Vivian Pham

References

Bardenheier, B., Yusuf, H., Schwartz, B., Gust, D., Barker, L., & Rodewald, L. (2004). Are parental vaccine safety concerns associated with receipt of measles-mumps-rubella, diphtheria and tetanus toxoids with acellular pertussis, or hepatitis B vaccines by children? Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine,158(6):569-575. Retrieved from http://archpedi.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=485738

This source is an article from a scholarly journal about pediatric and adolescent medicine. The target audience is pediatricians who are the link between vaccination and parents. The authors analyze whether or not the concerns of parents over vaccine safety actually change the numbers of typical vaccination of young children. Bardenheier et al. analyzed various groups of parents and surveyed their opinions on vaccines, such as whether they thought vaccines were important, safe, or reasonable in numbers for kids. They found that almost all parents found them to be important and the majority have expressed concern over whether vaccines were safe; however, the case-group parents were more likely to believe the controversy and to refuse vaccinations due to "concerns of side effects" than control-group parents. This source is very organized in its research and is clear in its analysis of the data they collected. A weakness of the source is that the differences between the control and case group was not very clear, lacking a straightforward definition. This source answers the question: does the vaccine-autism controversy negatively affect vaccination numbers? This data shows that these controversies are causing some parents to refuse vaccination.

Glazer, S. (2003, June 13). Increase in autism. CQ Researcher, 13, 545-568. Retrieved from http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/

This source is a research report in a popular journal. The target audience is any person concerned about the rise in autism and question its relation to vaccines. Glazer opens with statistics showing how autism cases have risen and how this has caused many controversies and lawsuits by parents and activists. Glazer states that many parents attribute the rise to toxins, including mercury or other chemicals in vaccines. However, a counterargument was that autism is simply being better

diagnosed and therefore receives more attention from parents, doctors, and the media. Glazer references research that have both indicated a relation and falsified the allegation. This source presents two cases clearly, showing ample support for both sides to reduce bias. A weakness in this source is that is a almost over ten years old, meaning some of the research support are outdated and completely falsified. This source is a good for gathering general information about the major arguments of vaccines and the autism controversy.

Koch, K. (2000, August 25). Vaccine controversies. CQ Researcher, 10, 641-672. Retrieved from http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/

This source is a research report in a popular journal. The target audience is for anyone interested in the topic. The author wrote this report to answer the question of whether or not vaccines are safe enough. Koch outlines the two sides of the controversy, with the CDC and other health institutes claiming that vaccines are safe against the parents, specialists, and activists convinced that vaccines are dangerous and excessive. While one side cites countless tests and recounts the many lived vaccines can save, skeptics see vaccines are more risk than help these days. Strengths of this report include very clear cases on both sides, including a pro/con chart answering the research questions. Weaknesses include very little concrete position, making it difficult to grasp the author's conclusion from research. In addition, the article was written in 2000, making some data possibly outdated. This article is a good source for talking about the allegations toward vaccines, especially its relation to autism.

Smith, P., Kennedy, A., Wooten, K., Gust, D., & Pickering, L. (2006). Association between health care providers' influence on parents who have concerns about vaccine safety and vaccination coverage. Pediatrics,118(5):e1287-e1292. Retrieved from http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/

This source is a research article in a pediatric medicine journal. This was written for medical practicioners and other healthcare providers who have contact with parents of young children. The purpose of this research was to determine if physicians had an influence on whether or not parents vaccinated their kids and if yes, was the influence positive or negative. Smith et al.

conducted a survey study of parents, determining whether or not they believed vaccines were safe and if their answer was influenced by their healthcare provider. The authors found that healthcare providers did have an influence and that most parents who trusted their doctor believed that vaccines were safe. Strengths of this report is that it is an organized and clear study. Weaknesses include that it is a little old. This research answers the question of whether or not vaccines have been discouraged by professionals. This is a good source to reference in concluding paragraph as a way to address the immunization gap. In addition, it eliminates the fact that healthcare professionals are part of the anti-vaccination school of thought.

Stehr-Green, P., Tull, P., Stellfeld M., Mortenson, P., Simpson, D. (2003). Autism and thimerosal-containing vaccines: Lack of consistent evidence for an association. American Journal of Preventative Medicine, 25(2):101-106. Retreived from http://www.sciencedirect.com

This source is a scholarly article from the American Journal of Preventative Medicine. This was written for medical practitioners, medical researchers, and people concerned about the alleged linkage between autism and vaccines. The authors wrote this to explain the findings they compiled through research and the conclusion they reached. Stehr-Green et al. addressed the concerns over the preservative Thimerosal in vaccines by comparing data from three areas: California, Sweden, and Denmark. In addition, they paralleled these statistics of autism cases to data pertaining to the amounts of Thimerosal used in vaccines. Stehr-Green et al. concluded that the correlation between rise in autism and Thimerosal-containing vaccines was not strong. The source was very clear and straightforward in its presentation of its data, keeping the language succinct for readers. The weaknesses of this source is that they took samples from two cities and one country, narrowing the scope of the United States. While the researchers admit that it is only California that has the complete data they needed, it still causes their evaluation to be a little mismatched, especially if California is meant to represent the whole country. This source is one example of the research that has been done against the allegation of autism being caused by vaccination.

Yost, K. (1993, June 18). Childhood immunizations. CQ Researcher, 3, 529-552. Retrieved from http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/

This source is a research report by a popular journal. The target audience is everyone interested in the research topic. The author write this report to answer the question of why is there an immunization gap. Yost opens the report discussing background information on vaccines such as their development, their effect on general health of the country and global population, and introducing the financial components of why vaccinations aren't happening for everyone. Strengths of this source is that it provides a lot of information and details, especially background information. It also gives anecdotes, connecting to the audience. A weakness is that it is very background heavy and narrative rather than a pure science journal article. In addition, it was published in 1993 so most of the actual research may be outdated. This source is useful to my research topic by giving me a lot of general information on vaccines for references in my introduction.