Literature review
Masters, J. (2017). US gun policy: Global comparisons, Council on Foreign Relations.
The article “US gun policy” is written by Jonathan Masters, who is an accomplished author with a deep understanding of American society, and the existing gun control regulation policies. In the recent past, the United States of America (USA) has experienced an increase in the number of injuries and fatalities that have occurred as a result of mass shootings. Masters draws a parallel between the United States (US) and other leading developed economies to paint a clear image of the high number of gun owners in the United States. The article has a working thesis that seeks to explain increased number of gun violence cases in the US compared to other countries to make insightful conclusions. The article achieves this purpose by highlighting the increased cases of gun violence in the US. The article has established that countries with strict gun ownership policies have few cases of gun violence such as Norway, the United Kingdom (U.K), and Canada compared to the US that has less strict regulations on gun ownership.
On matters pertaining credibility of the information, the article is published in one of the most outstanding peer-reviewed journals that has a good reputation with a high credibility score. The author, Masters, is one of the most respected authors on matters to do with gun violence and control. Additionally, the article has been reviewed by several professionals who have ensured that it does not contain misleading information further ascertaining its credibility and reliability as a source. Therefore, being a publication in a credible journal and the fact that the source has been peer-reviewed by professionals is enough proof to ensure that the information is quite credible.
The comparisons made by the article arising from its working thesis between the US and other jurisdictions make the article useful for this research as it gives insights on how enacting strict gun control can lead to fewer gun related violence. As a result of the use of this article, I will be able to develop my research in a comparative manner that is both balanced and insightful. The reason why I chose to use this source of information for my research is guided by the many comparisons it makes between the United States and other countries.
Reflection Questions
When evaluating the credibility and usefulness of the source I made consideration for the author, the publisher, and peer reviews for the article. For this source, I was inspired by the authors’ vast understanding of the research question, insights, and his view about gun control. In addition, the publisher of the article is a respected publisher and therefore is bound to publish information that is relevant, verifiable, and factual in line with their work ethics. Further, I asked myself about the data reliability and conducted further research especially on the statistics provided by the author and my findings were in line with the data provided by Masters thereby reaffirming the credibility and usefulness of the source for my studies.
I feel that conducting such kind of evaluation such as credibility and usefulness on my sources of information will help me develop my research in an articulate, factual, and informed manner. Additionally, evaluating sources critically will also help me discard irrelevant information on gun control thereby developing highly informative and educative research. In conclusion, stricter gun control measures are necessary to ensure that we reduce the number of deaths and injuries related to gun violence. Therefore, it is important to source information from credible and useful sources to ensure that the research is founded on truthful knowledge. As a result, I Endeavour to use this approach in evaluating my sources of information on all occasions to maintain credibility, validity, and usefulness.
Reference
Masters, J. (2017). US gun policy: Global comparisons, Council on Foreign Relations.