Credibility from Validity

Kristina Serge
Reaction Paper 2
9/30/08

Writing research papers may take months or years. The process of finding information that is relevant to the topic at hand can be painstaking. Finding legitimate and credible sources on the Internet is like finding a needle in a haystack. Writing about controversial issues can also lead to bias websites written by radicals. But, by using valid websites, the task can be simple. Answering well thought questions can be a way to sift through the material on the web and lead to valuable information. These websites, found through the University's library, were complete texts that cited their sources. Following up on a websites' citations is a great way to determine validity. Since each of the databases used had an information trail, the credibility of these are strong.
The issue of homosexuals working in government fields has a lot of history. How did this power structure occurred and who drives it? This question needs to be asked. Three other well formed questions that will be the basis for the rest of the research paper are as follows: who determines what is moral or immoral, what laws pertaining to homosexuals were in place before and why did it take so long for these laws to be repealed, why were homosexuals banned from working in government agencies and was this thought terminated. They can each be answered by researching some older publications. The older articles will display what emotions Americans were feeling when these laws were in place. They will help the reader understand more clearly why things were they way they were and why things changed or didn’t change. Having the ability to find these articles through valid sources creates even more credibility in the readers’ eyes.
Morality is a personal question that is answered differently by everyone. With the issues of gay marriage and abortion poised on the fence of this discussion, it is a hot topic. An article on CQ Researcher entitled, “Homosexual Legal Rights” delivers the history of homosexuality up until the mid- 1970s. Up until this point homosexuality was considered a mental disorder until the American Psychiatric Association removed it from the list of possible illnesses. From then, homosexuality was looked upon as a choice and something that could not be cured. The article also discusses the many laws in place to ban sexual acts such as sodomy and same sex marriages. There were five arguments that were used to retain laws banning homosexual acts: it is a cause of moral decay; it would remove the pressure to seek medical help for their condition; psychiatric help is not a reasonable alternative to punishment; permitting in private would lead to homosexual acts permitted in public; and it would relax all moral standards. The decision of whether homosexuals could work in government was decided by the Civil Service Commission. An article written in the 1970s entitled, “Homosexuality: Morals and Security” discussed that homosexuals working in government positions would lead to the public’s loss of confidence in the agency. An article called “Politicians and Privacy” was written more recently and discusses the relevance of knowing such things as sexual orientation. These three articles will help in the research process since they are backed by citations.
As of yet, I have not written on Wikipedia. I feel guilty doing so, and do not know what to write. I keep thinking, “what if someone sees this and gets upset?” or “what if someone sees this and thinks it’s true?” I wouldn’t want to mislead others who do not know that Wikipedia is user- produced. In the Wikipedia post called, “LGBT Social Movements,” I added to the list of diseases that replaced homosexuality as a mental disorder. I added “crazy shoe disorder” as a real disease that is still around from the time period. I do not feel like a credible source of information and hope Wikipedia takes down what I write immediately, especially because it’s not true at all.
CQ Researcher is a great example of a credible website with many articles. The more factual backing a source has the more reliable it becomes. A website like Wikipedia, on the other hand, is user-generated content that may not have citations or background information. The only way to find real evidence is by layering the information with other sources and researching the factuality of all of them. Finding credible sources on the internet can be simple if one knows where to look.


Works Cited

Clark, C. S. (1992, April 17). Politicians and privacy. CQ Researcher, 2, 337-360. Retrieved September 29, 2008, from CQ Researcher Online, http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/cqresrre1992041700.

Stencel, S. (1974). Homosexual legal rights. In Editorial research reports 1974 (Vol. I). Washington: CQ Press. Retrieved September 29, 2008, from CQ Electronic Library, CQ Researcher Online, http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/cqresrre1974030800.

Worsnop, R. L. (1963). Homosexuality: morals and security. In Editorial research reports 1963 (Vol. II). Washington: CQ Press. Retrieved September 29, 2008, from CQ Electronic Library, CQ Researcher Online, http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/cqresrre1963071000.