Evaluation of Scholarly Sources

In a previous post, I presented two articles on a controversy that is still culminating to this day. What is your take on the genetical modification of human embryos?

In this post, I will analyze two scholarly sources on the topic of the nature of science and scientific inquiry, as well as a more specific topic on Chinese stem cell research.

Sarah Nichols. "King James Bible and Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Christian Science's central texts." July 18, 2011 via Flickr. Public Domain Dedication.

Scholarly Source #1

From the International Journal of Science Education, Volume 30, Issue 6, 2008:

What Scientists Say: Scientists' views of nature of science and relation to science context

This source is from a compilation of multiple journals into a single issue of a much larger volume.

The purpose of the study presented was to inform readers of scientists' views on the nature of science and the relation to scientific context. The study utilized a question-based survey for a participant group of 24 scientists representing four disciplines (physics, chemistry, life science, earth/space science). Associations between nature of science views, scientific disciplines and methods of inquiry were examined during the study.

The study was published online on April 11, 2008 along with other papers. The overall publication was published online by the International Journal of Science Education, titled as Volume 30, Issue 6.

The study cites and references over 50 different sources to draw its information from. All sources provided have to do with scientific fields. Some outline the broad topic of science and beliefs while some look other journals that point to the idea of science views in context.

The authors of this study are Renee Schwartz and Norman Lederman. Schwartz has her doctorate in philosophy and has earned a bachelors and a masters in scientific fields of biology. She is an associate professor of science education at the Department of Middle and Secondary Education.

Lederman is a distinguished professor of mathematics and science at the Illinois Institute of Technology. He has a PhD in Science Education and has earned a bachelors and a masters degree in biology and secondary education, respectively. He has published over 200 articles in scholarly journals.

The intended audience in this study is mainly for professional use by surveyors of science education. Other readers may include scientists interested in learning about their colleagues' views on the nature of science and scientific inquiry.

I found this article using Academic Search Complete, which then redirected me to Taylor & Francis Online. I searched, "views on science" to find this article on the study conducted.

PublicDomainPictures. "Stem Cell Sphere Three-Dimensional Shape Division." 2013 via pixabay.
Public Domain Dedication.

Scholarly Source #2

From The Royal Society's Philosophical Transactions: Biological Sciences, Volume 362, No. 1482, Biological Science in China (Jun. 29, 2007):

Stem Cell Research in China

This source is also a compilation of multiple journals into a single volume.

The purpose of the study presented was to discuss China's role in stem cell research. The research by China focuses mainly on bone marrow and embryonic stem cells based on the context from the paper. The study is more of an explanation of China's studies on adult embryonic cells of various organisms and also more specifically, of human embryonic stem cells.

The paper was published online on March 5, 2007, along with other papers included in the volume. The publisher, The Royal Society, is an organization created in the 17th century in the United Kingdom that studies and publishes scientific journals. Since the creation of the society, it has been the UK's prestigious national science academy with a connection with over 1600 of the world's most distinguished scientists.

The authors of the paper are: Lianming Liao, Lingsong Li, and Robert Chunhua Zhao. Liao has his PhD in biology, and teaches at the Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Li is a professor at Peking University's Health Science Center. He has his PhD in molecular and cellular biology. Zhao is currently the chief scientist of the National Basic Research Program of China and is a regional editor of the Journal of Stem Cell and Development.

The intended audience of this specific journal is mainly scientist based, but other professionals of teaching and learning occupations may also use the journal as a way of enacting their studies themselves. Professors and scientists alike use these journals as a center point to draw their interests from.

I used the University of Arizona's JSTOR search engine to find this scholarly journal. I searched, "human embryos AND chinese scientists."