The criteria that you used to choose each site - Essay Example

Answer the following questions List the criteria that you used to choose each site and how you decided which was credible and which was NOT credible. In choosing websites for the analysis as to whether they are credible or not credible, it is important to remember that the web is a powerful sales tool. As one looks for information on a health associated issue, it is prudent to make sure that the website is not only named for a credible institution, but that it is indeed associated with that institution.

When the website for the Susan G. Komen foundation presented itself in a search for breast cancer, it was evident that the site had the capacity to be legitimate. Further investigation of the site revealed that it was rich in content, had links to other affiliates, and listed verifiable events for the foundation. Under the Faq page, sources were listed for the information provided, and disclaimer pages were available to explain the legalities of the information listed. Each link provided was a fully developed page, rich in content that was verifiable by outside sources.

Ironically, the issue addressed in this discussion question is addressed on the Susan G. Komen for the Cure site. Under a page heading entitled ““Using the Internet to Find Health Information”, there is a warning about using the internet for information. Yet, while this explosion of breast cancer information on the Internet is generally a positive development, there is at least one important drawback —the often unknown reliability of the information. Because anyone today can put together a website on breast cancer, there is no guarantee that the information on a site is accurate.

(Using the Internet) Regardless of the apparent validity of the site, it would be more prudent for the creators to more liberally site the sources of their information. It is also lacking in reference to dates of the creation of the information and authorship of the articles within the site. A website that is decidedly not credible can be found under the organization title of Quantum Health Management. The title of the website is indicative of the false nature of the information available within the site. At www.breastcancercured.

com, one finds a claim that breast cancer has been cured. This claim cannot possibly be true because this information would have been in the mainstream media and be available at large to all of those afflicted with breast cancer. As one pulls this site up in a browser, it is evident by the large recreational vehicle with the sign on the side that says “Breast Cancer Cured” on the side with the subtitles of “no chemo, no radiation, no surgery”( listed on the side that the claims are inflammatory and meant to play on the fears of those affected or in danger of being affected.

There can be remission, but there is no cure apart from removing cancer’s trigger mechanism and that’s in the mouth. A cure requires that oral pathology be corrected and QHM® technology applied. (Breast Cancer) While the site lists homeopathic preventative measures that are reported to have some benefit in the prevention of cancer, the radical claims it makes for finding a cure cannot be substantiated by credible resources. According to the link to a YouTube video, the RV is used as a traveling lab, lending its curative research results to women across the United States.

This sounds somewhat suspicious. Neither do the links provided by the front page do not lead to credible sources. For these reasons, this website does not seem to have validity. 2. Discuss two things that you learned from doing this assignment that you did not previously know. An assumption is widely made that anything originating in the United States can be considered regulated and safe. After visiting several sites proclaiming “cures” for cancers of all types, this may not be the case.

“Hypothermia Treatments” (Hypothermia) out of Los Angeles, books available for purchase in the USA, and pills of unknown origin and chemical makeup can all be found on the internet which have United States addresses attached to them. It is imperative to temper any information found on the internet with common sense and professional advice. As well, it is apparent that even reputable organizations do not properly document the information that they provide. As in the evidence of the Susan G.

Komen website, it was difficult to find sources for the information that was provided on most pages. Authorship is virtually undocumented and the dates that the information was acquired and/or updated are difficult to obtain. This information is vital to those who are searching out information that is vital to awareness that will help an individual to increase wellness in the face of a difficult diagnoses. Now, I want you to go to this website: http://www.dhmo.org/ and discuss what you find as the last section of your Discussion Assignment.

This website is an attempt to show how the propaganda that can be created by false information can disrupt society. As the creator of the website states in his ‘Press Kit’, The original purpose of the site was as a sort of writers therapy to blow off steam about all the devious (and sometimes just ignorant) ways the truth is bent to prove a point by some in the media, politics, sales, environmental activism, organized religion, web site authoring, etc. (Way) The ‘danger’ of dihydrogen monoxide is a hoax created to show the affects of false scientific assumptions played on an unexpecting public.

Dihydrogen monoxide, or DHMO is another name for water. To more clearly define the term, it means two hydrogen molecules and one oxygen - H2O. Works Cited “Breast Cancer Mystery Solved”. January 2006. Quantum Health Management. 24, November 2008 “Using the Internet to Find Health Information”. Susan G. Komen for the Cure. 24, November 2008 “Hyperthermia Breast Cancer Treatment”. 16 July 2008. Valley Cancer Institute. 24 November 2008. Way, Tom. “Press Kit” 20 March 2008.

Dihydrogen Monoxide Research Division 24 November 2008.