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MAPS Project Global Food Controversies HFT4930

Overview, Purpose, and Metaphor

We live in a continuous riptide of data –new waves of information crash over us while the retreating current pulls information from us. Both happen continuously and largely without our direct knowledge or consent. There are a few ways to navigate the waters of a rip current. One option is to conserve energy and hope to ride the waves back to shore. However, there is no guarantee that the waves will carry you safely to shore before the current pulls you too far out to sea. The other way is to actively manage your situation, perhaps by swimming parallel to the shoreline until you are out of the rip current. This is scarier, and it requires more energy, effort, and focus, but it is the best way to handle the situation.

Every decision in modern times must be made amidst the rough seas of information overload, which is why the ability to properly assess information is a crucial decision-making skill in all areas of life. The broadest purpose of this project is for students to take steps towards understanding how to differentiate valuable, credible, legitimate information from the growing problem of misinformation online. The task is not as simple as it seems. It requires effort and conviction to pursue a source all the way to its origin in order to determine if the information is valuable, valid, or even real.

We spend hours every day plugged into a global information system that is so mind-bendingly complex that it is functionally impossible for most people to understand. We need some kind of framework, or system, to try to make sense of everything. Ideally, a system that is both simple and effective. It should be easy enough that it is practical, but also sensitive enough to alert us to various indicators of low-quality information.

This project asks you to use a technique called MAPS Analysis. MAPS is a simple acronym that stands for: Message, Author, Platform, Sources

*Instructions Begin on Next Page*

Instructions:

The project is worth 60 points. The point breakdown is listed within the instructions. Points are assessed on a half point scale.

Formatting, Grading, and Other Notes;

· We are grading for how thoroughly individuals address the criteria below. There are a lot of details in this project – this is intentional. This project is supposed to be rigorous and nuanced. The fact that you’ll likely need to read the instructions multiple times is not an accident.

· This project asks you to conduct the same MAPS Analysis five times. So, the better and more efficient your system for applying MAPS Analysis, the smoother this project is going to go.

· Please use the PowerPoint template provided in your Canvas course site under Modules -> MAPS Project to fompelte the project

· Use 12-point Times New Roman, Calibri, or Cambria font to complete the project.

· All responses should be in complete sentences and as succinct and concise as possible. There is not a minimum length requirement on this project, so please do not feel the need to fluff up the project.

· The more direct your answers, the faster we are able to grade, the sooner the class receives feedback on their work.

· Photographs/pictures are not necessary. They will not be considered in the grading of the project.

Instructions:

1. Identify a topic. Choose a topic within the study of global food controversies. Check the course calendar for a weekly list of what is covered in class. Topics outside of the course calendar are permitted, but check with instructor to make sure outside topics are approved for this project. Your topic should be narrowly focused and crystal clear. For example, “What Are GMOs?” is too broad for this project.

[4 points]

2. Find sources. The goal of this project is NOT to establish or defend a stance on any issue. We use the Discussion boards for that. The goal of the project is to evaluate sources in order to determine if the information presented by that source is legitimate.

[10 points total, 2 points per source, half point scale]

Source requirements:

a. There must be 5 sources

b. No more than 2 sources may come from the media library from this course. Students are permitted to use up to 2 sources from this course, but not more than that. The other 3 sources must come from the student’s own personal research.

c. Sources must represent at least one pro-, one anti-, and one neutral stance. Do not use exclusively pro-, anti-, or neutral articles.

i. For example, if the topic area of my project is bushmeat, I might have a source list that looks something like this ( note that these are not real sources, and a headline alone is usually not sufficient to determine an article’s position):

1. Primates, and Why Eating Them is Cannibalism (anti)

2. Hunger & Morality: An Evaluation of Protein Availability and Food Customs in Impoverished Countries (neutral)

3. Get Over It: We Need Alternative Meats to Feed the World (pro)

4. Risks and Benefits of the Bushmeat Trade (neutral)

5. Risky Business: Why Local Governments Should Subsidize the Bushmeat Trade (pro)

3. Cite Sources. Be sure to have all of the information necessary to cite each source in APA format. Feel free to use a citation generator online to create citations, such the one located at this convenient link. If an article you select does not have citations or an author, do not use the article. (5 points, 1 point per citation)

4. Conduct MAPS Analysis. Analyze each source according to the MAPS Analysis. See formatting instructions at the end of this document. For each of your 5 sources, complete the following (items A through D).

[40 points total, or 8 points per MAPS Analysis per source; further breakdown below]

a. Message [2 points per source * 5 sources = 10 points total]

i. 1-Sentence Summary: in the most basic way possible, what message is being conveyed in this article?

ii. 1-Sentence Purpose

1. Does it exist to describe, analyze, and/or establish, facts?

2. Does it exist to provoke argument?

3. Is there an obvious emotionally charged agenda?

iii. Identify Claims

1. Isolate 2 claims from each of your 5 sources. See Foundations PowerPoint, Slides 22-40 for various examples of identifying claims.

2. Indicate whether or not each claim is supported.

a. If a claim is supported, then identify where and how it is supported in the article.

i. For example, “Claim A is supported by Citation 13, which establishes that….,” and then give a 1-2 sentence summary.

b. If the claim is not supported, then indicate what information is needed to support it. This means asking “why should I believe this or not?”

i. For example, “Claim A states that bushmeats will lead to widespread disease but does not cite any reference to this occurring. Citation A needs to cite instances of bushmeat consumption directly causing widespread disease.”

b. Author [2 points per source * 5 sources = 10 points total]

i. Is each author qualified to write their article?

1. Specifically, what credentials qualify each author to write about this topic?

2. What other topics has each author written about? List 2 other topics, papers, articles, books, videos, etc. attributable to this author

ii. What is the author’s style?

1. Objective, inflammatory, emotional, provocative, technical, dry, scientific, colorful, summary, etc.

iii. Does the author write for a specific company or companies?

iv. NOTE : Do not use articles/publications/sources without a clearly stated author. Do not use articles/publications/sources without citations. Articles without an author and/or without citations won’t receive points.

c. Platform [2 points per source * 5 sources = 10 points total]

i. What is the platform/website’s purpose and mission? The mission should be clearly stated somewhere on the platform, usually on the “About” page.

1. Is it geared towards a specific demographic?

2. What are the website’s affiliates? Where else does the website link to? Who funds the website? Who maintains it?

3. How frequently is the website updated (what are the dates of the first and most recent content added? How often is new content added? Is the new content actually new, or does the website re-post its own content continuously?)

d. Sources [2 points per source * 5 sources = 10 points total]

i. For each of your 5 sources, identify and discuss some of the citations. There is a good chance that you have already done some of this when you evaluated whether or not claims were supported within each source in Item A.

ii. For each of your 5 sources, provide a brief summary of 2 citations used in the source. Again, you will likely have already done some of this when evaluating claims in Item A. The Sources dimension simply elaborates on it.

1. 1-2 sentence summary of each of the 2 citations (may be identifiable in the executive summary or abstract of the article)

2. Do the author(s) cite any of their own previous works?

3. Are there citations on both sides of the argument, or are the author(s) citing low-quality information that seems to already support their position?

5. Discuss Perspectives. [3 points]

a. Based on your research, where do you stand on this issue, personally?

b. Did you have any preconceptions about this issue when you started the project?

i. If so, did your preconceptions change?

ii. Did you find that your preconceptions interfered with your general openness to dissenting views.

iii. Did you encounter any biased or otherwise faulty or fallacious thinking within yourself during this process? Confirmation bias, perhaps?

c. Any other comments on this issue you’d like to make now that your research is concluded.

d. Summarize in 1-3 paragraphs.

Closing Notes. Please avoid clickbait that circulates social media. Keep in mind how social media companies work: they use algorithms that are built to present only the things that users are most likely to engage with based on the accounts they follow, conversations they’ve had, purchase history, browser history, etc. This means that every individual’s social media feed will only present things that they are likely to agree with, simply because they are more likely to engage with (click on) content that they agree with. When users click on things, they generate ad revenue for the social media company.

The information conflict here should be highly obvious: social media companies are not in the business of conveying news, journalism, or objective reporting; they are in the advertisement business.

Social media algorithms are amazing at keeping users engaged, but they also create echo chambers that severely impair the user’s exposure to dissenting views.

This is precisely the type of limited exposure we aim to avoid in this class!