Critical Reading and Researching Main Ideas

In this Week’s Discussion, you reviewed reading strategies and examined your own research process. Now you will put these concepts and insights in practice for this Week’s Assignment.

To prepare for this Assignment:

• Review      the Learning Resource on Determining the Main Points of a Reading.
• Choose one of      the preselected journal articles in this week’s Learning Resources.
• Applying      the concepts from this week’s resources, critically read the journal      article, taking notes or engaging in any research methods that you would      like to try.

By tomorrow 11/09/17, post a 2-3 paragraphs long essay in APA format with 2 references from the list below. Include the level one and two headings as numbered below:

1) Select three related main points from the journal article (excluding the Abstract), and directly quote them (see attached pdf for the article).

2) In addition to the directly quoted main points, compose 1–2 sentences of rationale for each main point.

 

3) Use these sentences to explain the reason you selected each point from the journal article. Consider the following questions in your rationale:

a. Why are these three specific points the author’s main ideas?

b. What makes them stand out to you as a critical reader?

c. How are these main points related to one another?

By tomorrow 11/09/17 Submit your Application using the Walden Course Paper template by Day 7. Your submission should be at least 3 paragraphs long.

Required Readings

Walden University Writing Center. (2015i). Walden templates: General templates: APA course paper template (6th ed.). Retrieved from http://academicguides.waldenu.edu/writingcenter/templates/general

Laureate Education. (2015). [Infographic]. Understanding Arguments, Baltimore, MD: Author.

Walden University Academic Skills Center. (2017). Determining the main points of a reading. Minneapolis, MN: Author.

Walden University. (2015). Writing a Paper: Understanding Arguments. Retrieved from 

http://academicguides.waldenu.edu/writingcenter/writingprocess/arguments

Online journal articles:

Grad Writing II: http://academicguides.waldenu.edu/wcss6060 (see attached PDF article)

From the list of selected journal articles, choose and critically read one article in preparation for this week’s Assignment (see attached PDF for the selected article). 

Please note: You will use your selected journal article throughout the course.

Note: Walden Library Guides house a selection of journal articles listed in the resources sections for each week/module for which they are required. The citation of the reading is provided and below the citation it should state “Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.”

Required Media

Walden University Writing Center (Producer). (2014, January 13). WriteCast: Five strategies for critical reading (Episode 5) [Audio podcast]. Retrieved from https://soundcloud.com/writecast/005-five-strategies-for

Note: The approximate length of this media piece is 11 minutes.

Transcript: http://academicguides.waldenu.edu/writingcenter/transcripts/podcasts/ep005

  

 

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Following are two passages from Florence Nightingale’s Notes on Nursing:

Passage 1
Now the medical man who sees the patient only once a day or even only once or twice a week, cannot possibly tell this without the assistance of the patient himself, or of those who are in constant observation on the patient. The utmost the medical man can tell is whether the patient is weaker or stronger at this visit than he was at the last visit. I should therefore say that incomparably the most important office of the nurse, after she has taken care of the patient’s air, is to take care to observe the effect of his food, and report it to the medical attendant. (1860, Section VII, para.14)

Passage 2
To be “in charge” is certainly not only to carry out the proper measures yourself but to see that everyone else does so too; to see that no one either willfully or ignorantly thwarts or prevents such measures. It is neither to do everything yourself nor to appoint a number of people to each duty, but to ensure that each does that duty to which he is appointed. This is the meaning which must be attached to the word by (above all) those “in charge” of sick, whether of numbers or of individuals. (1860, Section III, para.25)

Instructions
Answer the following:

• Is passage 1 an argument or an explanation?
• Is passage 2 an argument or an explanation?

You must answer both questions by making an argument for your position. Whichever type – argument or explanation – you find the passage to be, you must write an argument that will prove your answer to be correct.

 

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 What differentiates a good argument from a poor one? A sound argument from an unsound one? Can you provide an example of a sound argument? 

 

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 Taking into consideration our discussion of analyzing and diagramming arguments, please attempt to take an argument that you have heard recently (either in your personal or professional life), identity the components of the argument, and explain how it can be diagrammed.  

 

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1 – Deductive arguments are top-down, working from general principles to specific cases. Inductive reasoning, on the other hand, is bottom-up, working from specific observations and looking for patterns that lead to a general conclusion. Your career path in healthcare and health-related fields will present many problems that will require critical reasoning. Think about potential issues or even issues you have already encountered. Determine what type of critical reasoning – inductive or deductive – best suits the situation – or do you need both? If you are short on ideas, use one of these scenarios as a starting point:

· Suppose you are on a committee that has to decide whether to cut nursing staff or social services staff. How would you approach the problem?

· Suppose your hospital suddenly sees an enormous increase in emergency room patients, and you are on a committee to investigate the problem and relieve pressure on the ER. How would you approach the problem?

2 – Deductive categorical reasoning is demanding. Its forms are rigid, but they are rigid with a reason; deductive categorical arguments are intended to prove the conclusion. If the premises are true and the conclusion logically follows, you have no choice but to accept the argument. The categorical syllogism is like a piece of machinery, the parts working together to produce a result – in the case of the categorical syllogism, the truth of the conclusion.

For the initial post, address all of the following:

· Explain how the machinery of the categorical syllogisms works.

o Why two premises and one conclusion?

o Why only three terms?

o Why only four standard forms?

o When and where, in your private life or your work life, would you want to use this type of reasoning?

· Look at “One Step Further” at the end of Chapter 6 or choose from Exercise 6.22, examples 1, 5 or 7. Translate one of the arguments there into a categorical syllogism.

Reference For the examples

Jackson, D. & Newberry, P. (2016). Critical thinking: A user’s manual (2nd ed.). Boston, MA: Wadsworth: Cengage Learning.

  

3 – Read the following argument examples in this activity.

Argument 1
Dick and Jane have insured their house and cars with Farmer’s Mutual for 10 years. During this time, they filed only one claim for $500, and the premiums have risen 100%. Two weeks ago, while backing out of the garage, Jane damaged the right fender. They didn’t fix it, and yesterday, while Jane was parked at the supermarket, someone hit the right side of the car, damaging everything but the right fender. When Jane checks the insurance policy, she discovers that while the supermarket accident is covered, the damaged right fender is not.

Jane says, “Let’s claim that all the damage happened at the supermarket. It’s only fair. The insurance company has made thousands of dollars from our premiums alone, not to mention all the other people they insure, so they’ll hardly miss the few thousands that their repairs will cost. Many of their friends have done the same – included items that were not part of actual collision damage. It’s unlikely that they we will be discovered, because the fender could easily have been damaged in the collision.”

Argument 2
In a world where medical resources are in ever-shorter supply, allocation of those resources is becoming an issue. Critical care units (ICU) put heavy demand on hospital resources. Adult medical intensive care units (MICU’s) are often occupied by elderly patients in the final stages of chronic illnesses. Neonatal ICU’s, however, are reserved for premature infants that need critical care in the first few days of life. Surveys of mortality rates in relation to amount of care for both units show that on a cost/benefit basis, outcomes for NICU patients are statistically better than those for MICU patients. Since hospitals should prioritize outcomes, it is clear that resources should be allocated more heavily to the NICU.

Using the examples in the introduction of this activity, address the following:

1. Briefly analyze each argument as follows:

o State the issue and the conclusion.

o For each argument, analyze the argument:

§ State if it is deductive or inductive.

§ Explain how the argument follows the form of an inductive or deductive argument.

o Reference words, phrases, the structure of the argument, or any other facts or observations you believe support your claim.

2. Diagram the argument.

Writing Requirements (APA format)

· Length: 1-2 pages total (not including title page or references page)

· 1-inch margins

· Double spaced

· 12-point Times New Roman font

· Title page

 

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