Description: For this assignment, you will read Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a
World Designed for Men, write a brief review of the text and connect its lessons to the field of
Communication. Your book review should be 3-4 pages long and accomplish the following: 1)
summarizing/describe the book, 2) evaluate the book’s main arguments, 3) explain what you
learned, and 4) reflect on what the text’s lessons tell us for our own field – Communication.
Summary
In the first section, you should summarize the book. Your summary should cover details that are
important to the book’s arguments. Describe the content of the book and any relevant topics that
are touched upon. Finally, provide relevant details about the author. This section of your paper
should be brief; aim for .5 to .75 pages.
Evaluation
A review is more than a summary of the book.
Your evaluation should cover strengths and
limitations of the book’s main arguments.
When evaluating the book, it might be helpful to: 1) think about whether the arguments made were persuasive, 2) look for and evaluate the evidence provided for any arguments made, and 3) identify any perspectives that may have been left out.
In this section you should also make a judgment on whether or not you would recommend the book.
If you recommend the book, explain who you would recommend the book to and what you think the readers will gain.
If not, explain why you believe this to be the case and provide (if possible) alternative sources of knowledge (e.g., books, articles, podcasts). This section should be substantial; aim for 1 to 1.5 pages.
Reflection
The knowledge you were exposed to in this book may be new, unexpected, and/or uncomfortable.
In this section, you will describe what new knowledge you’ve gained by completing reading this book. Use the following questions as a starting point: 1) what new knowledge were you confronted with? 2) is there something that the author presented that struck you as noteworthy? 3) what about this text made you uncomfortable? Why do you think you felt uncomfortable?
This section should be 1 to 1.5 pages.
Connection
While the book was not about Communication, there is surely much we could learn from this text as Communication scholars.
In this section, write about 3-4 lessons from this book that Communication Scholars should take to inform their future research projects.
Be sure to fully explain why you think each lesson is important and how it can improve Communication research. This section should be .5 to 1 page.
