Essentially my question is should vaccinations be required for public school. To answer the how and why questions and to weigh the pros and cons that come along with it. At first I focused on whether some cases of autism were caused by vaccinations and whether they should be required even though parents thought this. This aspect of the autism debate interested me because my sister's job, as a behavioral therapist, works with children with autism. I have visited her job before and came to love some of the kids she worked with. I knew that scientists do not really know the cause of autism, but I wanted to understand why people thought that vaccinations caused them. One of the children she worked with the most, her mom thought her daughter's autism was caused by a vaccination she received when she was young. From watching my sister work with these kids and working with them myself, it interested me to think that one little shot could cause this? From the research I have done so far, I would not say that this research question really affects me or my values. However, it allows me to understand some people's beliefs against vaccinations and respect the ones that have a true belief against them. From the research I have done and from working with children with autism, I am qualified to write about this. This autism debate pertains to only one part of the research. The link serves as an example of a philosophical reason some parents give against their kids receiving vaccinations. 

Article one discusses the concept of herd immunity. Herd immunity is when most of the citizens in a community have received vaccinations against a certain disease so that if one person did get the disease, enough people are vaccinated where there would not be an outbreak. It also discusses how those few people that do not receive vaccinations should only be those who obtain religious beliefs or true philosophical beliefs against vaccinations. A major piece of evidence from this article shows that if herd immunity occurs, it can lead to lower cost for the government. An outbreak of measles in 1989-1991 created $100 million in medical cost alone. Another piece of evidence from this article states that more outbreaks occur in religious communities because they deny vaccinations. We do not notice because the outbreaks because we obtain a status of herd immunity as a total population because the populations of their communities are so small. This article holds little at stake. It discusses facts about the past and examples that have happened before. The only part I would say this article risks at stake pertains to the end where it discusses different "philosophical" reasons that parents give. It discusses how some parents become lazy and create reasons to deny their kids vaccinations because of the convenience of the parents, so it sounds really judgmental. Yale is a well known university geared toward medicine and this article was published in the Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine. They could lean toward your children receiving vaccinations because they support medicine and believe in the institution of medicine. 

Article two denies a link between autism and vaccinations. It discusses how people think a link between the mercury in thimerosal in vaccinations that supposedly causes the autism exists. It also discusses different books and experiments explored on the topic vaccinations and autism. One big piece of evidence comes from them taking thimerosal out of vaccinations and leaving only a trace amount, but the rate at which children were diagnosed with autism did not decrease. In fact, the amount of diagnoses increased. This article, I feel like, holds little at stake because he discusses both sides of the issue, but he becomes a little risky with some of the words he chooses to use. David Gorski, the author, graduated from the Wayne State University School of Medicine. He also holds a spot as a chairman of the board of directors for the Society for Science-Based Medicine there. Therefore, he knows a lot about medicine, vaccinations, and such. In his article he weighs both sides of the issue, but he leans toward the side for vaccinations because he denies a link between vaccinations causing autism. 

Article three discusses how this lady believes in the link between vaccinations and autism. She claims that for a while several people have claimed this link and that the government knows the truth. She states that the government turned a blind eye to protect the vaccine industry. Her only two pieces of evidence are that a man named Thompson, someone related to the government, came clean saying he knows about the link and she thinks her son received his autism from a vaccination. Cathy, the author, holds little at stake. She places this certain image on herself though by stating these facts without any proof or evidence. Cathy Jameson obtains some credibility, not much, because she thinks that her son, who lives with autism, received it from a vaccination. From her article she says she read other stories about this link. 

This research question is arguable because you need to think about a lot of different aspects of the the question. You need to think of why should they be required, about the pros and cons of required vaccinations, and about the moral issue of required vaccinations. You also need to think about insurance paying for the vaccinations. What if families do not have insurance and can not afford the vaccinations? You also need to think about all the religious and philosophical reasons against required vaccinations. The different perspectives allow me to gain a wider view on why they should be required or even if they should in fact be a true requirement. My research question could need revision to where it opens maybe a broader view of reasons for/against requirement or if they should be required for more than public school.
