Wikipedia takleh guna? + What is theory?

Ha, ni first assignment tuk subject Theories of Communication. Lecturer mintak suh define 'theories' with your own understanding, lepas tu ngan real life example. Anyway 'theories' dari segi communication ni berbeza ngan theories dari segi sains. Anna saja lah tunjuk paper ni kat ayah nak tau opinion dia, skali boleh dia cakap salah. Dia pun bagitau lah maksud theory tapi yang tu from the science perspective. Tak puas hati Anna ambik text book tunjuk dia. Lepas ni dah tanak tunjuk assignment kat ayah dah. Hehe.

Before I continue posting the assignment of mine, nak cerita sket pasal referencing. Anna dari dulu memang lemah bab referencing, sebab memang tak suka formality, leceh. Tapi suka tak suka, kena buat jugak.

So I think kalau kat Malaysia, kita mostly guna MLA style of referencing kan? So ramai lah yang mention in my previous entry yang I post pasal Media & politics in Malaysia tu, termasuk one of my best buddies, Leila yang adalah seorang lecturer, yang as a student we should not refer to Wikipedia. Mainly because info dalam tu ditulis oleh sesapa je, jadi kesahihan information dalam tu memang boleh disangkal.

So it's best we stick to books senang cerita. Ada a few more good suggestions, salah satu dari Marissa. Refer journals. Ada gak notice journals kat library tu, tapi tak tengok plak. So nanti leh gak try to check it out. Huh, dah biasa sangat refer apa-apa guna google, so kena biasakan diri balik refer pada printed material ni. Punyalah lama tak masuk library ni baru nak menjinakkan diri.

Tapi, in this modern age, where info is easily accessible, we will always turn to the internet. Rasanya tak salah, sebab bukannya info kat internet completely tak boleh diterima pakai kan. Cuma we need to be more sensitive and aware of the source, tengok siapa author. And wajib juga refer pada buku dan bukan internet semata-mata.

Then Leila juga mention, kalau kat Wikipedia tu, scroll ke bawah dan refer pada links yang disenaraikan, links tu usually the source dari mana info tu dipetik, so hopefully it's a more solid source of information. Nak letak dalam reference link pon okaylah. Bak kata Leila & Marissa, kalau letak reference Wikipedia memang tidak terima. Tak pasal-pasal assignment kena reject!

Copy + paste of course haram sama skali, plagiarism la jadinya. Kalau nak either quote or paraphrase. And semua tu of course perlu reference. Kalau tak boleh juga jatuh dalam kategori plagiarism.

Anyway, assignment Anna yang ni tak buh reference list sebab memang sendiri punya. Dah tanya lecturer sebab cuak gak kan, tapi sebab tak refer mana-mana so okay, line clear. Huhu. Sebelum submit assignment ni, dah bagi lecturer tengok dulu the draft, dia tick setiap paragraph, angguk senyum, dan kata "Hey... I like this!". Wah wah kembang hidung makcik. Yipaaa. Tapi first assignment je kot, masih senang. Tunggulah semester-semester yang akan datang tengok apa yang kembang nanti. Hahaha.

Okay, inilah esemen saya:

Theory is a concept based on observation or own experience that helps us to dissect a situation. Theory can be used to understand the way a certain situation works. However, theories are not concrete, they are subjective. There is no fixed formula. It changes from one individual to another and can be affected by different elements such as time or even be altered due to the shift in weather. Even if a single tiny element involved in that theory is changed, it can significantly alter the results. Nevertheless, there is always a theory that one can rely on that seems to work every single time.

One does not need to be an expert in a certain field or a scientist to come up with a theory. It is not rocket science. In fact, without even realizing it, everyone has a theory of their own that is applicable and used in their daily lives. It’s an automated course of plan built in their minds on how to do certain things, that it has become a routine.

For example in my case, it takes me a very long time to get ready when going out. So my theory is, if I have an event to attend at 3:00pm, I should get ready two hours earlier, which would be at 1:00pm. When I do follow this theory, by 2:30pm I am ready to go, and by 3:00pm I will be there at the event. But, most of the time, I do not follow this theory. I get ready, an hour b efore the event, and I’ll most definitely reach there much later than the supposed time. In this case, I should perhaps make it as another theory and call it the Fashionably Late Theory.

Let’s put the jokes aside. If I were to follow the two hour earlier theory when getting ready, chances are I will reach there in time. However, theories can and always evolve. Say, in the midst of getting ready, the water supply gets cut off as I am about to take a shower. What should I do? I would either have to wait for the water supply to come back, search for another source, or not take a shower at all.

This then gives birth to another theory. If I choose the first two, I would not get ready in time and will be late. Instead, I choose not to shower, and spray myself with a lot of perfume, therefore I assume I will reach the event in time. Then, I discover a flat tire. I could get someone else to drive me there, or I’ll use a public transport, or have the tire fixed, either way I will be late. Or in the end I decide to just not to attend the event.

Therefore, theories are basically guidelines that help us to comprehend a situation and gives options on how to act upon it. It may not necessarily be accurate, but it is useful and effective when it does work.

Ha, korang pon mesti ada teori-teori sendiri. Ce citer ce citer.

{ANNA}