Week 3 Quiz Results - Jane Addams

I am Jane Addams

This result doesn't really surprise me, but as mentioned by our colleague (cipsililian), I find that like a horoscope, you tend to search for reasons as to why the connections make sense.  The cognitive functions that need to be examined to determine how we reason through these things is something that I'm not even going to attempt to explore!

The reason I say that these results don't surprise me is because of Addams' prolific contributions to social work, equality, and world peace.  Now, I'm not saying that I even come close to her level of forward-thinking activism, however, I find that the ideas I have about the world around me correlate with those of Addams.  As I mentioned before, I work in a public library, and I love my job and the feelings of community it incorporates. I view the public library as a pillar of social justice within the community; one that provides access to information and technology to certain groups that may otherwise never be able to afford or develop skills to use.  One of the most important things to me and what I want to do in my profession, and possibly in my research, is to have an impact on oppressed individuals, allowing them to feel higher levels of self-worth.  Furthermore, it is also important to change privileged individuals' perspectives, when they feel that the things that don't directly effect them matter.

Upon taking the quiz, I have found that the egalitarian views I share with Addams can really help narrow in on my research question, or at least raise more questions worth exploration.  As I mentioned in my previous post, I have an interest in the ethics of collecting and distributing biometric data collected from fitness trackers. Now that I have been reminded of the importance of the actual people being affected by this, there is a greater desire to delve into the literature and come up with answers for those who may not understand the legal jargon used in accepting a privacy policy, or an entire generation of technology users who have become accustomed to always accept a privacy statement without even bothering to read a word of it just because it's become an embedded routine in using technology.

Now I ask myself:

• Is it fair to use legal jargon in a privacy policy, especially when it is presented to a demographic that the fitness tracker company knows will not understand? How can we reform the way this information is presented?
• How can we reform the habits of information and communication technology users to become acquainted with exactly what they are agreeing to?
• How can we reform an entire culture of commercializing data to better respect the privacy of users?

I have a head full of questions, all of which I have yet been able to construct into the perfect research question.  Time is winding down and I'm nervous, but also excited in a way to see how this will all come to fruition.