yoi08 research group: Group-Group
Creation of the toolkit for the construction of one’s opinion
Members: Ira, Anya S, Milda, Mateusz, Alexander B, Vitas, Ekaterina, Alina, Maya, Marina
Taking Kosovo as a case study we gathered the information from governments, media, people and ourselves (Balkans, USA, EU, Russia, China) to compare it, ask different questions, discuss and critically evaluate it. We started with a hypothesis that in every situation interests and subjectivity play an important role. Our goal was to find a toolkit for the construction of one’s own opinion that can help us to evaluate and have a standpoint in similar situations as Kosovo case.

This is the results the group came up with:
----------------------------------------
What are tools - steps to construct one's opinion?
----------------------------------------
1. INFORMATION GATHERING
2. CRITICAL READING
- where do sources come from?
- who is the storyteller?
- the credibility of the source?
- who benefits?
- are there logical fallacies?
- pressure on media?
- presssure of media?
- evaluating the information according to your own professional knowledge?
3. COMPARASION OF INFORMATION
4. DISCUSSION
5. RECOGNIZING THE SUBJECTIVITY




comments and questions from the audience during the presentation
- analyze deeper kosovo background, take in consideration the official statements of the government not only media and interviews of YOI people
- I liked your model for de-cyphering the production of knowledge as happening with a network of power relations. But I think we should not only take into account nation-stated or supra-national organizations but also actors within nation stated or cross border actors.
- very good work and presentation!
- OK - very creative!
- you need to do more researching, good presentation!
- how do you determine if professional opinions are really objective?
- Why is Turkey for independence -> don't you think that this might cause problems with the Kurds population in Turkey?
- Do you think that this project will help you in forming your personal opinion on a more objective level?
- Could you explain more in details steps in critical reading of articles?
- What was the principle(s) of choosing which government(s) statements/articles to use for analysis?
- Who had the strongest influence in generating public opinion in various countrie around the world? How did "common people" gather informations and created their own opinion?
- What is a proposal opinion about independence of Kosovo, opinion of the group? You didn't mention your opinion, may it is good to present your opinion too?
- strong project which generated from a genuine commitment to subject matter but also an ability to go through a group process and withstand the uncertainties that came from thinking together. One question would be interesting to also account for different positions within the same country.
- Did they mention about solutions of future problems?
- What about this project - will it help us to do something with other issues and conflicts?
- How does professional knowledge produce its own stories?
- Is professional knowledge neutral?
- How can one remove ones subjectivity?
- Lack of information about different opinion inside EU.
- Maybe to make the difference between official state policy and public opinion because it's not always the same.
- Simplifications - clear presentation, over-simplification in terms of attitude of different countries towards the status Kosovo. For instance - Slovenia did recognize Kosovo as an independent state, but as it was in chagre of the EU and being the ex-yugoslavian country. It responded really later then it was expected so there was some tension and some sort of resentment from the Kosovo side due to lateness of the response as well as from the serbian side due to the eventual acknowledgement of the Kososvo independence.
Questions for you...
The presentation of your work so far was thorough and clear. Good job. In order for your work to have potential from here, consider the following questions to help you strengthen your work in general:
1. Is a court the only entity that can accurately determine whether a mass murder constitutes genocide?
2. WHY do these nations say what they say about Kosovo's independence? What is their agenda? Why do political leaderst ell the story they have about Kosovo's independence? Who benefits from which story? How? Why? Who does each story cost? How? Why? How does this cost/benefit analysis influence your perspective of each story? Isn't part of critical thought and research to ask questions about the reason behind the arguments in your gathered information?
3. Why does this matter to you? Why should it matter to anyone else? What do you think the world community should do if Kosovo's independence has been created without just cause?
4. Where do more powerful interests have a role in making change? How Where do less powerful interests, like communities, have a role? How can you be of service to the least powerful consituencies?
5. You said you had no personal interest because none of you are from Kosovo? Does this mean Serbs or other residents of the Balkans have no interest in this issue? Why or why not? Who is the constituency and who does it serve? No powerful interests? Some? Many? Please explain....