Method is about the way in which a piece of information is produced. This is quite a complex area as different types of information are produced in different ways. These are a few suggestions to look out for:
Opinions – A lot of information is based on the opinion of individuals. They may or not be experts in their field (see P for Provenance) but the key message is to be clear that it is just an opinion and must be valued as such.
Research – You don’t have t
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Before searching it is always a good idea to check what the source you have chosen covers to make sure it will unearth information that matches your search need (you will notice that all the resources we’ve covered in this guide have short descriptions to enable you to decide which to use). Some of the decision makers, depending on the context of your search might be:
Does it have full text?
Does it cover the right subject?
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There are quality nursing, midwifery and allied health resources provided free of charge on the Internet. Each resource has been evaluated and categorised by subject specialists based at UK universities.
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There are many websites where you will find useful information on health and lifestyle. With all information on the internet you need to make a judgement on the reliability of the information.
Journals and articles written by academics or experts are an excellent source of information. Journals are usually published monthly or quarterly, and contain a selection of articles providing details of recent research. Often they will also contain reviews of relevant books. They are usually published more quickly than books, and so are often more up to date.
To access content of journals, most publishers require a subscription. There are, however, some journals which you can freely ac
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Keywords are significant words which define the subject you are looking for. The importance of keywords is illustrated by the fact that there is a whole industry around providing advice to companies on how to select keywords for their websites that are likely to make it to the top of results lists generated by search engines. We often choose keywords as part of an iterative process; usually if we don't hit on the right search terms straight off, most of us tweak them as we go along based on t
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How familiar are you with the following different ways of keeping up to date with information; alerts, mailing lists, newsgroups, blogs, RSS, professional bodies and societies?
5 – Very familiar
4 – Familiar
3 – Fairly familiar
2 – Not very familiar
1 – Not familiar at all
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conduct your own searches efficiently and effectively;
find references to material in bibliographic databases;
make efficient use of full text electronic journals services;
critically evaluate information from a variety of sources;
understand the importance of organising your own information;
identify some of the systems available;
describe ho
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This unit is made up of four extracts related to social care, social work and the law. The extracts are stand-alone sections but follow on from each other to make up this unit. You will be introduced to five main themes that shape practice in the field of social care and social work. The aim of this unit is to enhance your understanding of the relationship between social work practice and the law.
This material is from our archive and is an adapted extract from Social care, social wo
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Infants’ understanding of their social world Here we draw on a wide range of psychological research to address the question of whether infants have a rich understanding of their social world. You will have the opportunity to read journal papers and newspaper articles as well as to engage with audio clips, and to explore your assumptions about infants' social understanding. First publi Author(s): Creator not set
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Brooker, L. (2002) Starting School: Young children learning about cultures, Buckingham and Philadelphia, Open University Press.
Brown, A. L, Ash, D., Rutherford, M., Nakagawa, K., Gordon, A. and Campione, J. C. (1993) ‘Distributed expertise in the classroom’ in Salomon, G. (ed.) Distributed Cognitions: Psychological and educational considerations, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
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Earlier in this unit (Section 1) you looked briefly at cross-cultural approaches towards children's play and children's work. In many societies throughout the world it is expected that children, even very young children, will help with the family's work or contribute to the family income. In some societies the separation betwe
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From an early age, play is important to a child's development and learning. It isn't just physical. It can involve cognitive, imaginative, creative, emotional and social aspects. It is the main way most children express their impulse to explore, experiment and understand. Children of all ages play.
(Dobson, 2004, p.8)
This material is from our archive and is an adapted extract from Devel
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The following material appears in Understanding youth: perspectives, identities and practices, (edited by Mary Jane Kehily) pu
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This unit began by analysing some of the ways in which young people's wellbeing has been represented in media and policy discussions. We then moved on to explore current constructions of young people's ‘wellbeing’ and presented an alternative critical, social framework for thinking about the health of young people. We analysed some of the ways in which class, gender and ethnicity help to shape young people's mental health. Finally, we discussed ways in which young people's wellbeing can b
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Is it possible to construct an alternative framework for understanding young people's health, and if so, what resources might we need to draw on to do so?
A cultural perspective can help us to see constructions of adolescent mental health as interwoven with histories of ‘youth concern’. Recent debates about young people's wellbeing can be seen as an extension of more general anxieties about the state of contemporary childhood (James and Prout, 1997). A Foucauldian analysis wo
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Early years practitioners have always argued strongly for children to have the opportunity to play in both indoor and outdoor environments. But currently adult fears appear to be making outdoor play an ‘endangered activity’.
The following list offers some good reasons for making sure young children have the opportunity for outdoor play time.
Play is an active form of learning that unites the mind, body, and spirit. Until at least the age of
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‘In play, the child always behaves beyond his average age, above his daily behaviour.
In play, it is as if he were a head taller than himself.’
(Vygotsky, 1978)
Why are early years practitioners convinced about the value of play?
It is interesting that although writers are able to state what children may learn through play in terms of dispositions, knowledge, skills and a
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