Twilight: A negative influence on teens or just harmless fun?

Fast Food Statistics and Obesity in America

Primary Contributor to the Website (if given) (author, editor, producer, etc)
Ex: POV

POV
Title of the Entire Website (not www. )
 Ex: CBC News
Tree.com
Publisher or Sponsoring Organization of the website (if given)
Ex: CB
tree.com
Date Page was Last Revised
Ex: 10 September 2010
July, 2010
Date You Read It
Ex: 21 January 2012
  8 February 2012
<URL address> (ALL of it)
http://www.tree.com/health/obesity-causes-fast-food.aspx






FIVE FACTS FROM THE SOURCE (Embedded):
EX: The article cites Maria Nikolajeva, a professor of at Cambridge, as saying that Bella does not "in any way promote independent thinking or personal development" in women, instead portraying a woman "meek and willing to do anything for her vampire boyfriend" (POV).
The article states that "people who ate fast food two or more times a week experienced an average weight gain of 10 pounds more than study participants who ate fast food less than once a week" (POV).
The author says that "for children at least, easy access to fast food outlets increased the risk of obesity. A fast food restaurant within a tenth of a mile of a school increased the risk of obesity in ninth graders by 5.2 percent" (POV).
It was suggested that "zoning laws restricting fast food outlets within a set distance of schools could combat childhood obesity in America" (POV).
The author states that fast food is extremely accessible to Americans as restaurants are "in walking distance" or "can be delivered"(POV).
The author came to the conclusion that "people do choose to eat fast food, but it's also true that advertising and convenience make it difficult to avoid fast food--and its effects on obesity in America"(POV).



Summary of Source (Three-Four Sentences of the Who, What, Where, Why, and How in your own words. NO OPINION):

 
Credibility of Source: 
Author or Site: Who is the author? What training have they had? If there is no author, examine the site. What is the purpose of the site? Who funds the site? 
This website, tree.com, is mainly informative and resourceful. It is not shown who funds this site
 
Attachment: Does the author or site have anything to gain from writing this, or is it simply informative? For example, is it a cigarette business posting an article about the benefit of cigarettes, or is it a scientific community unaffiliated with the cigarette business? 

This website is simply informative.

Bias: Do you detect a bias (a favoring of either side) in the author's writing? 
I did not find that this article had bias


References: Does the author cite references in the writing? If so, do these add or take away from the credibility?
 The author cites all sources for the article which adds to the credibility.
.
 Use of Source: How will you use this source in your project?
I will use this source to gather more information regarding the correlation between fast food and obesity.


Senior Project Online Source 2

“Specific Page Title or Article Title”
 Ex: Twilight: A negative influence on teens or just harmless fun?

Do Fast Food Restaurants Contribute to Obesity?

Primary Contributor to the Website (if given) (author, editor, producer, etc)
Ex: POV

The National Bureau of Economic Research
Title of the Entire Website (not www. )
 Ex: CBC News
Aging health
Publisher or Sponsoring Organization of the website (if given)
Ex: CB
 Recent Nber Research News
Date Page was Last Revised
Ex: 10 September 2010
3 February 2012
Date You Read It
Ex: 21 January 2012
4 February 2012
<URL address> (ALL of it)






FIVE FACTS FROM THE SOURCE (Embedded):
EX: The article cites Maria Nikolajeva, a professor of at Cambridge, as saying that Bella does not "in any way promote independent thinking or personal development" in women, instead portraying a woman "meek and willing to do anything for her vampire boyfriend" (POV).
Research has shown that "he share of children age 6 to 19 classified as overweight has more than tripled, from 5 percent to 17 percent, while the share of adults classified as overweight or obese rose from half to two-thirds of the population" ( ).
It has been proven that "for children, having a fast food restaurant within 0.10 miles of school increases the probability of obesity by 1.7 percentage points, or 5.2 percent" ( ).
Although it also states that  "there is no significant effect of having a restaurant 0.25 or 0.50 miles from the school. The effects of fast food access are larger for girls" ( ).
In conclusion, the article states "he study suggests that proximity to fast food significantly increases the risk of obesity" ( ).
It has been shown that "proximity to fast food reduces the costs of fast food, principally travel costs" ( ).




Summary of Source (Three-Four Sentences of the Who, What, Where, Why, and How in your own words. NO OPINION):
 
Credibility of Source: 
Author or Site: Who is the author? What training have they had? If there is no author, examine the site. What is the purpose of the site? Who funds the site? 
. Author: POV
The National Bureau of Economic Research funds this site.
 
Attachment: Does the author or site have anything to gain from writing this, or is it simply informative? For example, is it a cigarette business posting an article about the benefit of cigarettes, or is it a scientific community unaffiliated with the cigarette business? 
The author benefits from informing the general public about fast food and obesity.
 
Bias: Do you detect a bias (a favoring of either side) in the author's writing? 
I did not find that this article had bias


References: Does the author cite references in the writing? If so, do these add or take away from the credibility?
 The author does not cite references in the writing which takes away from the credibility of the source.
.
 Use of Source: How will you use this source in your project? 
I will use this source to get a more general understanding of the statistics of fast food and obesity.

Friday, February 3, 2012

Senior Project Online Source 1




“Specific Page Title or Article Title”
 Ex: Twilight: A negative influence on teens or just harmless fun?
Is Junk Food Really Cheaper?
Primary Contributor to the Website (if given) (author, editor, producer, etc)
Ex: POV
NY Times, Mark Bittman
Title of the Entire Website (not www. )
 Ex: CBC News
NY Times
Publisher or Sponsoring Organization of the website (if given)
Ex: CBC
NY Times
Date Page was Last Revised
Ex: 10 September 2010
24 September 2011
Date You Read It
Ex: 21 January 2012
29 January 2012
<URL address> (ALL of it)




FIVE FACTS FROM THE SOURCE (Embedded):
EX: The article cites Maria Nikolajeva, a professor of at Cambridge, as saying that Bella does not "in any way promote independent thinking or personal development" in women, instead portraying a woman "meek and willing to do anything for her vampire boyfriend" (POV).
The article states that a reason why fast food is popular is"that junk food is cheaper than real food has become a reflexive part of how we explain why so many Americans are overweight, particularly those with lower incomes" (Bittman).
The article cites that "there are five fast food restaraunts for every supermarket in the United States" (Bittman).
Another topic which was adressed claims "that cooking is defined as work, and fast food is both a pleasure and a crutch" (Bittman).
 
A common reaction from consumers to fast food states “Their reaction is, ‘Let me enjoy what I want to eat, and stop telling me what to do.’ And it’s one of the few things that less well-off people have: they don’t have to cook.”(Bittman).
The article cites that "Somehow, no-nonsense cooking and eating — roasting a chicken, making a grilled cheese sandwich, scrambling an egg, tossing a salad — must become popular again, and valued not just by hipsters in Brooklyn or locavores in Berkeley. The smart campaign is not to get McDonald’s to serve better food but to get people to see cooking as a joy rather than a burden, or at least as part of a normal life" (Bittman).



Summary of Source (Three-Four Sentences of the Who, What, Where, Why, and How in your own words. NO OPINION): 
 Mark Bittman, the author of this article by the New York Times gives broad, but not too general information about fast food in America. His article for the most part talks about the practical and convenient consumption of fast food by Americans. He goes into the culture of the United States and our reasoning behind the popularity of fast food. It is apparent that Bittman wants to change this behavior because of the fact that fast food is a large contributor to obesity,
 
Credibility of Source: 
Author or Site: Who is the author? What training have they had? If there is no author, examine the site. What is the purpose of the site? Who funds the site? 
 The author of this article is Mark Bittman. His title is stated as OP-ED Columnist; an opinion columnist. He became a food writer more than thirty years ago. The article was published by the New York Times. The author did a good job at not showing bias in the article.
 
Attachment: Does the author or site have anything to gain from writing this, or is it simply informative? For example, is it a cigarette business posting an article about the benefit of cigarettes, or is it a scientific community unaffiliated with the cigarette business? 
 The author gains a paycheck by writing this article and does not show attachment. The article is still informative because it is regarding a current event/ crisis.
 
Bias: Do you detect a bias (a favoring of either side) in the author's writing? 
I do not see bias. The author does a good job at explaining both sides of the argument and even getting quotes from both sides.
References: Does the author cite references in the writing? If so, do these add or take away from the credibility?
Yes, the author uses quotes from proffessors and other authors to strengthen both sides of the argument effectively.
 Use of Source: How will you use this source in your project? 
I am going to use this source as a basic stepping stone for my project. This will help me talk about fast food in American culture as a huge role in obesity.