Debating an Argument

Debating an Argument Your Name MGT521 DATE Instructor Name

Debating an Argument

Debating an Argument The argument is about questioning the author. Because so much information is uploaded to Wikipedia by so many different sources it is difficult to determine the validity. Even though Wikipedia has the Core content policy, the standard is not clearly enforced. A note from Wikipedia suggests all editors should follow the standard but implies not all do. Taking

advantage of multiple editors Wikipedia allows for a wider variety of views and opinions of different topics. The debate about Wikipedia being used as a credible source is ongoing though. For every study supporting Wikipedia as a credible source there is another study against it. Wikipedia appear to focus on verifiability not validity, relying on three core content policies; neutral point of view, no original research, verifiability (Whales, 2011). Verifiability requires editors to link uploaded material to a reliable source (Wales, 2011). Original research excludes any material that is not citing a reliable source. Possibly valid material could be excluded because it cannot cite a reliable source. This Core content policy enforces the average person from uploading bias to a topic (neutral point of view), but the restriction excludes possibly valid and useful information also. Acknowledging the efforts made by Wikipedia to present valid data a person could create spurious material and cite a creditable reference. Note the Irony in arguing Wikipedia as an invalid source while using Wikipedia as a reference source. Wikipedia provides quick and easy access to information and serves as a starting point to get a global view of a topic. Wikipedia has been accused of systemic bias though (Whales, 2011). Essentially the people contributing material to Wikipedia are contributing to the material of their interest. Inadvertently the abundance of information creates an imbalance against the less

represented subjects (Whales, 2011). An oversimplified example of this is in order to summit material to Wikipedia, editors must have a connection to the internet. Most of the worlds

Debating an Argument

population does not have a connection, so their views and experiences are under-represented (Whales, 2011).

References

Debating an Argument

Robbins, S. P. & Judge, T. A. (2011). Organizational behavior (14th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall. Spatt, B. (2011). Writing from Sources (8th ed.). Bedford St. Martin Publishing.

Wales, J. & Sanger, L. (2011) Wikipedia:About. Retrieved. from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia