One problem that I soon ran into seemed to be to do with my choice of topic. "Action must be taken to improve New Zealand’s immunisation rates" is a fairly uncontroversial statement in the scientific community. The scientific discourse instead focusses on the reasons why vaccine uptake may be delayed, or what the drivers are which may discourage parents from immunising their children.
This is a bit of a problem as my position paper needs to present the opposing viewpoints. While these aren't hard to come by, they are usually poorly researched or illogical... not primary literature sources. After seeking clarification from the course coordinators, I have been informed that as some of these arguments are widespread and persistent, it is appropriate to use them in my position paper as opposing viewpoints.
Other than that, my research has been about as exciting as can be expected. Most of my reading has taken 3 forms: Background reading (books), Ministry of health for stats and information on the Vaccine schedule, and using Discover and Google Scholar to search for relevant primary literature (journal articles). The Immunisation Advisory Centre website also has a page listing relevant primary literature, and I've found many interesting articles here.
One disappointment I've had was coming across an article which sounds like a perfect resource for this assignment: The challenge of improving immunization coverage: the New Zealand example by Nikki Turner. Look at that title! It's as if this article was commissioned just for me! but unfortunately it is not available through the Massey library. In fact the Expert Review of Vaccines wants US$89 for 24 hours of access to the article, so it looks like that won't be happening.
I have a fairly decent stack of resources ready now, and I am soon to move on to writing my first draft. I'm sure I'm not done yet though. The research will have to continue to some extent, I'm afraid, as I write.
Speaking of writing, this position paper isn't going to write itself. So goodbye until next week!
Hmm, immunisation does seem like a slightly more complex topic to investigate than some of the other options. It seems like a topic that is quite difficult to search through the article database because it would be rather difficult to narrow down the search (as mentioned in my blog post regarding investigation). I'm not surprised you had some difficulty getting all the info you needed through journal articles but it sounds like you got there in the end. Although, bummer you couldn't get your hands on Turner's article. It sounds like it would have been extremely helpful! I'm sure you're not far off finishing your assignment, good luck with your submission tomorrow (although I'm sure you don't need it)!
ReplyDeleteCara
I'm doubling Cara's point above,re immunisation being a slightly more complex topic to research for,however,i'm sure it has more scientific research backing it than fruits and vegetables!(Haha!).$89us for 24 hours is robbery,it is a shame coming across some very promising articles only to discover it has a dollar figure attached to it's availability.Good luck with your position paper submission,look forward to your next blog.
ReplyDeleteMax