Sadler 1

Erin Sadler
Professor Rothwell
UWRT 1102
12 February 2015

Mandatory Vaccinations
Group Name: N/A (not decided on)
Group Members: Catie, Kira, Erin

Summary: Getting vaccinated is currently a debate amongst Americans. The law does not require
United States citizens to get vaccinated. Getting a child vaccinated is up to each parent. Some
parents do not want to get their children vaccinated for many different reasons, including: parents
do not like the chemicals used in the vaccine, some believe in the myth that vaccines can cause
children to develop autism, others are naturalists, etc. No matter what the reason may be, not
getting vaccinated puts United States citizens public health into danger. Children, the elderly,
and the poor are most at risk. Not receiving vaccines can lead to the return of once-extinct
diseases. American citizens have already witnessed this kind of impact with the return of the
measles. If politicians and law makers create and pass a law that requires every United States
citizen to receive vaccines, then we can improve citizens health overall.

Preconceptions: What motivates me to choose this problem is that it is a pressing issue in our
society. I know that a doctor in the 1990s thought that the mercury that was used in vaccines
could cause autism, and since then, some parents are unsure if giving their child vaccines is safe
or not. I think that his theory has since been disproven, but I would have to conduct some more

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research in order to find out for sure. If there are other negatives to getting vaccinated, then I am
unaware of them, and that, too, would be something I must research.

Audience Analysis: This project is most relevant to Americans because it is an issue within the
United States. Specifically, our group would want to be targeting politicians/ law makers. In
order to get their attention, we would probably have to reach out to some kind of campaign
organization or a lobbyist. I am not really sure what other people in the class think of this topic
but I have a strong feeling they would have some interest in the topic. I am sure most of my
fellow classmates have heard of this topic in the news and/ or circling around on social media.

Playing the field: There are already a good amount of books, journals, articles, scholarly essays,
etc. that discuss the controversy of vaccines and also discuss the necessity of vaccinations. There
are articles that paint both a good picture on vaccines, as well as a bad picture on vaccines. We
would most likely be using the articles and essays that support vaccinations in order to prove our
point.

Resources: There are many journals, books, articles, scholarly essays, etc. that discuss vaccines
and the necessity of them. It may be helpful to try to find something within the constitution that
discusses public safety or public health to support our groups opinion of mandatory vaccines.

Qualification: Our group is a group of intelligent individuals. We all know how to research and
we are pretty good at it. We may need to sharpen our research skills a little bit in order to avoid
using non-reliable resources. In order to work on a project like this our group must have great
communication skills. Communication skills apply both within the group and to the public, to

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whom we would like to spread the word about this current issue and how and why our group
thinks that vaccines should be required by the government.

Project Needs: Our group needs to be excellent at research because it would require a lot of
research in order to prove why it is so important to receive vaccines. We would need some time
in order to conduct the necessary research that needs to be done.