“Help! Let Me Out!…” by Emmerling-Muñoz

Paper Info
Page count 3
Word count 856
Read time 3 min
Topic Education
Type Critical Writing
Language 🇺🇸 US

The Approaches for Evaluating the Article

The selected article has been written by Emmerling-Muñoz (2014) and supports the discussion of career options for students that choose the field of dentistry and consider shifting to other careers. My approach for evaluating the source and its contents involves a step-by-step critical appraisal of background information pertaining to the chosen work. Firstly, it is essential to get acquainted with any information about the author’s identity, educational background, main specialization, and similar facts in order to make preliminary conclusions about the source’s credibility. Nowadays, the high quality of online articles cannot be guaranteed since organizations sometimes hire authors that do not necessarily have degrees in the fields covered in their works.

Secondly, my approach to critical appraisal consists of giving consideration to the publisher and reflecting on its reputation in the relevant professional field. This step can be fulfilled by searching for information about the RDH Magazine. Checking the magazine’s submission requirements and guidelines can also shed light on the type of research that authors should conduct prior to submitting their works. Therefore, contextual information regarding professional reputation will be considered within the frame of analytical efforts.

To continue, the chosen approach includes steps to assess the taken perspective, the uses and quality of the sources of information, and the presence of bias and hidden or direct advertising. Since the author recommends a certain course of action (for instance, getting a bachelor’s degree or accessing specific products), it is critical to determine whether it is justified by facts or only opinions (Emmerling-Muñoz, 2014). Next, when it comes to sources, trustworthy articles usually make extensive use of references when very specific and verifiable information, for instance, statistical inferences, is mentioned. In her article, Emmerling-Muñoz (2014) uses information about the alternative career paths of dental hygienists and the costs of training courses.

Examining the sources of this information and other facts might be critical to detecting unobvious or hidden goals, such as advertising specific products by means of self-indulgence, impulsiveness, or gratification appeals. Such messages can be formulated using manipulative techniques, such as bandwagon advertising or empty comparisons. This step is closely interconnected with the detection of biases and allows drawing links between hidden advertising and preferences over specific ideas throughout the entire article.

The Results of Article Evaluation and Conclusions

The evaluation of background information suggests that the article has been written by a reputable author but does not strictly meet the criteria for high-quality literature. The author is a former professor of dental hygiene at a community college in Sacramento and has a Ph.D. degree, which makes her qualified to write about jobs for dental hygiene practitioners (Emmerling-Muñoz, 2014). Moreover, she is mentioned as an active contributor to the magazine, which points to her good reputation as an author.

Regarding the publisher, the RDH Magazine positions itself as a reputable source that mainly publishes peer-reviewed works aimed at a narrow audience. In the submission guidelines, the magazine allows occasional product mentions and requires authors to cite any external sources used in research (Registered Dental Hygienist, n.d.). Although it has been accepted for publication, the article does not have any reference list despite citing numerical data concerning average financial investments to take a certain career path.

Next, the article does not seem to be factual, which affects its validity for decision-making. As for the taken perspective, in the first section, the author relies on her personal experiences with finding an appropriate program to get new employment opportunities and provides a piece of advice (getting a bachelor’s degree first) based on her story (Emmerling-Muñoz, 2014). In contrast to that, the second part is written as if it is fact-based since the author provides a list of non-clinical paths, including attorneys and chefs, that dental hygienists actually take. Although the information is presented as facts, the author does not cite any surveys or statistical data on career change decisions in this population. Thus, considering the list only as suggestions or ideas seems to be a more beneficial strategy.

Due to the use of advertising and opinion-based recommendations, I would not regard the article as the best guide to making career decisions. The work contains both direct and hidden advertising, and biases towards certain products/services might be present. In one of the passages, the author “highly recommends” purchasing the career counseling workbook designed by her and even provides a currently non-working link to the product and price information (Emmerling-Muñoz, 2014, para. 25). However, the author simply lists the topics covered in the product without resorting to incomplete comparisons or stacking the deck.

In the discussion of non-clinical career options, she mentions direct sales and states that she continues working with BeautiControl and Tupperware, which might be considered as the unintentional use of the bandwagon effect (Emmerling-Muñoz, 2014). In a similar fashion, she promotes a specific four-day continuous education program that costs more than $2,000 instead of reviewing and comparing different opportunities (Emmerling-Muñoz, 2014). These potential biases and the absence of well-structured verifiable information (for instance, the rating of career options with salary data) make me skeptical about this source’s usefulness in making life-changing decisions.

References

Emmerling-Muñoz, H. (2014). Help! Let me out! What are the career options for dental hygienists who want to leave clinical? Registered Dental Hygienist (RDH). Web.

Registered Dental Hygienist. (n.d.). Submission guidelines. Web.

Cite this paper

Reference

NerdyHound. (2022, May 22). “Help! Let Me Out!...” by Emmerling-Muñoz. Retrieved from https://nerdyhound.com/help-let-me-out-by-emmerling-muoz/

Reference

NerdyHound. (2022, May 22). “Help! Let Me Out!...” by Emmerling-Muñoz. https://nerdyhound.com/help-let-me-out-by-emmerling-muoz/

Work Cited

"“Help! Let Me Out!...” by Emmerling-Muñoz." NerdyHound, 22 May 2022, nerdyhound.com/help-let-me-out-by-emmerling-muoz/.

References

NerdyHound. (2022) '“Help! Let Me Out!...” by Emmerling-Muñoz'. 22 May.

References

NerdyHound. 2022. "“Help! Let Me Out!...” by Emmerling-Muñoz." May 22, 2022. https://nerdyhound.com/help-let-me-out-by-emmerling-muoz/.

1. NerdyHound. "“Help! Let Me Out!...” by Emmerling-Muñoz." May 22, 2022. https://nerdyhound.com/help-let-me-out-by-emmerling-muoz/.


Bibliography


NerdyHound. "“Help! Let Me Out!...” by Emmerling-Muñoz." May 22, 2022. https://nerdyhound.com/help-let-me-out-by-emmerling-muoz/.

References

NerdyHound. 2022. "“Help! Let Me Out!...” by Emmerling-Muñoz." May 22, 2022. https://nerdyhound.com/help-let-me-out-by-emmerling-muoz/.

1. NerdyHound. "“Help! Let Me Out!...” by Emmerling-Muñoz." May 22, 2022. https://nerdyhound.com/help-let-me-out-by-emmerling-muoz/.


Bibliography


NerdyHound. "“Help! Let Me Out!...” by Emmerling-Muñoz." May 22, 2022. https://nerdyhound.com/help-let-me-out-by-emmerling-muoz/.