2015 - Blog CED

Critical Thinking (part 2)

<h4>
Critical thinking </h4>
 
What is critical thinking? 
 
Critical thinking, is as The Oxford Dictionary describes ‘The objective analysis and evaluation of an issue in order to form a judgement’. It encompasses a variety of elements. Most importantly it relates to how an individual person uses logical thinking, and reasoning. It is the ability to look at information and decipher what is the most useful, or the most relevant to an argument; and to differentiate between what is fact, and what is opinion. It is then how we use that information, in a rational manner, as evidence for an objective judgement or conclusion.  
 
 Critical thinking is structured through different stages, to reach a logical conclusion. One way to highlight the various stages of critical thinking is through The RED scheme. R - recognise assumptions. This means that a person is able to recognise what is fact, and what is an opinion, or rather to recognise when a statement lacks evidentiary support. To question these statements, to search for evidence in support or opposition to such assumptions is to use critical thinking. It is the first stage a person must complete to arrive at a logical and objective conclusion. E - evaluate arguments. This is the follow on. Once the evidence has been collected, it must be analysed objectively, without bias, to weigh both sides of an argument, to establish a logical solution. This stage of critical thinking also requires an understanding of how emotions can affect our ability to evaluate, and how it influences the conclusions we make. D - draw conclusions. Once everything has been taken into consideration, a conclusion must be made.This is the end result of critical thinking; for it is the combination of a person’s analytical, rational and logical skills to reach the most objective answer, once every option has been weighed up and evaluated. The ability to make a decision, unswayed by personal emotions, allegiances or influences from other people is the main purpose to critical thinking, in the hope of reaching a better end-product. As philosopher Bertrand Russell states ‘The opinions that are held with passion are always those for which no good ground exists; indeed the passion is the measure of the holders lack of rational conviction’. Russell explains that emotion, or passion, often make for poor or rash decisions, which is not in the individual’s best interests. Therefore the art of critical thinking is to search past emotions, to use logical and rational thought to better one’s ability to make conclusive, unbiased and sound decisions. 
 
Another aspect of critical thinking, which links somewhat to the RED scheme, is polemics. Polemics is the use of controversial debate, in the process of decision-making. For example, the role of The Devil’s Advocate, who takes the conflicting view-point, in order to engage others in an argumentative discussion. 
 
This process, of arguing both sides of a point is an important aspect of critical thinking, as it relies on a person to analyse every eventuality to arrive at an outcome. A prime example of this, in regards to critical thinking, is Israel’s 10th man approach to politics. After the 1973 Arab-Israeli War, and Israel’s lack of preparedness for an Arab attack, they adopted the 10th man policy. Israeli officials were so convinced that a war between them and the Arabs would never happen, on account of many different factors, that no one thought to discuss the small possibility that an attack could have indeed been launched. 
 
Thus when it occurred, they were vastly underprepared. After this, they adopted this policy, which stated that if 9 officials agree unanimously, it is the job of the 10th man to contradict it, and to provide evidence. It is his role to play devil’s advocate, to make sure that every possibility is exhausted, by providing ‘loyal opposition’. He must find a reason as to why the previous conclusion is flawed. If he provides enough evidence to prove he is right, then the group must consult and consider his proposition, but if he can’t find enough cause to disprove the original 9, then they can continue as they had previously planned. Critical thinking is our own personal ‘10th man’, providing ourselves with the contradictory stance to our previous decision, which we must use in very much a similar way. This part of critical thinking focuses on the idea of exhausting every possibility, to prepare for any eventuality and to achieve the most logical solution. 
 
However, as well as this, another aspect to critical thinking is our use of it to achieve our goals objectively, promptly and successfully. This goal-orientation element to critical thinking combines other elements, as it relies on our ability to exhaust all our options, and our logical use of the information supplied to us, to form a resolution. This, therefore enables us to achieve our goals, or rather to prioritise other aspects to achieve our goals. 
 
Hypothetically, if someone should need to achieve a Grade A in their maths exam, they would need to use some element of critical thinking, to plan and prioritise. They would need to think about their priorities, when to study, how long to study for and which other activities are important, or can be omitted. This is a basic example of how critical thinking is related to goal-orientation, and how it helps us to make decisions, not just to achieve long term goals, but also in everyday life. 
 
Finally, critical thinking is our ability to form an idea or an opinion and create a logical way to explain that idea. It involves our communication skills, be it written or oral. Critical thinking helps us to develop such skills, in relation to expression and how we convey information, and our opinion. Although for the most part critical thinking is void of opinion or bias, it can be used to express our own and our individual theories, in clear and logical ways. It helps us to structure our thoughts to convey them across to other people. 
 
Overall, Critical thinking can be described as understanding how we think, how to think logically, and learning how use that skill constructively. It is an individual skill, linked to our own way of thinking, our own mind, and our own definition of logic and rationality. However, critical thinking has the same goal for everyone, to use logic, evidence and all possibilities to reach a convincing conclusion, beit in regards to our own theories, or our ability to decipher information given to us.  
 
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To illustrate the definition of critical thinking, here is two case studies of how critical thinking could have been used to improve the outcome. 
Case Study 1; The Bay of Pigs 1961 
 
A good example of where critical thinking would have been useful, is during America’s assault on Cuba in 1961, also known as The Bay of Pigs. President Kennedy was advised by CIA representatives that this operation, using Cuban exiles, was a quick and effective way to depose Castro’s government. Kennedy had some doubts, and was wary of America having direct involvement in an attempt to unseat another government. Despite his concerns, the representatives were unanimous, and were convinced that it would be successful. 
 
However, this operation would turn out to be one of America’s biggest foreign policy failures. As Irving Janis, a foreign policy analyst explains ‘The more amiability and esprit de corps among the members of a policy-making in-group, the greater is the danger that independent critical thinking will be replaced by groupthink, which is likely to result in irrational and dehumanizing actions directed against out-groups’. Due to the unanimity of the officials in charge, critical thinking was not utilised in this instance. Other solutions were not suggested, nor were they explored. Not one member of the team thought to seek other alternatives, or played the role of the 10th man. Research wasn’t even conducted thoroughly. As such when the troops arrived at the beach, Cuban forces were waiting for them, and they were decimated. Amongst the many failings in this operation, not only were they blinded by close-mindedness, The CIA had not carried out enough research, and so, for example, had no idea that a radio broadcasting centre was located on the beach; which alerted the Cuban forces of the impending attack. Evidence had not been collected, nor was it analysed objectively or logically. However, as well as this, possible problems were not taken into consideration. The probability that these difficulties could have arisen was not discussed, nor did they address any queries or flaws in the original plan. And so, the conclusion to this example is that this group of officials, so misguided by the certainty of their decision, didn’t use any form of critical thinking, nor the skills attributed to it, to arrive at a more objective conclusion. 
 
How would critical thinking affected this situation, had it been applied? 
 
In this example it is possible to say that one member, at least, in the group should have sought out alternative options for the group as a whole to discuss. They had only one plan, whereas were critical thinking to be used they would have had multiple scenarios to discuss; and to weigh against each other, to make an informed decision. As well as this, sufficient evidence would have been collected, so in this instance, the CIA would have carried out more detailed research, or surveillance. A large aspect of critical thinking is how to use the information given: collecting it, analysing it and then using it. This process did not happen, which is one reason as to why the Bay of Pigs failed. 
 
Case Study 2: The film The Day After Tomorrow 
 
In this second case study, the Hollywood film, The Day After Tomorrow, helps to show the important benefits of critical thinking. Despite the fact that it is a fictional story does not diminish its utility in promoting critical thinking. Actor Dennis Quaid portrays a scientist, who’s a climate expert, who has the task to warn the American government of the imminent danger of climate change; mass flooding, dangerous storms and even the beginnings of the new Ice Age. It is his aim to persuade the government to act, to implement new legislation to help reduce their carbon emissions, and therefore, in theory slow down the effects of climate change. However, the government officials refused to believe him, despite all the evidence he provided to prove his theories. They were reluctant to believe that events could ever take place, or that it posed any real danger. 
 
Therefore, when these natural catastrophes did indeed take place, the American government was not prepared, and suffered dramatically. Dennis Quaid’s actor was then re-called, to provide some explanation or resolution, but by then it was too late. Although this is just a fictional example, it is good as an example of the need for critical thinking. No one believed his theories, but had one person challenged the majority, or had decided to analyse the scientist’s research, and the data of corroborating scientists, perhaps they could have saved more people, or had put a plan in place, to prevent the subsequent events. This shows how developing theories, researching, even if it seems like an impossible eventuality, is a worthwhile task, as it may open the door to new possibilities or better solutions. Critical thinking is the exploration of all possibilities, to make an informed decision, which was lacking in this film, with regard to the American officials. This film is an extreme case of critical thinking, but it does highlight well that if there is any evidence, for or against the original idea, it should be investigated and taken into account. Maybe if this had happened, the American officials would have made a different decision. 
 
What is it’s role in Western development? 
 
Critical thinking is an important part of western culture. it is the main source of our development, and is, in theory, at the centre of our political system, and capitalism. However, as Siebold states in his latest work ‘177 Mental Toughness Secrets of The World Class’ as human beings we are emotional, ‘We're trained to think with emotions instead of using statistics, logic, reason, etc. Society fosters emotion-based thinking and decision making." Therefore critical thinking, does in effect contradict our natural thought process. 
 
However, recently in Britain, companies have taken new initiatives in the workplace, to encourage and train staff in the art of critical thinking. For example, through team building exercises. Often now, employers have ‘workshop days’, or even weekends, to engage their employees in team building exercises, and also to develop their thinking abilities, where they must solve problems, and tasks together. 
 
One example of this is ‘bridge building’. The team must make a bridge out of certain materials, chosen by the employers, which must be able to withstand a weight of approx. 1kg. This task not only is designed to improve communication skills, but also critical thinking. They must look at all their options, analyse them, and even to some extent employ the 10th man rule. It involves more than complying with the first idea given, but rather more about exploring the sources, looking at each option carefully, and selecting the most logical one after careful deliberation. 
 
This is just one of many examples of how western businesses are adopting a critical thinking teaching plan, to develop and improve themselves. Another example or technique adopted recently by employers is staff projects and presentations in problem solving. Employees are given an issue to discuss, often unrelated to their field of work,  designed to stimulate the logical side of their brain, and are then asked to report back to their managers as to how they solved it, and what their conclusions were. Linking on from this, puzzles such as the following example are used to stimulate the logical part of the brain, to help motivate the employees to apply logic in their work. 
 
Example: ‘what do the following words have in common? armchair, egg, imagination, over, understand’. 
 
By using such tasks, Western employers hope to create a workforce which apply rational thought, and therefore improve their work, and their ability to develop their company. For example, in a company’s Human Resources department, if they were presented with a case, a decision to terminate or suspend an employee for misconduct in the workplace, they must apply critical thinking. They must take the initiative, and looks for evidence, to consider all angles, each person’s opinion, and must not be swayed by personal opinion or loyalties. This process, with critical thinking, is what western businesses hope to achieve by training their employees in critical thinking, as it benefits the company as a whole, and they can continue to grow and develop. 
 
This shows how important critical thinking is becoming in Western development. In Britain, it is growing in importance as a desired skill in employees. Staff are encouraged, and even expected to solve problems on their own, and to debate ideas with other staff members, and in many cases to explain their ways of working to other members of the team. 
 
Before now critical thinking hasn’t been explored as a topic. Although the western world has been at the forefront of technology, new inventions and new discoveries, the role of critical thinking hasn’t been explored until now. Areas at the centre of western innovation, such as science, medicine, philosophy, etc. are becoming increasingly aware of critical thinking as an entity, and are studying the role critical thinking plays in their research. 
 
For example, in January 2014, The Association of American Medicine Colleges (AAMC) published an article entitled ‘More Than Memorizing Facts: Medical Schools Emphasize Research and Critical Thinking as Foundations of Learning’. For the first time the field of medicine acknowledged the role critical thinking plays, not only in diagnosing patients, or research into diseases and cures but also in teaching medical students. As the article explains new HEAL-X teaching techniques are showing students how to apply the information learned, rather than just memorise facts, such as symptoms and diseases. As it continues, it says ‘With a goal of graduating physician scientists who ideally will join the Tulane faculty, HEAL-X techniques emphasize “lifelong learning and the fact that medicine is everchanging,” said N. 
 
Kevin Krane, M.D., the medical school’s vice dean for academic affairs. Class activities include application of learned materials to clinical cases, review of material using audience response systems, team-based learning, and small group discussions.’ This article is evidence of the growing importance of critical thinking, and how it is deeply rooted in western development. 
 
 Following on from this point, critical thinking is also vital in economic growth and development. As the article ‘The Age of Critical Thinking is Here’ published on https://worldlogicleague.wordpress.com/ explains, critical thinking is helping to develop the economy, as it is increasingly becoming more influential in the employment world, as well as a desired skill amongst stock-brokers. Nowadays, economists are required to have, according to this article ‘higher-order thinking skills’ or ‘HOT skills’. These are: 
 
<ol>
<li>critical thinking,</li>
<li>communication,</li>
<li> problem solving,</li>
<li>collaboration,</li>
<li>innovation.</li>
</ol>
 
This article proves that as critical thinking becomes more affluent in education, and in businesses, so too does it in the various sectors of western culture that fuel its society and development. 
 
Western culture is, to an extent, founded on people’s ability to think individually, and to rationalise their own ideas and thoughts. Therefore, it is critical that schools develop this, as it is becoming ever more influential in western society. 
 
The development of critical thinking (critical reading and writing)  
 
Critical reading and writing skills are important for many areas of life, and feature heavily in the western educational system. In many British schools there is a lot of focus on subjects such as English Literature and History. These two subjects in particular focus on critical reading and writing. 
 
Critical writing ? 
 
For example, writing essays or reports, explaining their views, is how schools are helping students to develop their critical thinking skills. One example is the use of the PEE system (point, evidence, explain) in particular reference to these two subjects . 
 
 For example if a student were given a question such as “why is London the best city?”, the student must give a point: ‘It is the best because it has a lot of restaurants’. Following on from this, they must supply the according evidence, so for example ‘according to Tripadvisor there are 14,781 restaurants in London’. This is the proof that they have grounds for their statement, proving it to be more than just an opinion or assumption. Finally, they must explain why this is a reason their statement, for so for example ‘because there is variety, something for everyone to choose and to like etc.’ this is just an example. 
 
Exercises like this are very common in British schools, which helps to develop critical writing skills, along with how to express our views and information when we write. It helps us to develop the mentality that we must provide evidence and an explanation to our views, to show that we have analysed everything, that we have exhausted every aspect of the area of the chosen topic, and have reached this conclusion objectively. 
A current example of this: From the AQA GCSE History exam paper June 2015: To what extent did Britain face the same problems in the aftermath of both The First World War, and The Second? This type of question is typical in the development of critical writing skills in the British 
 
Education System. By using phrases such as To what extent… and How far did… it asks the student to analyse all the information, to take into consideration all the facts, and review the different outcomes. Then they must come to their own conclusions, once the evidence has been taken into account. Subjects, and exams such as these, are not solely designed to test a student’s knowledge, but also their ability to think rationally, and to come to a logical conclusion, rather than a hasty one. 
 
However, subjects such as science also encourage critical writing, as it relies heavily on collecting data to be used as evidence to prove or disprove a theory. It is completely void of emotional choices, which is exactly what critical thinking asks a person to do. 
 
Recently, as well, the government created a new subject for post-16 education. There is now an A-level called ‘General Studies’ which aims to develop a student’s knowledge, and thinking skills. According to http://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/general-studies/a-level/general-studies-a-2760 this subject aims to: encourage students to: 
 
<ul>
<li>Think across specialist subjects</li>
<li>Engage successfully with issues through the use of stimulating authentic source material</li>
<li>Develop their thinking skills, capacity to construct arguments and ability to draw conclusions</li>
<li>Improve their communication and presentation skills</li>
<li>Work independently and with others</li>
</ul>
 
This subject is evidence to changing teaching methodologies, with a higher focus on how we think, and how to better our thinking skills. 
 
Schools are developing ways to help students to individually develop their critical thinking. They are being encouraged to question what they are being told, to ask ‘why is it that?’, to offer alternatives, all of which develops the ‘10th man’ idea, and to put that into words. For example, at university, many degrees involve a dissertation, in the final year of study. It is an individual assignment, the student can choose their topic, their question, and more importantly what conclusions they hope to achieve. From here, they must then collect their data and analyse it, in order to prove whether their early assumptions were correct. This process aids the development of critical thinking, and more importantly individual thinking, without any direction from teachers or other students. It is tasks like these, in the education system that help to encourage critical thinking, and critical writing. 
 
However, the development of critical writing isn’t solely present in schools. Workplaces too are encouraging employees to question what is around them, as it prompts change which can help to develop a company. For example, in some instances employees are asked to establish new procedures or protocols. 
 
For example a new fire evacuation plan, or health and safety procedures. Exercises such as these not only re-educate staff on the importance of fire safety, and health and safety, but also enable staff to review previous work, to look for flaws, or improvements which could be made to make it a more seamless process, and therefore more logical. 
 
Following on from critical writing, critical reading is also an important element of education, as well as critical thinking as a whole. Critical reading skills develop our ability to read information, and to deduct from it the most useful. Therefore when we first read a text, we must decide which is the most important piece of information. Often, in teaching, students are asked to skim-read a text, and then to summarise it, to show how they can distinguish between necessary information and surplus. 
 
However, It is not only our interpretation of what we read, but also the consideration of the author’s opinion, how that has influenced their writing and to what extent it then influences how we read the text.We must think about why the author wrote the document, why they wanted to talk about this topic etc. 
 
Critical reading ? 
Critical reading is about interpretation as well, and how much influence to place on the author. Much like in previous examples, where the role of emotions had depleted the ability to make objective decision; so too does the emotions and the opinions of the author. It can affect how the text is read, how we value the information, or even what information is being given. Critical reading is the ability to read a text, and to evaluate its utility, its bias, and to what extent we can trust it. 
 
Therefore, when reading a Newspaper article, for example from the British Newspaper The Times, entitled ‘Tube Strike to cripple network for a week’. A person can’t just read it at face value, and accept 100% everything they see. Instead, critical reading is taking into consideration the political allegiances of the author or newspaper, or their opinions of Tube workers, for example. This is an example of how developing critical reading skills can help a person to evaluate what they read, and not to accept everything as fact, but rather to question it. 
 
This skill is also applicable to the internet. Critical thinking and critical reading give people the intuition and skills to understand and appreciate that not everything they read online is accurate, and that they should carry out their own research or investigations to reach their own conclusions, rather than to blindly follow what they have read online. 
 
However, critical reading also encompasses another skill, the ability to find hidden meanings in a text. This directly links back to how emotions can affect our rationality, and how the emotions of the author can affect the objectivity of a text. Therefore it also relates to deducting hidden meanings in a text, ‘reading between the lines’ as it were; and similarly not taking the text just at face value, but searching for alternative interpretations. 
 
There are many ways to develop critical reading skills. For example in British schools, often in subjects such as English Literature, students are given a text (a novel or a poem) and are required to discuss it, either in groups, via presentations or through essays. 
 
For example: if a student was given the poem for example The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost, they would have to analyse the text, look at Frost’s choice of words, his repetition of the phrase ‘two roads diverged in a yellow wood...’, amongst other things. They might receive a question such as ‘Looking at this poem, what do you think is the person’s motivation for choosing that path?’ This type of question requires critical reading, because there is no one answer, it is a personal interpretation of the information; as well as a personal view of the author’s opinions, emotions, and their reasons for writing the text. They must explore different eventualities, various elements and areas of a text, rather than focus solely on one aspect, or the most obvious option; and use the text as evidence to supply examples for their statements. 
 
In many ways schools develop these skills in class discussions, rather than teachers directing the students as to what to write. Critical writing and reading link in to the subject of critical thinking on a whole, which therefore means that it develops individual learning and thinking, by promoting individual interpretations and reasonings. It is hard to teach critical thinking or writing as a subject, therefore teachers create activities or exercises that can improve the basic elements of critical thinking, without necessarily having any direct link to a subject. In order to help develop these skills, british students are given homework activities, away from textbooks, to help encourage individual thinking, rather than a set formats, with set answers. Doing work like this, at home, means that the student must use their individual skills, which helps develop their critical thinking, rather than being swayed but other people’s opinions. 
 
As the online website The Conversation explains in its article ‘Teaching how to think is just as important as teaching anything else’ it is the role of the teacher to encourage inquiries, individual questioning and to encourage students to think about their thinking process. How young people in Britain develop critical thinking Critical thinking is a fairly new concept, especially in teaching. In reality, it has only been a part of the school curriculum for approximately 15 years. And yet, in that time its use and importance has continued to grow, as more and more businesses, and even schools recognise its utility in the world, and for development. 
 
 In the UK, now, there are many youth organisations which promote the use of critical thinking skills. For many of the political parties, there also exists a youth party organisation. For example the Youth Green Party. Now, one of the biggest youth political parties, the Youth Green Party is a prime example of how critical thinking is developed amongst young people. These young people join together, to discuss the topics or the manifesto of their political party, and they are encouraged to seek alternatives, or ways to implement the proposed plans. This requires inquiries, search for evidence, and also encourages them to test these existing ideas. All this amounts to ever developing critical thinking skills. However, in addition to this, political youth parties are not the only way for young people in Britain to develop critical thinking. 
 
In 2015 the first UK Youth Police Commissioner was appointed, whose role is to advise on matters relating to youth crime, and to create proposals for new initiatives to tackle the large problem in the UK. Roles such as these are new ways to encourage youth participation, and to stimulate young thinking and more importantly critical thinking, as they were tasked with finding solutions to existing problems. Schemes such as these encourage the development of critical thinking skills, as it is giving young people the opportunity to research and provide solutions or conclusions to existing problems. 
 
Certain technology companies have now created games as well to encourage critical thinking.  For example Nintendo created brain training games, not only to stimulate brain function, but also a person’s ability to solve problems. These kind of activities encourage young people to think, to explore possibilities and develop the logical side of their brain, all of which contribute to critical thinking, as it develops a person’s logical thinking skills. 
 
Social media is also helping us to develop our critical thinking skills. People have taken to social media to discuss the topic of critical thinking. On Facebook there is the page ‘Critical thinking in young people’, as well as various videos on YouTube, which also promote young people to use critical thinking in day to day life. Using the internet makes young people aware of critical thinking.  On websites such as Twitter and YouTube, young people are exposed to media reports, to articles and more importantly people’s personal opinions. By being exposed to this constantly, it develops a person’s ability to separate fact from fiction. On average young people spend 27 hours a week on social media sites, which means by creating videos, writing pop-culture articles on websites such as Buzzfeed, it exposes young people to the topic of critical thinking, and encourages them to use it. 
 
 As well as this, TV and film help to promote critical thinking. As previously stated Disaster movies such as 2012 and especially The Day After Tomorrow promote critical thinking, which in turn can influence a lot of young people, as many watch these films. By using modern technologies young people are more exposed to critical thinking, and its advantages. 
 
As well as new social developments, which encourage critical thinking, developments have been made in teaching. More recently, schools have been adding subjects such as Citizenship, and PSHE (personal, social, health, education) help to develop, not only a student’s social awareness, but their thinking skills, and in turn their critical thinking. It is in these subjects where students can debate topics, create projects etc. 
 
For example, there is a topic in PSHE called futureworlds. Students are given three different sets of events, with different consequences, which result in 3 different worlds. Students must analyse how these different sequences have affected these 3 fictional worlds, to compare them. 
 
Students, must decide, using the evidence, and analysing the results which of the three worlds is the best. They must also conclude how they would have done things differently, and what sort of world they would have created. These type of exercises develop critical thinking skills, because students must looks at the events, or the evidence, and analyse them. It is developing their ability to link information, to objectively critique, and to come to logical conclusions. 
 
 As well as this, these kinds of activities help students to structure their ideas, to search for the evidence to support their theories, and then form a logical way to explain them, to either their peers or their teacher. These exercises also encourage class debate, which also draws on the ‘10th man’ idea. Students are encouraged to take different viewpoints, and to argue, using evidence, which is true, or which is the better. 
 
A common example in British schools is the debate about Jaffa Cakes (a food snack). Students are asked to debate, ‘is a Jaffa Cake a cake or a biscuit?’ These exercises also help to develop a student’s critical thinking skills. As they are split into two groups, they cannot readily agree, they must collect evidence to support their contradicting stances. Once this is complete, they must weigh up everything that has been said, and then come to an objective conclusion. 
 
Exercises such as these are becoming more commonplace in British schools, as there is an increase in the teaching of critical thinking. An article published recently on Psychology Today talks of how last year Reebok were forced to refund $25 million to customers, after a report published by The American Council on Exercise found that their EasyTone sneakers were no better than regular sneakers. However, as this article points out, had these customers used critical thinking when purchasing these shoes they wouldn’t have spent $100-$245 on supposed toning shoes; as they say this ‘illustrates the need for critical thinking among consumers who face an onslaught of marketing campaigns that seek to persuade them to purchase things that are ‘good’ for them.’ Consumers who use critical thinking can differentiate between marketing, and the truth. This is an example of how young people should embrace critical thinking, that it still needs to be developed. But, on the other hand, the fact that this article was published shows that there has been a change and a recognition of critical thinking, and its usefulness in everyday circumstances. 
 
How to develop this ? 
 
It is difficult to develop critical thinking skills, but it would use a good variety of tasks. It requires a mixture of activities, to develop the various areas of critical thinking, as it encompasses a variety of skills. Tasks that require in depth thought and discussion help to develop skills such as cognitive thinking and critical thinking. 
 
 For example, a common exercise used in British schools and universities is: 
“If you were stuck on an island, alone, and you only had 3 items, what would you take with you?” The student must choose any three items they want, and then discuss and debate with other students why they chose those things. So for example one student may have “a lighter (to start a fire), bottled water (to drink) and a phone (to call for help)”. That is one suggestion. So then, this student has to argue why they chose those things. The idea is then that the other members of the group debate the pro’s and con’s of these items, with the aim to have one list, for the whole class to agree on, so that everyone discusses and debates the usefulness of their items. 
 
Similarly to this, the US Coast Guard use a test called Lost at Sea for applicants, to test their critical thinking skills. This test can also be used for non Coast Guard personnel, as an example test to develop critical thinking skills: 
 
‘You and your 3 friends have rented a boat, and are sailing out at sea. You have no previous sailing experience, and you are out in deep, open water, with no land in sight. Suddenly a fire breaks out, and much of the boat is destroyed, along with vital navigational and radio equipment. You and your friends have managed to save 15, undamaged items, as well as a box of matches and a rubber life boat. You must now rank the 15 items out of utility, 1 being the most useful, 15 the least: 
 
<ol>
<li>A sextant </li>
<li>A shaving mirror </li>
<li>A quantity of mosquito netting </li>
<li>A 25 liter container of water</li>
<li>A case of army rations</li>
<li>Maps of the Atlantic Ocean</li>
<li>A floating seat cushion</li>
<li>A 10 liter can of oil/petrol mixture </li>
<li>A small transistor radio </li>
<li>20 square feet of opaque plastic sheeting </li>
<li>A can of shark repellent </li>
<li>One bottle of 160 proof rum </li>
<li>15 feet of nylon rope</li>
<li>2 boxes of chocolate bars </li>
<li>An ocean fishing kit & pole </li>
</ol>
 
Once you have ranked these individually, discuss them amongst the group. This is to compare choices, but also to make a collaborative list, which in turn should be better as every person has engaged some form of critical thinking. 
 
These kind of exercises are good in promoting critical thinking, and developing such skills, because people must think rationally and logically as these are the tools needed to complete the task. Although people may find it difficult, they are developing that style of thinking, rather than relying on emotions or hasty decisions; or the opinions of other people. 
 
It is hard to create a set curriculum to develop critical thinking, because it is a way of thinking; and is directly related to the individual person; and their thought process, rather than being a set formula which can be taught by anyone to another, with set guidelines. Some critics say that it cannot be taught, but rather only advised and encouraged in students. 
 
However, despite this, schools to a certain extent can develop critical thinking amongst their students. Much of the time, in British schools, students are encouraged to think for themselves. The educational system is becoming increasingly more aware of making students question what they read and hear. They ask students to conduct their own research, or investigations. 
 
For example: The Extended Project:  AQA Level 3 Extended Project Qualification. This is a part of the education system for 16-18 year olds. It allows a student to choose their area of study, to analyse their chosen topic, by collecting relative data and information. By introducing exercises like this, it encourages students to develop independent learning skills, and independent thinking skills; instead of just learning facts. Therefore, tasks such as these develop critical thinking skills, and should be introduced into school systems worldwide, as it goes a step further in teaching. For not only does it teach students facts and knowledge, but it also teaches students to explore further, to expand on this knowledge and to draw their own conclusions. 
 
As well as this, schools have started introducing the ‘questioning technique’. By using questions such as “why is that?”, and “are you sure? 100% sure?” teachers to an extent play devil’s advocate. They encourage students to explain what we think, and why they think it. In many instances, it isn’t to achieve a right answer, for there is no right or wrong answer. These questioning techniques are an attempt to develop each student's’ personal 10th man, so they don’t blindly accept simple facts. 
 
As well as this British schools are starting to rely less on textbooks for a lot of their subjects. teachers are able to plan their own activities; which therefore allows them to use more of these types of activities. Therefore, it is possible to say that one way in develop critical thinking is to use textbooks less often, and in conjunction with independent activities. 
 
 The implementation of subjects such as “personal and social education”, which has been previously mentioned, can also help to develop critical thinking, by teaching students about how to be a good citizen, and to encourage young people to think about how they ought to behave, and how they can contribute to society.Following on from the addition of new school subjects, another way to develop critical thinking, especially in future generations, is through class projects. Students can choose a topic, for example: the environment. 
 
Therefore, they must select the information they think is the most relevant, and explain it to their fellow students; they must talk about the problems related to their topic, so in this instance, the environment. Finally, in a project, the students must supply possible solutions to the problems outlined. Activities like these help to develop critical thinking skills. 
 
As well as the development of schools, another way to develop critical thinking amongst young people, or even children, is the use of online games or activities. Websites such as: 
http://www.jumpstart.com/parents/activities/critical-thinking-activities have a variety of games and activities for children, which parents can use to encourage critical thinking. There are different activities, such as ‘Solve a Problem’. This is an activity which asks young people to consider what things influence them to make a decision, such as their friends, their emotions, what they see on TV etc. The activity then asks them to solve several problems, taking into consideration how they normally make their decisions, but also by using logic. Once they have selected their choice the computer discusses the various other options, and conclusions, to encourage them to think about the alternatives. This is just one example of the many different activities on this web page, which are fun ways to encourage young people and children to develop their critical thinking skills. 
 
Another example on this web page is ‘Make Your Menu’. This activity is designed for young children, aged 5-8. They must construct a menu containing 5 foods from various food groups, to create a balanced diet. Not only does this require them thinking about what foods make a healthy diet, but also they think about what foods they eat on a daily basis. This kind of personal reflection, even on a basic level, helps to develop a person’s critical thinking skills. 
 
To develop critical thinking, a varieties of techniques must be used, as it is a development on how we think. To do this, in my opinion, a large focus should be placed on education, to make education more interesting. By doing this, we encourage students to get involved, and to enjoy learning; and as such to think about how they think. The main way to develop critical thinking is by encouraging students to participate in class, to voice their ideas, and to help them to learn how to explain them well. By encouraging the individual to create their own ideas, to express themselves, we encourage independent thinking, which is the start point to critical thinking. 
 
Critical thinking is an individual development, so we as a society must teach young people about the importance of the individual, not only for themselves, but the power an individual can have in regards to society, and to civilisation. By encouraging people to better themselves, we encourage them to want to better society by seeking alternatives and improvements, which in turns develops critical thinking. In order to develop critical thinking, we must first learn to critique ourselves and society, which increases our awareness of the world around us. This all contributes to a person’s ability for critical thinking, as they are more open to suggestions, personal improvements, and development on a whole. 
 
In time, with fundamental changes to the education system, critical thinking will become a fundamental skill, acquired through education and life-experience which will hopefully be encouraged by society. This will in turn emphasise to people how important it is to understand the decision-making process, to understand how we think and in turn will lead to future generations with a better ability to make logical, rational and objective decisions which can benefit society as a whole. 
 
Sources: 
 
http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/critical-thinking 
 
http://www.thinkwatson.com/think-red/red-critical-thinking-model 
 
http://www.capitalcommentary.org/israel/tenth-man 
 
https://www.aamc.org/newsroom/reporter/january2014/366626/research-critical-thinking.html 
 
https://worldlogicleague.wordpress.com/ 
 
http://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/general-studies/a-level/general-studies-a-2760 
 
http://theconversation.com/teaching-how-to-think-is-just-as-important-as-teaching-anything-else-46073 
 
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/in-one-lifespan/201210/critical-thinking-and-real-world-outcomes 
 
http://insight.typepad.co.uk/lost_at_sea.pdf 
 
By Hannah E.J

Critical Thinking (part 2)

Critical thinking What is critical thinking? Critical thinking, is as The Oxford Dictionary describes ‘The objective analysis and evalu...

06:33

Critical thinking in the British Educational System (part 1)

What is critical thinking?Critical thinking is about logical thinking, and reasoning. It is the ability to look at information and to decide which is the most useful, or the most relevant to an argument. It is about forming an idea, or opinion and creating a logical way to explain that idea. Critical thinking is the development of the skill to create ideas to solve problems, to order information according to importance or usefulness, and to express a point briefly and clearly. As well as this, critical thinking is described as being goalorientated. That is to say, when a person has a target, critical thinking is the skill to prioritise things, to put them in an order of importance, to achieve that goal. Overall, it is our ability to express our opinions and ideas in a creative and logical way, as well as our ability to use the information we a given in a good and constructive way. 
 
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-AkxcsDNSU7WbWDvZoIPPm7QcnZLD5Asq95XL9bhjTbDz30nL-Eyh4T4bRYKIVp8IMkynm2CNMlh7K4aYPeq10Ku23cRSuVw4y_Q77tyIm4Sk74MrUlLq6uq2LWrtxVuab0NIMwEeLsSS/s1600/Critical_Thinking_Skills_Diagram.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-AkxcsDNSU7WbWDvZoIPPm7QcnZLD5Asq95XL9bhjTbDz30nL-Eyh4T4bRYKIVp8IMkynm2CNMlh7K4aYPeq10Ku23cRSuVw4y_Q77tyIm4Sk74MrUlLq6uq2LWrtxVuab0NIMwEeLsSS/s400/Critical_Thinking_Skills_Diagram.jpg" width="392" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">source : citcom.eu</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
What is it’s role in Western development? 
 
Critical thinking is an important part of western culture. We use it everyday in different ways and at different levels. In the workplace people are encouraged to solve problems on their own, and to debate ideas with other staff members, and in many cases to explain their ways of working to other members of the team. We use it in regards to the economy, the stock exchange etc. 
 
Brokers use critical thinking to predict stock movement, to help the economy grow. it is used in  politics, and law, as politicians and lawyers have to argue their ideas in a logical and clear way for everyone to understand them, and to understand their plans. These are just two examples. Western development is founded on people’s ability to think individually, and to prioritise their ideas, goals and arguments. It is based on our need to explain and to rationalise so that we can achieve what we need to quickly, and to a high level. It has such a large importance in western working life because it is extremely important in our educational systems. Schools develop this skill early on in education, right from the start, students are encouraged to explain their ideas, and to construct an argument to prove their ideas, to explain their opinions, and even debate them in class. 
 
The development of critical thinking (critical reading and writing) 
 
Critical reading and writing skills are important in the western educational system. A lot of the time students have to write essays or reports and explain our views. For example in English Literature and History we have a system called PEE (point, evidence, explain). For example if a student had a question such as “why is London the best city?”, the student must give a point: ‘It is the best because it has a lot of restaurants’, and then evidence, so for example ‘in Trafalgar square there are over 50 restaurants, all different types of food’, and then they have to explain why this is a reason for London to be the best city, so for example ‘because there is variety, something for everyone to choose and to like etc.’ this is just an example. But exercises like this are very common in British schools, and it is how we learn about critical writing, how to express our views and the information when we write. 
 
When we think about critical reading, we have to read a text, decide which is the most important  piece of information and explain. We read a text and try to think about why the author wrote the  document, why they wanted to talk about this topic etc. Critical reading for us is about interpretation, the way we read the novel or newspaper article. To develop critical reading, in British schools we are given a poem for example and we have to explain what it made us feel, were we happy? or sad? and explain why, by using examples from the poem. To develop these skills, british students are given homework activities, away from textbooks, and without the help of other students, and are asked to look at information and to interpret that. Work to do at home, and class discussions are how we develop our critical reading and writing skills. 
 
How young people in Britain develop critical thinking 
 
Young people in Britain develop this skill, mostly through subjects like history and literature at school. We have to write essays and reports, and explain different ideas, to explain to our teachers our interpretations of facts, not just that we know the facts. For example in my history class, we were given an event in history (a fact from history), and we had to explain its importance, how it had affected other events, or the people involved. We had to know more than just the information, we had to explain why it was important, and how it had changed other events, its impact on things. In subjects such as literature we study a novel, or a poem and the teacher will ask us “what do you think the author is saying in this text?”, “why do you think he/she wrote this?” It isn’t about what happens in the book etc. We have to study why they wrote what they did, and other things like this. Also, schools encourage us to debate. So, for example the class is split into two groups, and one group has to argue one point, the other group another point. For example one group has to argue that summer is the best weather, whilst the other has to argue that winter is the better weather. It can be any topic the teacher chooses, but when we debate and argue it helps us develop ideas and opinions, and then how to explain them well. After the debate, the whole class discusses the result and we can see how we developed a plan to show our ideas and how we could improve our skills. British schools need students to participate in class, to talk to the teacher. We don’t just listen to our teachers, but often we have to explain to our teacher what we have learnt, in our own words, which again helps us to develop our own way of thinking and analysing information. 
 
In regards to goalorientated thinking, in our first week of school our teacher asks us 3 questions “what would you like to do when you finish school?”, “what would you like to do when you are 30?”, “what one thing would you like to achieve whilst you are in school?”. Then students have to answer these, explain why, and how they are going to achieve it. This helps us to develop our planning skills, our logical thinking, and our ability to prioritise events, and to achieve what we want in a logical way. It is about how we plan for the future, how we want to develop our own future and how we want to contribute to our society. However, it isn’t only in our educational system that we can develop our critical thinking. In my friendship group we often discuss TV programmes, or movies, so talking about it with someone who has a different opinion can help a person understand how to express their ideas logically and rationally. 
 
How to develop this 
 
To develop critical thinking, it is good to use a variety of tasks. For example, in Britain there are  critical reading exercises, where a student must read a document (Newspaper article, for example) and explain in no more than 50 words what the document was about. This develops our ability to read a lot of information, and to prioritise what information is important, and what is extra detail. Another way is through problem solving games or exercises. For example, in my school we played this game: 
 
“If you were stuck on an island, alone, and you only had 3 items, what would you take with you?” The student must choose any three items they want, and then discuss and debate with other students why they chose those things. So for example one student may have “a lighter" (to start a fire), bottled water (to drink) and a phone (to call for help). That is a suggestion. So then, this student has to argue why they chose those things. The idea is at the end to have one list of 3 items, for the whole class to agree on, so that everyone discusses and debates the usefulness of their items. 
 
It is hard to develop critical thinking, because it is a way of life. Our educational system asks us to question what we read. They ask us “why is that?” a lot, and we have to explain what we think. In many classes there is no right or wrong answer. Our schools don’t use textbooks for a lot of their subjects, teachers can plan their own activities, which allows for more of these activities. So, one way to develop critical thinking is to use fewer textbooks. We also have subjects called “personal and social education” which help develop critical thinking, by teaching students about how to be a good citizen, and what young people think is good behaviour. Class projects is also a way to develop critical thinking. Students can choose a topic, such as the environment, and so they pick the information they think is the most important for the other students to know about, they have to talk about the problems with the environment, and create possible solutions. Activities like these help to develop critical thinking skills. To develop critical thinking, schools must use a variety of ways, and change them, to make education more interesting, and to encourage students to get involved, and to enjoy learning. The main way to develop critical thinking is by encouraging students to participate in class, to voice their ideas, and to help them to learn how to explain them well. 
 
By Hannah E.J

Critical thinking in the British Educational System (part 1)

What is critical thinking? Critical thinking is about logical thinking, and reasoning. It is the ability to look at information and to decid...

06:27

Using Google Tools As Reasearch Tool For NGO

<a href="http://blogceden.blogspot.com/2015/06/using-google-tools-as-reasearch-tool.html" target="_blank">Using Google Tools As Reasearch Tool For NGO</a> a case study of philanthropy website.  
 
<h4>
Keyword Search: Philanthropy</h4>
<a href="http://blogceden.blogspot.com/2015/06/using-google-tools-as-reasearch-tool.html" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="128" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSWvgbO884dm7BCP8_vSSwLEtfx0eM9Zpu-zzZI5WQRvCXGCpCAlBUc7VA63_uwZxlL9alqtwFtZ-S4d6tpUiO091YihM4bKvyxTZNhUEs-qnN6gISHLQm3wg_L2EqatlMOl4dVFSZawxS/s320/a1.png" width="320" /></a>With the growing prevalence of key word search engines has come alongside the benefit ofa rather helpful research tool for an unfamiliar topic. Using the example of Philanthropy, this document will explore the many ways it can benefit research. 
 
 
 
 
<a href="http://blogceden.blogspot.com/2015/06/using-google-tools-as-reasearch-tool.html" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYaB3SuTiq3QdaVhkhsq_BTnmve1vYwJar0ZFQ44_vZT0ovjAd3sJr06vDJXXaSdN6mXgr0F161fojvDu58X_6UBY9oEK2s_DxIW1xDnJFN5OWIng9w6qd6Ow7uUlubzAMQGY-_zOMX2pM/s1600/a2.png" /></a>An initial Google Search of your topic will link you to some associated search terms. So for example, for philanthropy I used an online encyclopaedia, dictionary, thesaurus and news article. This aided in providing me with my main buzz words. 
 
 
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://blogceden.blogspot.com/2015/06/using-google-tools-as-reasearch-tool.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> </a></div>
<a href="http://blogceden.blogspot.com/2015/06/using-google-tools-as-reasearch-tool.html" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh41hmZfncbTmcJBybHSy6AFzeGwDrL0nLecDTnsRqbNQ62AWRPVhX7FeMKkJJSWKLd9oATV0Sf6VOuNt4f9RCzJ2-K-6gJCaEvR-qi7V7DOFLfPvJ74ppbt1A_-EmrPqNCtPsZpiEljg2G/s1600/a3.png" /></a> 
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://blogceden.blogspot.com/2015/06/using-google-tools-as-reasearch-tool.html" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> </a></div>
 
<a href="http://blogceden.blogspot.com/2015/06/using-google-tools-as-reasearch-tool.html" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbdUla1E0TIfsJCNKEJ2HH7dKXFolA6nZcUvgh168xnWm6hkB9u8Dye6YNFJ7uTeNxPAM2WBTWrnjzVs4H0Z9ysOo5NfknQwrExX9hEfWTv6-3MjYBmHdpM421fN8Qho5KntC-e-PMyVrZ/s1600/a4.png" /></a>The next stage of my research involved the use of the Keyword software website – Ubersuggest (<a href="http://ubersugggest.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://Ubersugggest.org</a>). It provides an extended version of the Google Suggestions that appear in the search tool. You simply enter a search term, choose a region, and press suggest. 
 
 
 
 
Ubersuggest provides an extremely quick search and within seconds you can receive up to 300 results. A disadvantage, however, is that it doesn’t offer any insight as to how popular each search query is. So, for example, when I searched “Philanthropy”, many of the Uber-suggestions were of misspellings of the word “philanthropy.” As there is no form of filter many of the results are irrelevant such as “Metal Gear Solid: Philanthropy” – a video game which has no bearing of significance to my research. 
 
 
<a href="http://blogceden.blogspot.com/2015/06/using-google-tools-as-reasearch-tool.html" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz8haivqSdkaakLuJCuUIbieQuQbV2oFYe5J_RgCXeV-86Fu2MPEdVLJISpDiCzqdg7Td63t7HAwohKeDLuafA3vxsbq2VyFBnTkL-ivx2Z-5NpnhvHGSZDnheolN4EsDibWjrPZIwjUr3/s320/a5.png" width="185" /></a>I began by searching for Human Welfare. And then I repeated this method with all my buzz words found in my initial research. Ubersuggest doesn’t have any way of searching for more than one keyword at a time, thus has to be done one-by-one. Whilst this wasn’t time consuming for me, if you had a lot of data which need be extracted, this could prove to be monotonous.  
<a href="http://blogceden.blogspot.com/2015/06/using-google-tools-as-reasearch-tool.html" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> </a>
To retrieve all this search data easily and extract it into Excel choose the “Select All Keyword Functions”: 
 
<a href="http://blogceden.blogspot.com/2015/06/using-google-tools-as-reasearch-tool.html" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="313" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia4vTciBUsgxa7mzBHjq3tFsJ_YyW01-gzwtRoWugLt7WT9a4Wrh5tSd8qQsFlEHysnIX_uqEgk77lQnCCEMfCNE3-Y9ou_PRN14HOTtbABfm1S4ySo-QIN81Wkf6pNw_gfM59xrL5Lg6v/s640/a6.png" width="640" /></a> 
 
 
 
<a href="http://blogceden.blogspot.com/2015/06/using-google-tools-as-reasearch-tool.html" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="249" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9A2w4qsKR-5hkIrCGaSJhTmRM1aEzcBM7YNfvJq-ocKEYYabrgR95cCWRoW6gY4NBgXebGfXPL6x6cLc2ngnQW6p7oQvzw91rINJuXK-4qoG5Oka0rl1vZLNI-ozcAqbUPaaGUyyC3ysp/s640/a7.png" width="640" /></a> 
 
 
<a href="http://blogceden.blogspot.com/2015/06/using-google-tools-as-reasearch-tool.html" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0I-crG1g30wBU1dgurXzbPXBzjSiIF_CNcDqXCEI4HZioT3lqyt_UOqqLI0rKYdGMQ_3fe8ndSPvjTIeHV5rZzYV_TvITaSyYQ3NhoK9B_VtQiNzUuMuoaRXqMzhntwhqJlZ9w7QVXBLL/s400/a8.png" width="350" /></a>In order to delete any doubling I highlighted the whole column, chose the “Data” tab and clicked “Remove Duplicates.” 
Next, after all the duplicates had been removed, I used the “Sort” button to arrange the results alphabetically.   
<a href="http://blogceden.blogspot.com/2015/06/using-google-tools-as-reasearch-tool.html" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a> 
This is where Excel surpasses other programs as it is an extremely quick and efficient method of sorting through the search results from Ubersuggest; although it does little for excluding anomalies. 
 
 
 
<a href="http://blogceden.blogspot.com/2015/06/using-google-tools-as-reasearch-tool.html" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a>Once my results were sorted I created Tree-Maps in excel to display my results. This provided a nice visual aid of my results. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
<a href="http://blogceden.blogspot.com/2015/06/using-google-tools-as-reasearch-tool.html" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="147" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCrIfg687vhfbL8P9Syyxui-yH1984xwBHPbPdSf24g8CLlLGKzh922CCeWw57KXldyPG_R8zOt6nHfdhEVd38twLUslMZLiIVqoB466WBTWA9_sF9E9YiRRGfM6o3vf-AOx_NC23mib3o/s400/a9.png" width="400" /></a>For reliable and current statistics for my research I used Google Trends (www.google.co.uk/trends) 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
<a href="http://blogceden.blogspot.com/2015/06/using-google-tools-as-reasearch-tool.html" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj_IGetxMgtmxjQWSjXj5qzXXtJOkgvTkRCvKGjLKeZBZyWCYdTAdOwdq7YYlwkh9tlr0QYo30eCYRC7H0quJhSkGvo2qNk3vTfjgSIJHuC1Qllx-cooaEvg1g8v0jqJm4jTvd6cn8kKJ-/s400/a10.png" width="400" /></a>Here you can find out the number of searches in each year, regional interest and related searches. 
 
 
 
 
 
<a href="http://blogceden.blogspot.com/2015/06/using-google-tools-as-reasearch-tool.html" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="147" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTVU-GBg1JMPm4Z0MDxjaCJUeBfEzzrky0PqpHyO8ckWE5lUPPxpSzg74BntR6aSaHZYgINGjou_deh4blDv0wA3EPjgN79v_-teLKO3WmUvzGajyx9rgihyqjaOO6EKts-TAX1IXKOml9/s640/a11.png" width="640" /></a> 
 
<h4>
Google AdWords</h4>
Google AdWords gets a website to the top of searches in the form of prominent ‘sponsored links’ on the google search page. 
How does Google AdWords work? 
•    You create a simple advert by choosing keywords and phrases that are relevant to your business. 
•    Whenever anyone uses these keywords whilst searching: a link to your website will appear 
•    Thus Google AdWords is an effective marketing technique, as the audience who see your advert are already searching for your business. 
 
<h4>
How to choose the perfect keywords?</h4>
•    It’s vital to choose relevant words and phrases that will bring an audience that want to be your customer. 
•    Quality is more important than quantity: Google AdWords charge on a ‘pay-per-click’ policy, thus getting huge traffic into your website isn’t important, if they are there for the wrong reasons. 
 
 
<a href="http://blogceden.blogspot.com/2015/06/using-google-tools-as-reasearch-tool.html" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwxC-FqHG6sF4ADdy2_Cfq3xT3ajS5kyZaWOmYywt6Ej3UmqAJwMS82ygiJNzcvXRsZplCsC1fp76-yEUo3fkrSEk5N9RQdSYbLiO4VnFdsQevB2ixFxuZWojzMk6pI-DDV8ggoidmGO37/s400/a12.png" width="400" /></a> 
 
 
<h4>
Positives of Google Ad-words</h4>
•    AdWords ads can be really helpful if you’re looking to drive traffic to your site quickly. SEO (Search Engine Optimization) can take weeks, sometimes months to take effect. AdWords is instant. 
 
•    You can be up and running on AdWords in a very short space of time. While there is a lot more to AdWords than just campaigns, ad groups, keywords and ads, these are the building blocks. And you can set them up very quickly. Do a bit of keyword research, decide on your budget, set up a campaign and a few ad groupsand away you go! Your ads will appear as soon as they’ve been approved, which could be instantaneous. 
 
•    You have the chance to appear on the first page of the Internet’s largest search engine! And what does that mean? Unprecedented exposure! And you’re appearing to someone who’s actively searching for what you offer when they really need it. 
 
•    AdWords doesn’t have to be expensive. Sure, if you’re a personal injury lawyer, you might be looking at a cost per click of about £50-£60, but if you’re not, it’s quite easy for small businesses to set up small, tightly optimised campaigns and reap the benefits. You can specify how much you’re willing to spend, and set your maximum cost per click for your keywords, and then you only pay for clicks. This allows you to maintain control of your spend. 
 
<h4>
Negatives of Google Ad-words</h4>
•    You pay for clicks. That means that you pay whenever someone clicks on your ad, regardless of whether that click converted or not. So you may get clicks from visitors who have no intention of ever buying your product or service. 
 
•    You are restricted by the amount of characters you’re allowed. 25 in the headline, 35 each in the two lines of text and 35 in the display URL. And you ideally need to include an attention-grabbing headline, keywords, benefits and a call to action in that. 
 
•    It can be tricky. There’s a rather steep learning curve when it comes to AdWords, and mistakes may cost you dear. You need to invest quite a lot of time after the campaign’s been set up to ensure that it has been done so properly. And then you need to keep monitoring it to find out what’s converting and what’s not, and so on. 
 
•    Google looks at the quality of your landing pages too, so if your website is not up to scratch in terms of relevancy to the search query, so you can’t just rely on AdWords to get you traffic and neglect your SEO. Make sure your landing pages are good, and that they relate to what’s in your ads. This will improve your Quality Score, which will mean you pay less for your clicks. 
 
 
<h4>
What is Search Engine Optimization (SEO)?</h4>
As opposed to Google Ad-words, this is what is known as ‘organic search.’ Search engine optimization (SEO) can be described as strategies and tactics used to ensure that a site is accessible to a search engine and improves the chances that the site will be found by the search engine. 
The goal of successful SEO is to obtain a high-ranking placement in the search results page of a search engine (e.g. Google, Bing, Yahoo and other search engines).  Internet users often do not click through pages and pages of search results, so where a site ranks in a search is essential for directing more traffic toward the site. 
The higher a website naturally ranks in organic results of a search, the greater the chance that that site will be visited by a user. 
<h4>
SEO vs Google Ad-words </h4>
<a href="http://blogceden.blogspot.com/2015/06/using-google-tools-as-reasearch-tool.html" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMh7uoQ3KAfAKALCtZhld6O2iVkIKVHwd9ON3FTnB8No6wBuQlU3teNDQu3JcstzPDgqosk0KSYhzWPL94qUp2166GY_M48VcO7qvlLEOcaUCb7wj_lI1xBTU8UyY5dyxczNnP-trMR08h/s400/a13.png" width="400" /></a>•    SEO takes longer than Adwords to get results but can assist you in getting high rank in Google for an amount of key search terms. 
•    There’s no charge per click linked with the organic search results. But, on the other hand requires a typically small ongoing expenditure to sustain your search engine rankings. 
•    Adwords can be switched on and off instantaneously while SEO can take a lot longer to make an effect on search results. 
•    Adwords more or less assurance your business is being displayed in the search results. There are numerous of ways people can search for you, your business or your products and services. There’s no assurance you’ll rank in the organic search results but you’re just about guaranteed a ranking with Adwords 
•    AdWords pulls instant traffic from the start of the campaign. This is useful for new websites or services and products that are seasonal. 
•    Adwords targets abundant variations that you have around particular keywords 
•    Adwords ads are displayed on top of the organic listings. On some screens this frequently denotes all the visitor sees. 
<a href="http://blogceden.blogspot.com/2015/06/using-google-tools-as-reasearch-tool.html" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> </a>
The website <a href="http://tuthiendoanhnghiep.com/" target="_blank">Phylantrophy of Vietnam</a>  in this case study is <a href="http://tuthiendoanhnghiep.com/" target="_blank">HERE</a> 
 
By Amir - Minh Vu

Using Google Tools As Reasearch Tool For NGO

Using Google Tools As Reasearch Tool For NGO a case study of philanthropy website. Keyword Search: Philanthropy With the growing preva...

23:45

Google Trends and Google Correlate As A Reasearch Tool For NGO

<a href="http://blogceden.blogspot.com/2015/06/google-trends-and-google-correlate-as.html" target="_blank">Google Trends and Google Correlate As A Reasearch Tool For NGO</a>. 
 
Google Trends (<a href="http://www.google.com/trends/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.google.com/trends/</a>) allows you to compare the popularity of search terms, so for example the chart below informs me that the search term “VPA” has been continuously been a more popular search term than “FLEGT), especially spiking in popularity in 2007. 
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://blogceden.blogspot.com/2015/06/google-trends-and-google-correlate-as.html" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="408" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje2MKGvStUe0PwCk1lWOKsO2yxazX3CTZlqdoHEW_HDfM9cYwH4HqPFyuwgWioEuV1MHmX9WBRhDxy0bjtovg4SP4hJbLwmIBM6gddNqwDoA6F6EhIzwl8m3vTR_yH8fUIOg1pDKkuf7V6/s640/a1.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Finding hot trends of keywords</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://blogceden.blogspot.com/2015/06/google-trends-and-google-correlate-as.html" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> </a></div>
Google Trends also has a specific section called Google Flu Trends – and although not relevant to my topic of FLEGT-VPA is still a very interesting example about the utility of KeyWord software in general. 
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://blogceden.blogspot.com/2015/06/google-trends-and-google-correlate-as.html" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFlwoPwK_3ofw-qStTp1csofWxlCc0nOY4htvRv5CpoGXZ0r9wYWyaGAWOagoePdwos77Q-SusBjdiaOUcYBIQn4iW9YufmHTl06uY6DmAfPrC9qp6YeqYMS2yJLtu3xMZWqBvUYSr4-25/s400/a2.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Google Flu Trends</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Google worked with the American Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and found that there is a correlation between the number of people searching for flu related searches online and the number of people worldwide with recorded flu symptoms. With seasonal flu epidemics causing 250,000 to 500,000 deaths worldwide, early prediction of flu epidemics could help prevention and help change global public health and save many lives worldwide. 
 
Using a certain formula and a history of past trends, Google Flu Trends predicts the Flu Trends for more than 25 countries worldwide and the specific cities within them. You can even view Google Flu Trends on Google Earth – helping to create a real awareness of the potential for a flu outbreak, so the necessary precautions can be taken. Google can now literally save lives! 
 
Google Correlate, (<a href="http://www.google.com/trends/correlate">http://www.google.com/trends/correlate</a>) is another part of Google Trends, enables you to see search terms that are correlated with another search term in a specific region. For example, if you search “losing weight”, you might not be surprised by the correlation with “burn fat”, but surprised with “houses to rent” correlation – helping you to build up a real idea of your target audience’s wide-range of interests. You can also measure the correlation across a time period, or across different states, so you can see the areas where a particular search term is the most popular. For example, I searched the results for “gỗ” in Vietnam, the Vietnamese for Timber, and can see that there is a correlation between gỗ and the following terms. 
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://blogceden.blogspot.com/2015/06/google-trends-and-google-correlate-as.html" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLykM-p3CRx2itGYaVb6QTpMwD3e6Ao33e_Q1M4ZSCbQ0QRdLrhMOnDgrME0hy7htKNl8HsGyZ2Y7w0K2070H47mWDcMDuEGQCYxnTqRN9VKkIJHFOKl3at6D1p5RV3fDT2woIAJS2Rbag/s1600/a3.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Finding the correlate trends</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
 
Once you have researched enough to create a website, Google AdWords is a simple way to gain publicity. It enables you to create sponsored ads, so that when a Google user searches for a particular phrase, your result appears at the top. You only pay when somebody visits your webpage, which translates as only having to pay when the publicity of your website, and thus organisation increases. 
 
You can also select your budget – however large or small, making the tool a very flexible tool, which can be used to increase the publicity of your webpage. So, if for example I wanted to make a website publicising information about FLEGT-VPA, I could ensure that my webpage came up and got publicity, while only paying for every person that it informed about the FLEGT-VPA process. 
 
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://blogceden.blogspot.com/2015/06/google-trends-and-google-correlate-as.html" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="159" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpeIUjsZD5SGFIO910wqQB1JyMYUy3QsQa5K0A1PaMpdD5u0yNoKxGJxkYrQeqt06U3pizxvLgC73l0m12CTf08sQoKDb4eemAAM5YWlD4TBu2sPzEVi27MyAxzeheoKDbCfBb-wcMXHmv/s640/a4.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Optimizing your communication campaign</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
 
These online tools are an excellent way to research a topic and gain a basic grasp of the topic and anything related that you may need to research further. The global network of the internet is continuing to make research easier! 
 
 
By Florence -Minh Vu

Google Trends and Google Correlate As A Reasearch Tool For NGO

Google Trends and Google Correlate As A Reasearch Tool For NGO . Google Trends ( http://www.google.com/trends/ ) allows you to compare th...

22:56

Keyword Planner As A Research Tool For NGO

<a href="http://blogceden.blogspot.com/2015/06/keyword-planner-as-research-tool-for-ngo.html" target="_blank">Keyword Planner As A Research Tool For NGO</a>, using free KeyWord Planner software as a research tool when creating a website: how to make your website the most effective tool it can be! 
 
 
A number of free online Key Word online tools, collect data about popular searches and can be used an excellent tool to build up information about the interests of your target audience, so that your webpage is as popular as it has the potential to be. Now, imagine that you are unfamiliar with a topic but you have been told to create a website on this unfamiliar topic, and you need to ensure that the website is as relevant as possible to the topic and cuts across the key trends. This is where KeyWord software can help you! 
 
Using the Case Study example of the FLEGT-VPA process in Vietnam, the agreement with the EU that is currently in negotiations, to reduce illegal timber by making sure that any Timber products exported to the EU are made from legal timber, this article will show you how KeyWord software can be a great research tool! 
 
An initial Google Search on your topic, will usually link you to an article which contains some basic search terms. For me, this article below (<a href="http://www.fern.org/campaign/forest-law-and-governance/what-flegt-vpa" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.fern.org/campaign/forest-law-and-governance/what-flegt-vpa</a> ) gave me a basic introduction to the topic, and alerted me that some of the Key Terms are: 
 
•    FLEGT 
•    VPAs 
•    Illegal Logging 
•    EU Forest Law Enforcement 
 
 
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://blogceden.blogspot.com/2015/06/keyword-planner-as-research-tool-for-ngo.html" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="352" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht_qapis0GuCEJHdp8Gyd3e7ge6irl7VOuBmGuHm98zuEwApu6mf0-Y-tzAJaBHhGE_ZHCmNcDNHe3iMC8sDUIly5qEOV8AUgfIVdIv0dFjM2xjpQE8A86c3dCSIYpOTgGjlhuYXAJstwl/s640/a1.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Finding Seeding keywords</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
 
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://blogceden.blogspot.com/2015/06/keyword-planner-as-research-tool-for-ngo.html" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWwkwaSJC8riUzgiiQ_jAm6dFMMs6_IMNxDWLNc_GEHi0UKlYClwAM79tcaPG3-G61AbG4VijswhAWwntqnlj9AqYWT1ZKF8uSmvRmk33qJ498wkaSpg-sKMo5XTqdwYysZxd9BWO1tHHG/s1600/a2.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ȕbersuggest brings many related Seeding keywords</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The next stage of my research, is to use one of the simplest KeyWord software websites - Ȕbersuggest (<a href="http://ubersuggest.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://ubersuggest.org</a>) . It provides an extended version of the Google Suggestions that appear in the search tool; you simply, enter a search term, choose the platform which you want to search (For example, Web, Images, Shopping) and press Suggest! 
 
<a href="http://blogceden.blogspot.com/2015/06/keyword-planner-as-research-tool-for-ngo.html" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> </a>
 
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://blogceden.blogspot.com/2015/06/keyword-planner-as-research-tool-for-ngo.html" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6nJdxLL6rtq4e3-l1FSy5AQfjDJ3GSG79JuMYcBkoU6Iv3ju_kmOsgMViJhSCWSZFEZ-k44wLPbZP_Zp-PKM_PsF1IItF_-qx8pLb0xm7ORK3sksGlBPSVf8B-pHRNwZ3H5hUIRBLfLNd/s1600/a3.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Long tail keywords of FLEGT</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
To start with I searched FLEGT, and this will help me to get an idea of the terms related to FLEGT. The next step is to use the “Select All Keyword functions”, this then highlights all of the key words. <a href="http://blogceden.blogspot.com/2015/06/keyword-planner-as-research-tool-for-ngo.html" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a> 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
<a href="http://blogceden.blogspot.com/2015/06/keyword-planner-as-research-tool-for-ngo.html" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a>

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://blogceden.blogspot.com/2015/06/keyword-planner-as-research-tool-for-ngo.html" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTNsj_3i_Gd2Oag8zfLh6nKVDIyO2ukaSTeGS7AzVpH_Q5uyyOF2JWMpoDex6k0pvGAUFHF3-FjuKZjoJNFkr7Bu_cY2p1g6rOXFxgFIBWaT_IwqrmO4MWo-8tQlOtbiXVQHoo7RBMhU7A/s1600/a4.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Copy to an Excel database file</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
 
 
 
Using the “Select All Keywords” and then the “get” function, you can easily copy and export these suggestions to another file. This helps you to gain an understanding of the topics related to your chosen topic. In order to keep a better record of these related searches, I am going to export these keywords into an Excel file, so that later I can sort the search results. 
 
<a href="http://blogceden.blogspot.com/2015/06/keyword-planner-as-research-tool-for-ngo.html" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"> </a>
 
 
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://blogceden.blogspot.com/2015/06/keyword-planner-as-research-tool-for-ngo.html" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqmCfNR5LHo7dZ00v7w7lhZxLNN7mI5aufOBp0uRfCF7HD1RoHq46y82nXC6_stXmg_3LKtS45_LjeG7kOYc0TPrGOosj50qokAmq1wnlCIjvf6tugF_OVBttUXxZWk_zSvP-OolK6bQar/s1600/a5.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Get to copy all selected keywords</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://blogceden.blogspot.com/2015/06/keyword-planner-as-research-tool-for-ngo.html" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="269" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1AK2uOs2AdmXjbQ9cYTXpl18VbZMqdf20InwArVg4Qt_DPtCXf9Ivq3ayqqtp9WhiTvxwYMSP_SFQJK2pj9puHnU_-YN2AqbHnOVqcEZWmAhwRYF3rA2RM0KFIXkeoUjA6AwAObQpEYRT/s400/a6.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Copy text then paste into Excel </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
 
 
The next step, was to repeat the same process with similar phrases relating to the FLEGT topic – I collected the KeyWord results for the other KeyWords “Illegal logging”, “EU’s Forest Law Enforcement” and “VPA”.I decided to search for “Voluntary Partnership Agreement” rather than “VPA” because many of the search results for “VPA” were irrelevant. 
 
 
 
 
   
I exported these results into an excel document, and had a total of 424 results about my topic – and it only took me about 5 minutes!  Next, I highlighted all of the search results and used the “Sort & Filter” button to arrange the results alphabetically. 
<a href="http://blogceden.blogspot.com/2015/06/keyword-planner-as-research-tool-for-ngo.html" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a> 
 
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://blogceden.blogspot.com/2015/06/keyword-planner-as-research-tool-for-ngo.html" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="339" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv6p3Ny3OCZYDGnz4h7fLjV4CXgUTiv3qpdJh1oyAP1LG4xee_xh-b-0-eahkBsy_aW7_2fAF__hZOzzSyV74CQmfGzUYTYWEVxRL6Q2Onf_ZcU9eXR699mr17GBAth4D1MBNdY1fcVZNT/s640/a7.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sorting keywords</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
 
This enabled me very easily to see any duplicate results and delete them – I had a total of 313 results. Next I sorted them into different categories, as you can see below: 
 
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://blogceden.blogspot.com/2015/06/keyword-planner-as-research-tool-for-ngo.html" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWbLFXrsMc1cARb8Ip4V_GfoNiowrjbK9jANHSHBOD41SZvKWfDeZcHIXqeu8aDVWEAMQehi5AA1uy-OfWOat18AlPIciDdLueI-Pm2ukKWlNJjBSLytbnhKh1gUuAJf9FQWVO_uw2yUI8/s1600/a8.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Removing the duplicate keywords</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
 
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://blogceden.blogspot.com/2015/06/keyword-planner-as-research-tool-for-ngo.html" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="331" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhANYb4nNqJMJXG1cOaq9w22AVxtgpwDE3sBV5RGVkzxa6gbeNdEUJBOAaYZw8Q06EOGQ-_xcB1Bmadi4P7k8YgL9peCeiai6ukSlyI6Qg3idOjhZ-A9MzDMB-eJEU3NehrCZdn9Tr_VZML/s640/a9.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Grouping keywords into categoríe</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
 
 
For the next stage, I utilised the “Smart Art” function of excel to create the following Hierachy tree: 
 
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://blogceden.blogspot.com/2015/06/keyword-planner-as-research-tool-for-ngo.html" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="343" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizEuEQPbzzLBrXg0woktF0izWh_zhBP-3mXZWtDQyHsObqhcFNBuEbwhpfv3o-6eIodjJYJYrx5TqZnwld6TU9OFPxRHavsDzY0-UcVAKmqTv_P-Qp4RicNTB_GmqeWId9x8b73cNqrQZG/s640/a10.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">“Smart Art” helps to create the following Hierarchy tree then you can make a website structure</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The areas related my topic of FLEGT-VPA are now well presented in categories on a Hierachy tree that I can easily print out and utilise. I now, have a well organised, well-presented and well-researched idea of my topic! The website <a href="http://flegtvpa.com/" target="_blank">FLEGT-VPA of Vietnam</a> in this case study is <a href="http://flegtvpa.com/" target="_blank">HERE</a> 
 
By Florence -Minh Vu

Keyword Planner As A Research Tool For NGO

Keyword Planner As A Research Tool For NGO , using free KeyWord Planner software as a research tool when creating a website: how to make you...

22:55

Melinh Station for Biodiversity

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div class="c5 J-J5-Ji" tabindex="0">
Adam Madacsi a new volunteer of CED (Hungary)</div>
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On the 16th and 17th of April, I travelled to Melinh Station for Biodiversity together with secondary school students between the age of 10 and 12. On the one hand, the 2-days long trip was very exciting for me, because this was the first time during my stay in Vietnam to go out from Hanoi and see the countryside of this beautiful country. We went there by bus, so I was able to observe how people live in the uptown area and outside the capital. I saw people and houses in villages, many canals and dams and of course the endless fields of beautiful green rice paddies, which is still one of the most important revenue source for many Vietnamese people. 
 
At the biodiversity station, we organised a short game for children firstly in order to shake them up a bit and create a fun but caring atmosphere. We thought them sentences in Hungarian, Korean and French. After this game, the children were separated into two groups and the discovery has started! 
 
I joined to the group, which visited the rare animals first kept at the building of the station and near to it in cages. To be honest, I do not like very much putting animals into cages, because I feel their place is rather in the nature. However, it was amazing to see rare reptiles, frogs,snakes, geckos and many kinds of turtles. During this program we also saw many huge and beautiful butterflies, which you can never find in Europe. The children also had the possibility to touch frogs to observe them closely, however I felt a bit pity for that poor animals; they should be scared as hell. After observing the reptiles, we also checked monkeyish mammals, and to my surprise, we also saw gibbons. They were amazingly nice and funny, they enjoyed the audience very much and it felt like they made performances for us; they flew from tree to tree making incredible breakneck attractions. 
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="436" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOmoPQJNXty1BOb69X8W6K1KxYNmfmyKnwwQ1g-9Ne9wWgaNavFbqY2TvysfaxeWSqwPB-sCo_-TtE25hTcf6uyjJb3VNH2kPGf96py8a7s5D4az2C117F21VNvhG-RCRVNMNxrdu-bpGj/s1600/DSC_0796.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It was amazing to see rare reptiles, frogs,snakes, geckos and many kinds of turtles</td></tr>
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As a next program element, we visited the orchid’s farm, in which the employees of the biodiversity station plant many kinds of beautiful and good-smelling orchids. It was also amazing, while I have never seen orchids back home in their own environment – just in flower shops and hypermarkets. In my point of view, this educational tour was very useful for the children, because they had the chance to see, observe and touch animals and plants in their own environment while the facilitators of the biodiversity station gave them information regarding the nature they saw and educate them about it. I believe this kind of interactive and observation-based education method is way more effective compare to traditional classroom-based techniques and it is also inevitable in order to pass on the appropriate and necessary knowledge to students. 
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhql4Z2e1K2OmHkUPmrd00lLo94WMEGkzn4QkofmSaDjfuuTXQKDJ5pHaYrWS5tOCwTrg6h-rZI3oqO0vNTGk2F8fpwqH213-MwjKhDhOwYQD86eseFluHgj9xQx6voEwd68VuEecrSX0Ax/s1600/DSC_0611.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We visited the orchid’s farm</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="552" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKrY2i2AQVprtuUZ5JBXJk3BMFJ941Zbk3YEM9lzuMDJr21_HpjCqAQN58SVXF5Skqw3YtBMf-x8CGZJHflJX43-Lxgl5uvTOe8A1xlEoC06wtjlJunD8bPq4sjSXn8visPLIdjkjHNtpi/s1600/DSC_0622.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I have never seen orchids back home in their own environment – just in flower shops and hypermarkets</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMCa_daE4eZqdOLGfd4v7WOM_hsAQW_9_pJKOLXg-9_kTME4aVQJx_djvAVUSPSDUr58qNrqdt78jX2XxQtZ6EKWTpVIPhJBQZlnWcAO36MqIfvTeC_UYwKn_Y4I3L3FJNjYNhYy-4Q9PA/s1600/DSC_0610.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Many kinds of beautiful and good-smelling orchids</td></tr>
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Further, we had a great lunch together with the students, teachers, employees of the station and other volunteers. That was a great experience for me, mainly, because the food was amazing! Beforehand, the other volunteers and I helped to cook the food, which was a great fun! 
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="348" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdOVmgS7xNbEaBVZYE1ScxFJeYJMssQHJpz6gloBvlUZK9gCxQyt6fe6tL62FV-64IpEE2DnZGqplzm4M9Znhk73D5kKKFxthxpEwqM38aBMemHZ0zaUNg0tKOIOprE8-wsNfwgngmsYwn/s1600/DSC_0642.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The food was amazing! </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim2aGUDlQkbE8xm1ZigOhXht1dD9tgW8YCu4vWrPbVaV_yLHVTL2fVyTbS1d25vnlX3GYdJyCROks0dBNqMtI90Eq5XzVntNw-azEGFgAfHK5OtclqYbHL_LzkIqXCn_U8boumUrKGCZx0/s1600/DSC_0652.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The other volunteers and I helped to cook the food, which was a great fun</td></tr>
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During the afternoon, we completed a long hike in the jungle. To be honest, I was not prepared appropriately for that. I was told beforehand that we are going to walk in a pine forest. However, it was not a pine forest, but a serious jungle, with plants higher than me everywhere, hot, humid and a huge amount of mosquitos. Apart from these negativities, it was very beautiful and a great experience! Later, I was very grateful that I could hike in the jungle over runnels, between beautiful plants, which I have never seen before. I also saw wild green tea plants, which was a fantastic experience for me. I have never seen green tea before, just in the form of a tea filter. We also had the chance to get to know a plant called Shy-flower, which is able to move and close its leaves if somebody touches it. That is amazing, I was shocked to see moving plants! Some of the children also felt in the small runnels and they got totally wet – they were very active and playful! 
 
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="538" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX6YNZ1xr8x3vXrpHe3Saj2HuICiSXpA8eACyBsXLkdx4I7Z0Xxak15HThvW0DlIKxDyjUNgyWHiNJJ02XlPCNlU6HIj6_xID2p27G1Io7GLD0-pKWsMLkBg5oNs33_EoA_2YMlW97HHBt/s1600/DSC_0685.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I was very grateful that I could hike in the jungle over runnels, between beautiful plants, which I have never seen before</td></tr>
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I spoke a lot with the children during the bus trip and the morning programs. They were brilliant; very smart, creative and cheerful. They thought me for some magic tricks and told me their stories about their life, their hobbies, favourite movies, series and books. By the way, they spoke English on an unbelievably good level, it was very nice and comforting, that the future generation of Vietnam are so prepared at such a young age. They are the next generation, who can bring hope and prosperity to this country, and I think they perform well! 
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5DjjfMe_s1ag4KdNEcW83zpspJ6bxpkQxYu2kEVE59nUbNlJsLMA2xtB4GfUZZuhn4TUVch3DrDxmkMWsNIb9ve7ANgdHB00C-MgShuDNm4D3kqmO6cUAasXjwKJaB1uSHa2XdqLC9pmf/s1600/DSC_0521.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5DjjfMe_s1ag4KdNEcW83zpspJ6bxpkQxYu2kEVE59nUbNlJsLMA2xtB4GfUZZuhn4TUVch3DrDxmkMWsNIb9ve7ANgdHB00C-MgShuDNm4D3kqmO6cUAasXjwKJaB1uSHa2XdqLC9pmf/s1600/DSC_0521.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I spoke a lot with the children during the bus trip and the morning programs. They were brilliant; very smart, creative and cheerful</td></tr>
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I was also so surprised, because they seemed so globalised. They knew a lot about other countries, the word, and they were familiar with all the new movies, celebrities, songs and technical innovations and so on. It was very interesting to experience by myself the extent of how globalised the so called Z-generation is, completely regardless whether they live in Europe, the USA or Vietnam. 
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh59Qbb9Yl97fgjVZql7Z6u9hV835eQdp8x-dm-Xt2-qregPpZMkrGJvWnzUeWlm_d23m9plZhPZwtGYuJqfpw7694jbd_tuUxQ-xewMiwEmsWbkPuVw_AuWYJq3VPEEUk8bhM77WOZh5T0/s1600/DSC_0767.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="498" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh59Qbb9Yl97fgjVZql7Z6u9hV835eQdp8x-dm-Xt2-qregPpZMkrGJvWnzUeWlm_d23m9plZhPZwtGYuJqfpw7694jbd_tuUxQ-xewMiwEmsWbkPuVw_AuWYJq3VPEEUk8bhM77WOZh5T0/s1600/DSC_0767.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It was very interesting to experience by myself the extent of how 
globalised the so called Z-generation is, completely regardless whether 
they live in Europe, the USA or Vietnam</td></tr>
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After the 2.5 hours hike in the jungle, we arrived back to the station of biodiversity and we travelled back to the city. I felt like I was never as tired as that day because working with children requires a lot of energy and also the jungle environment and the weather were very exhausting for me, but I was glad that I cloud participate and got these experience, I will never forget it. 
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVI18Ka-LbbM_Nk8umbyjH11scdtg8INGrTjvjGzTJIVfWgzT6ahWa4wxLNxC3K5z_2H6jMRQROrknOg4PHfAJVLMY1XSgczvDrNIVSf6TRIhcNEUxY6FqF7dW8AowZZs0qt4mVCMj4J9Q/s1600/DSC_0690.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVI18Ka-LbbM_Nk8umbyjH11scdtg8INGrTjvjGzTJIVfWgzT6ahWa4wxLNxC3K5z_2H6jMRQROrknOg4PHfAJVLMY1XSgczvDrNIVSf6TRIhcNEUxY6FqF7dW8AowZZs0qt4mVCMj4J9Q/s1600/DSC_0690.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">After the 2.5 hours hike in the jungle, we arrived back to the station of biodiversity</td></tr>
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At last but not least, a very interesting implication which I would like to emphasize is the behaviour or discipline of the children here in Vietnam. Ever since this trip, I have been thinking about it and I cannot really decide, which the better way to educate and bring discipline to children is. In Europe almost all of the schools follow the so called “Prussian method”, which states that children have to be disciplined from an early age to teach them how to behave appropriately. In Vietnam, the case is very different. I spoke with the teacher about it, and she stated that children cannot be disciplined. It seems like that is the basic idea of the education here, however, it is not really true. Children can be disciplined, it is just quite hard to do so and requires many patient and structured thinking to provide consequence conditions. I tried to explain this to the teacher, but it seemed like she insists on the idea that children cannot be disciplined. 
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="492" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2d_TpUJu7taqzPf7g0Ad47Kwo9bNqbF4RFw6fafKjlOoCdSBJq70s429CgmRrFIMYDr44IoHi3as8m-AbzL2isZM3pmYgcnoFFce89iuEwQj2I8_3gor-pI7n07gKQ1OKLpArI7WgsXVi/s1600/DSC_0719.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In Europe almost all of the schools follow the so called “Prussian method”, in Vietnam, the case is very different</td></tr>
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However, these children were very cheerful, full with energy, enormously creative and passionate for discovery, which characteristics results from the fact that they basically can do whatever they want without punishment and consequences. My personal conclusion is that the Vietnamese discipline method is not sustainable, children have to be regulated. However, the European way is also faulty, because it repress creativity, freedom and cheerfulness of the small students which can cause many psychological barrier during later in the adulthood. 
 
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT763c8Yye2-XGEDpoiJ6WCPM46eEm5eguIps-Pla4R2_mZ1nLmPe9ma-KFuyrbBM0npxPO-kVin2o6UaYZJXjDZicRZW1jqbah3x0ItZPMpMrrYdavXRmhKEut9cYeeWWQbN_lRM_WBRb/s1600/DSC_0629.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="450" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT763c8Yye2-XGEDpoiJ6WCPM46eEm5eguIps-Pla4R2_mZ1nLmPe9ma-KFuyrbBM0npxPO-kVin2o6UaYZJXjDZicRZW1jqbah3x0ItZPMpMrrYdavXRmhKEut9cYeeWWQbN_lRM_WBRb/s1600/DSC_0629.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
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Therefore, my implication is that the education system should be reformed in both regions, we have to find the “golden mean” to discipline children but to give them enough freedom and possibility to unfold, practice creativity and be passionate for discovery. 
 
Adam Madacsi

Melinh Station for Biodiversity

Adam Madacsi a new volunteer of CED (Hungary) On the 16th and 17th of April, I travelled to Melinh Station for Biodiversity together w...

02:25