User:TheAlexRodriguez/Evaluate an Article

Evaluate an article
This is where you will complete your article evaluation. Please use the template below to evaluate your selected article.


 * Community Counseling
 * I chose this article to evaluate based on the lack of practicality that this article holds. The article speaks about the realities of what community counseling looks like and how people in this form of counseling can be supported and appreciated by their communities. Although this form of counseling is not being taken place in an academic setting, it is important to note the interactiveness of this method and how it can help underrepresented and low-income folks through community groups that hold commonalities in issues.

Lead

 * Guiding questions


 * Does the Lead include an introductory sentence that concisely and clearly describes the article's topic?: Yes, the lead introduces the concept of the community counseling fairly blunt and clear. It goes on to describe the process of how the counseling takes place and what population it targets. it also clearly states the role of the counselor which is a passive and limited role.
 * Does the Lead include a brief description of the article's major sections? No it does not hold a brief description of the major sections of the article. The table of contents is where I found the structure of the article but the first initial paragraphs did not provide this information for me.
 * Does the Lead include information that is not present in the article? The lead does not present information that is not being presented in the article. It merely gives a brief definition of what community counseling is and the role of the counselor.
 * Is the Lead concise or is it overly detailed? The lead seems to be fairly straightforward and does not seem to provide an abundance of information. It just gives the definition of the term and goes on to the history of the subject.

Lead evaluation
I think the lead could have been stronger in describing the terms are that will be addressed in the later part of the article. It gives a simplistic definition of community and does not describe the benefit of what community gatherings and community circle can present to people.

Content

 * Guiding questions


 * Is the article's content relevant to the topic? The articles content is relevant to the topic of counseling and which methods can provide better and more productive benefits to low-income, marginalized folks. It demonstrates to the reader the different methods that are used to combat the issues of a group of population, which in this case is mental processing, and how models are made to combat these issues by focusing practices by age group.
 * Is the content up-to-date? The content is somewhat up-to-date. The most recent reference was published in 2015 and its oldest reference published their work in 1980.
 * Is there content that is missing or content that does not belong? There is no seemingly content that is missing. However, I do disagree with the forms of training the counselor. It is noted throughout various research that counseling training is highly bureaucratic and can become personalized. Although this method of counseling is highly interactive, it still enforces the idea that counselors be trained to treat their clients as numbers which creates a paradox. This paradox is not addressed and can be an influential reason on why this method fails to work on people participating in this method.

Content evaluation
The different section that the article holds are relevant and needed to fully understand this method of counseling. Although it is a practice that is not implemented within schooling institutions or even deals with the aspect of education, the process of this method are valid to take a look at and understand. The sections of "models" and "trainings" are highly influential in the making of this article. It portrays the uniqueness and progressiveness of this system and shows that it mostly helps marginalized folks who are in need of these services. Although I do disagree with the agenda of training counselors because of depersonalization nature, it still provides an insight on what needs to change and how this community counseling can be a step in the right direction as it gives the power to the clients.

Tone and Balance

 * Guiding questions


 * Is the article neutral? Yes, the article neutral in its nature. However, as a reader, it seems as if the rhetoric used to describe this method of counseling is attacking other methods and granting superiority to this method.
 * Are there any claims that appear heavily biased toward a particular position? No the article is not addressing one side or is showing heavy basis towards one ideology. Rather is it addressing why this method can work the best, especially when dealing with mental wellness.
 * Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented? Their viewpoints are underrepresented in the field of counseling - a brand new approach. I have personally never seen an approach, aside from the AA union, where members of the community come together to shed light on issues while being facilitated by a trained counselor to debunk certain problems and solutions.
 * Does the article attempt to persuade the reader in favor of one position or away from another? The article does not attempt to persuade the reader in favor of one position or away from another. Rather, as I have stated before, it shows a new method of thinking and helping and urges the reader to see its benefits so that institutions or people can try to implement this in different spaces.

Tone and balance evaluation
Most the sections are those that are merely fact and cannot provide a sense of bias and/or an agenda. The information is presented in a neutral fashion that does not attack any other method and provides an insight for further research and implementation. While none of the claims are controversial, meaning claims that can easily be contested as wrong or right on both sides, I do disagree with much of the correct training of counselors. Moreover, the research about the different models presented is that emphasizes the need to talk about more counseling option which provokes an optimistic view regarding counseling and its future impact on people.

Sources and References

 * Guiding questions


 * Are all facts in the article backed up by a reliable secondary source of information? The article is backed up by a reliable secondary source of information through legal journals and SSRNs. It tells the reader about the importance of community and how community can rightfully impact a person's trauma and reduce stress.
 * Are the sources thorough - i.e. Do they reflect the available literature on the topic? The sources are dense and up to date as the issue of counseling is not the most fluid sector. The sources provide a non-bias approach and state how the counseling can help folks who are not even facing issues that need "counseling".
 * Are the sources current? The sources are somewhat current. The oldest source is 1980 and the most current one is 2015.
 * Check a few links. Do they work? All the links do work.

Sources and references evaluation
The sector of counseling is extremely outdated and its sources do not provide much insight on the actual proposed model of counseling. While the sources are dense, they merely purport the idea that counseling, with community, can help support someone in need but through the existing bureaucratic nature of it all. Moreover, because of this, it is important to note how the article did not use the sources to enforce an idea, rather the article used the sources to help with the statistics and findings.

Organization

 * Guiding questions


 * Is the article well-written - i.e. Is it concise, clear, and easy to read?: The article was clear and to the point of where it needed to address the impact of this form of counseling. It did not use dense writing and it described the form of counseling as clear as day.
 * Does the article have any grammatical or spelling errors? The article does not appear to have many grammatical errors to my understanding.
 * Is the article well-organized - i.e. broken down into sections that reflect the major points of the topic? The article is well-organized and has accessible flow.

Organization evaluation
This article was organized in the fashion of giving background of what the new method of counseling is and then giving us the terms of what these method must hold. It is a clear outline and provides such detail to the reader on the different methods of this form of counseling and how to achieve it.

Images and Media

 * Guiding questions


 * Does the article include images that enhance understanding of the topic? The article includes one picture.
 * Are images well-captioned? The image caption was blunt and straightforward.
 * Do all images adhere to Wikipedia's copyright regulations? Image appears adhere to Wikipedia's copyright regulations as it is a picture of people in a community circle practicing the methods of this new counseling.
 * Are the images laid out in a visually appealing way? It only shows one picture and it appears to use darker colors and presents a sadistic look to the peoples' faces.

Images and media evaluation
The image that was used was a valid representation of what this form of counseling looks like. It shows a darker background to demonstrate its seriousness and intimacy. It provides the reader to look at the faces of a group of people active listening and showing engagement to the words and experiences that are being said by the person talking. This group gives the method of counseling life and shows that authenticity by seeing the emotion of the group of people.

Checking the talk page

 * Guiding questions


 * What kinds of conversations, if any, are going on behind the scenes about how to represent this topic? The article is is within the scope of WikiProject Medicine, which recommends that medicine-related articles follow the Manual of Style for medicine-related articles. Going to the page, I cannot find a page that talks about the article.
 * How is the article rated? Is it a part of any WikiProjects? The article is rated at a C and has been a part of "the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 15 January 2019 and 9 May 2019."
 * How does the way Wikipedia discusses this topic differ from the way we've talked about it in class?: We have not fully talked about the subject of counseling in class but Wikipedia describes it as a fully interactive method that allows for help and support to those in need of mental, physical, and emotional need.

Talk page evaluation
The article does not have a talk page.

Overall impressions

 * Guiding questions


 * What is the article's overall status? It was Marked as a C.


 * What are the article's strengths? The article was strong in its explicit and easy to follow rhetoric. The sources were not too outdated and rose many questions regarding the field of counseling and how to help students in need.
 * How can the article be improved? The article needs to address the issue of low-income folks and how this method can be applied in schooling institutions. Although it did present one model of how it can help marginalized folks, it does not go into specifics on how counselors themselves can help that demographic and how people can reach out for help.
 * How would you assess the article's completeness - i.e. Is the article well-developed? I think that the article is fully developed and presents a strong flow. It lays out many key important terms, specially with the term of community, and gives the reader a sense of what the issues are. I believe that the article lacks clarity in some areas, such as their models, but overall, it showed proper structure and flow.

Overall evaluation
The articles overall status was well-written and highly easy to understand. It informed the reader of a explicit manner of counseling without the density of other methods. I do not agree with the C rating, but, because of its lack of expansion on certain issues, such as models and the training, the C rating is warranted. It should give case examples on how well this method has worked on actual patients and any limitations that this method holds. Also because this method has not been implemented into an educational setting, it was difficult to make a connection with it but the interactiveness and progressiveness appealed me to read. In all, I think it should change the nature of actual counselors, but I do understand that is a big and systemic issue.