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Unit 14: Google Data Searches

Here is another site that will link you to ideas about how google data searches can give us information for research questions.

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When I was young I always thought by the time I was 18 there would be flying cars and hovercraft's instead of real cars. Also, I thought that the hover cars would run on solar energy. Now I am 21, still without hover-cars so my best predictions for the future now would be that all of our cars are solar powered instead of powered by gas. 

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Flashback! The Internet In 1995 | Archives | TODAY

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Unit 14: Previous and Future predictions for the Internet

There have been many predictions in the past about how the internet and other technologies will change the world, and some of these predictions are correct.

First, Nikola Tesla predicted in 1926 that future technology would be wireless, and anyone would be able to contact any other person “despite intervening distances or thousands or miles” and that we would be able to carry the phone in their pocket. The first cell phone would have made this prediction correct.

Second, Arthur C. Clarke predicted about future wireless communication in 1976. These predictions included a high definition TV with a keyboard, which can include access to data, pictures, books, messenger, and even suggests that this machine will be able to use this data to include stuff that you are interested in. Which today this would not be referred to as an iPhone.

Third, Steve Jobs predicted in 2007 that the iPhone would make history and indeed it did. The iPhone changed so many things in society, around the world with how people communicate and changed how technology was viewed. The internet was no longer just for the computer but could be accessed via the phone which was important.

There are some predictions that I have about future technology.

First, I predict that instead of using our cell phones or computers for typing and texting, we will use it with other talk to devices like ALEXA and Siri more. For example, instead of sending a text you would speak it and ask the device to send the message, after it reads it back to you of course. Also, spellcheck will be so advanced by this time and the voice activation will be so precise that you will not have to worry about the device making spelling errors like we do today.

Second, I predict that online classes will be the future of school, especially with college. More people will be able to get degrees by taking classes online that are as good as regular college degrees today.

Third, I predict that big data will make people more aware of the world and of themselves, which in turn would lead to behavioral changes of people. Additionally, I think that more sites like Instagram, Facebook and Twitter will start to use this idea of collecting “big data” to analyze and make conclusions which would advance the way we look at doing research.  

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Unit 14: Looking Forward on the Internet

This week we learned how Internet-based data can be used to answer research questions by reading these two abstracts that were published in Science. Then we chose one of eight questions to read about and talk about in discussion post. The question I chose was “ Can Google Searches Provide Data about Hidden Attitudes and Behavior?” I chose this question because with all of the recent reports about Facebook and Google using our data from what we search, like, or click on can all predict something about us as a person. I wanted to see if Google can provide data about attitudes and behaviors of people. 

To learn about this question I listened to NPR’s (2017) podcast, which suggests that yes, Google searches can provide data about hidden attitudes and behavior. One finding shows hidden correlations between racism and those who show support for trump or did not show support for Obama when he tried to run for president. The attitudes of peoples data online of what they look up such as racist words or searches helped to predict who they would vote for. When looking at who in the U.S. looks up more racist searches, they find that there is not a division of north to south racism, but it showed that there was a division between east and west. Specifically, the east had more racist searches than the west, which helps to make the conclusion that there is actually a division of racism in this country between the east and west. This showed that by looking at someone’s searches online about their attitude with racism, could help to predict their behaviors about certain things.

This podcast also explains that some people don’t report in real life or on surveys their real sexuality, but by tracking search terms online, researchers found that there may be more people under-reporting their sexuality than they thought. This cannot be generalized because they are not able to check the sex data with something else. But, they are able to generalize the correlations between racism and who a person votes for because they are measuring racism against supporting for a candidate or voting for them. Whereas they cannot measure sex against other data. Overall, this podcast does explain that based off of big data searches they are able to learn big world differences. People may try to show different behaviors or attitudes when in real life, but once they are on the internet late at night their real persona comes out, including their real attitudes and behaviors.

Not only do we lie on surveys, in Stephens-Davidowitz’s (2017) article it explains that we also lie to ourselves sometimes, but our behavior online can uncover those lies. The reason why Google searches is able to provide this data about our attitudes and behaviors, is because when we are online there is no one around which means that people are not suspecting that someone is looking at what they are searching, and they know they can search what they want. Therefore, when looking at what people have searched shows more about a person than if you were just to ask them. I think this is valid because when asking someone if they look at porn they will most likely say no, but when you go through their search history it will not lie to you. Some people may be in denial about their attitudes and behaviors, some people’s attitudes in life are reflected by what a person’s behavior is when using the internet alone.

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7 Tips for Overcoming Feelings of Inadequacy

1. Remind yourself that you are not who other people think or say you are.

2. Remind yourself that everybody makes mistakes at times, has areas of weakness, and things they want to change.

3. Remind yourself of ways in which you’ve grown and changed with time. You’re not who you once were - so celebrate how far you’ve come.

4. Also, the ending isn’t written and the future isn’t fixed. You’re free to change your image, and an old identity.

5. Identify the lies you have believed about yourself – and work on changing them so they’re more accurate and true. Also, don’t reinforce those lies by acting like you think they’re true.

6. Remember that your feelings are not the same as facts. Don’t live based on your feelings … as that will keep you trapped.

7. Hang out with those who see, and who appreciate, your worth. And take their words to heart, and let them help to build you up.

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Facebook / Twitter / Ko-fi / Buy the book

[Drawing of a brown cat saying “The ideas will come again. The words will come again. The work will come again. The art will come again. The motivation will come again. The easy creative joy will come again.” in a pink speech bubble.]

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Unit 13: SMART goals and how they can help with procrastination

One approach to ending a cycle of procrastination is through breaking down your challenge into “SMART” goals. That acronym stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time Bound. 

I will elaborate on these steps with my own example of putting off one of my class papers. 

Specific: Make sure you know what your steps are going to be to accomplish your task. For example, I could say that gathering resources and reading each of them could be the first two steps of my process, and then maybe include making an outline for my paper as the next step in the process and so on. 

Measurable: Make sure there are clear boundaries as to when you know that you have completed a step. I will know I have gathered enough sources when I have enough to meet my paper requirements, I will know that my sources have been read once I have read them, and I will know that my outline is done once I have a physical/electronic copy of a skeleton of my completed paper. 

Achievable: Be sure that each step is hard enough that it is challenging and gets you closer to your goal, but don’t make each step so challenging that you begin to procrastinate again! In the event that I said my steps should be “make an outline, write my paper” I would have been ignoring the research gathering steps, and the steps involved in writing such as editing and drafting an outline. 

Relevant: Each step you write down should be relevant to your final goal. With my paper example, I would have to make sure that I wasn’t considering ‘starting’ my paper to be adding a title and heading. A relevant step could be that I plan to write my introduction and then write the first paragraph and then the second and so on. Make sure you aren’t wasting your own time. 

Time Bound: This part of a SMART goal is to make sure that you are meeting smaller goals in a timely manner. You also want to make sure that this part of the goal designates how often you will work on your project per week and when you plan to do that. I could say that I would like to have my introduction done in three days, my body paragraphs done in five, and then have a rough draft done two days before the due date. I would also likely say that I want to work on the paper for one hour every day until the due date or when I am done. 

With these strategies in mind, hopefully you can beat your procrastination bug and get started on whatever needs to get done! Remember…be SMART! 

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Unit 13: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Options

Here are three alternative articles that might help you if you want to try Cognitive Behavioral Therapy on your own.

Boyes (2013) article, “Try These Cognitive Restructuring Exercises to Improve Your Mood and Reduce Stress“ 

Anxiety BC’s (no date) article, “Self Help – Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy (CBT): Realistic Thinking“

Hubbard’s (no date) article, “Procrastination: Getting Unstuck with CBT“

Although in addition to these three things, I do recommend journaling thoughts and feelings, why you have them and if they are true. Then write a alternative thought that is way better, and then a realistic thought about it. If you do not do the journal then you have to try extra hard to be conscientious about when you are having bad thoughts, that way you can try to stop the thought and think of these things you would be journaling about.

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Unit 13: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Online

This week in class we covered Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Online. We first read the definition of Cognitive behavioral Therapy from the Mayo Clinic which explains that this type of therapy helps you become aware of inaccurate or negative thinking, so you can view challenging situations more clearly and respond to them in a more effective way. People in CBT focus on goals and problems in everyday life, so that they can improve these problems or keep up with their goals instead of procrastinating. The sessions are usually one on one with a therapist but can be held in group meeting settings too. Cognitive behavioral therapy can be a very helpful tool in treating mental disorders or illnesses, but not everyone uses this treatment only for mental health disorders and illnesses. It can be an effective tool to help anyone learn how to better manage stressful life situations.

We also read Carlbring et al.’s (2018) article , which explained that internet Cognitive Behavioral Therapy was equivalent to face-to-face Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. 

Lastly we read  Adelman et al.’s (2014) article, which overall explains that doing Cognitive Behavioral Therapy if you have a problem or think you need it is better than not doing it at all. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy was shown to help both children and adults in this study. 

Therefore, if you are too busy and want online therapy look on the internet. If you go to UW-Madison we have the SilverCloud app, which is an online CBT app that is free.If you go to another University, I would strongly suggest you look into what they offer. It is important to get the help you need or at least be able to talk to someone about life problems. 

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A short video of what CBT is and how it can be helpful for a number of reasons.

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What is CBT?

The National Association of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapists defines it as a form of psychotherapy that emphasizes the role of thinking in how we feel and its impact on what we do. 

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is a very broadly defined term that classifies a number fo therapies with similar approaches. 

Most cognitive-behavioral therapies have the following characteristics:

1. They are based on the idea that our thoughts cause our feelings and in turn our behaviors, rather than external things, like people, situations, and events. If one can change their thoughts about something they can in turn change the way they react to it. 

2. Have more rapid results. The average number of sessions a patient has is 16. It is not an open-ended process that can take years like psychoanalysis. 

3.  It is a collaborative effort between the client and therapist. The therapist’s job is to listen, teach, and encourage, while the client is responsible for expressing concerns, learning and implementing that learning.

4. They are based on an education model. CBT is based on the assumption that most emotional and behavioral reactions are learned. So, the goal of therapy is to  help clients unlearn their unwanted reactions and to learn a new way of reacting. This educational emphasis leads to long term results.  

5. There is homework. Goal achievement would take a long time if all a person were to do was to think about the techniques and topics taught was for one hour per week. For this reason, CBT therapists assign reading assignments and encourage their clients to practice the techniques learned.