My Research Project

The topic that I have chosen to research is the homeless. I am looking for both basic background information and a more specific topic that I would like to know about. I would like to know more about how they survive with the little that they have. The way I found my book was by going to the SCSU website then clicking on the Library link, next in the search for a book box I put homeless people and got 43 results. Then I used the advanced search and looked just for book no e-books and got 20 results and then narrowed it down from there and found a book that I could use. When I looked for an e-book there were 3 available through OPAC. I am not really interested in reading through e-books just because I like to have actual books and have it in my hands. I would try it once and see how it went, but I don't think I would like it. The 3 e-books that were available for my topic weren't what I was looking for really so I only looked at one and it was different reading from a computer. I prefer to have a traditional book print in my hands. When I went to the Great River Regional Library I was unable to find a book about homeless people. I seem to prefer the Miller Center Library OPAC over the Great River Regional Library just because it seemed easier to find and locate a research book at the Miller Center rather than a leisure book.

What Do You Assume To Be True About _________?

Throughout our IM 204 course I would like to learn more about the vulnerable population of those that are homeless. I chose this group because I'm curious about how they live, how most of them got to be homeless, how do they make money and just what they do to stay alive. What I assume to be true about homeless people is that "most" have lost their job in the poor economy and are fighting to put food on the table and provide for themselves, families, etc. I have learned this from just basic knowledge like listening to the news, reading newspapers, magazines and hearing others talk about this topic. The most difficult part of doing research on the homeless population would have to be if the information is valid. Because, most information would be from people who live that way and if they aren't telling the truth your information is not valid then.

What is Critical Thinking?

My personal definition of critical thinking is thinking deeply about somethings meaning and figuring out what it means by using what you know and an open mind. Everyday we think critically about everything. I have heard this term before many places in english classes and in philosophy class. According to Dictionary.com the definition of critical thinking is; disciplined thinking that is clear, rational, open-minded and informed by evidence. On Dictionary.com they do not identify a specific process you must engage in to think critically. The connection between critical thinking and IM 204 Research Strategies is that in order to research about something we must think critically about what we are going to research, what sources that you will actually use as valid sources and that you think critically everyday so we must use it in this class.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/critical+thinking