In this research project, the secondary sources have been examined and compared to a range of others through addressing and evaluating in as much detail as possible. The sources have been determined by how reliable the data is, where the sources and statistics came from originally and considering how ethical the collection of data was and if it will be ethical to use within the research project. When choosing the sources used subjectivity was taking into consideration, as this could affect the research topic as these results could be biased and affect the overall results. For example, metro.co.uk 2017, where an article proposes the fact that social media is forcing girls to starve themselves, however within the article there is no factual basis supporting the supposed proposal therefore the source must be considered as biased. However, the metro article, although containing no factual basis, can be useful as it gives the researcher an understanding of what opinions some people may hold.
To counterbalance out the use of the metro article there is also a variety of unbiased reliable sources found via factual articles, books and also published data available. Furthermore, taking a range of quantitative data and qualitative data will be used to also take into consideration other factors that could influence the rise in anorexia. For example, statistics used from the NHS 2017 yearly report; this information is collected fairly, confidentially and also accurately, and also a newspaper article about the links between social media and anorexia published by The Telegraph 2015. This has useful up-to date links and explains in depth the links of social media and its potential influence, this displays the positives towards social media and how it could help reduce eating disorders, However, due to this article being a media article it could be considerer biased based on the author’s own opinion. Anorexia can be quite a sensitive topic, in order to find valid research for this project it must be ethical. It must be taking into consideration where this information has come from in the first place and how they meet the ethical guidelines. For example, the NHS statistics have been collected sensitively by collected data anonymously to be published online also through volunteering questionnaires also giving consent for their data to be published.
Therefore, not forcing people to give information if they don’t feel comfortable. The NHS will make sure no one was put in harm when collecting data and due to this being a sensitive topic will make sure help will be in place if it is required after the data is collected. As the NHS They support important social and moral values, such as the principle of doing no harm to others so to keep it this way they publish the data confidentially.
