Evaluating Sources
Not all sources are created equal. There are no rules for easily determining which sources are "good," "reliable," "trustworthy," or "credible."
You're going to have to think about it. (Sorry.)
- Currency
- Relevance
- Authority
- Accuracy
- Purpose
Currency
- How old is this source? Does the article/source have a date? Do we know when this was published?
- How old is the information? What about their sources? Is their information current?
- How important is it that we have up-to-date information? An article from 2015 might be current in some contexts and out-of-date in others. That might count as "current" knowledge about child development, but it might be very out of date if it concerns a policy set by the President.
Relevance
- Does this source help answer the question you're asking? This goes way beyond "topic." Does this information actually affect the answer to your research question?
- How sure are you that this information applies? Are there other factors that might affect things? For example, does information on political party affiliation in Visalia predict how California will vote in general? Does info about California predict how Visalia will vote?
Authority
- What do you know about the writer? This is about more than just credentials. Dr. Phil may have "Dr." in front of his name--but that doesn't mean that what he says is true.
- What do you know about the publication? Does the organization publishing the article have an agenda? A political stance? A product they're selling?
Accuracy
- How was this information obtained? Does the writer cite their sources? Do they tell us where and how they got their information? If it's their own research, do they explain their methods?
- Does this information align with other sources? Is this source telling the same story as your other sources? How significant are the differences and disagreements?
Purpose
- What is the writer's purpose? Most of the articles you'll find have a goal other than finding (or even reporting) the facts. What is this writer trying to accomplish?
- Who is the writer's audience? What assumptions does the writer make about their audience? How much do they think we need to know?
Reorganizing
I'll break you up into four groups. Instead of 1-4, we'll use A-D. (Don't worry. Nothing to do with grades. :P)
Evaluating Sources
Not all sources are created equal. There are no rules for easily determining which sources are "good," "reliable," "trustworthy," or "credible."
You're going to have to think about it. (Sorry.)
Let's Practice.
Hypothetical question: how does a positive attitude affect a person's life?
In your groups:
-
Read through your source.
- Group B: focus on the section headed "Self-Helpless"
- Group C: you don't have to read the whole thing.
-
Use the CRAAP test to evaluate your source's currency, relevance, authority, accuracy, and purpose.
(Note: Google is your friend!)
-
As a group, decide how trustworthy you think your source is.
Intermission
Write a short paragraph explaining your evaluation of the source you've just read.
- Start by introducing your source,
- give a brief, purposeful summary of the writer's ideas, and
- incorporate a quotation from the source.
Conclude your paragraph by explaining how the details you've included support your evaluation of the source.
Let's Move!
Within your groups, count off from 1-5. (You may end up with more than one person for each number; that's okay.)
Now, let's move into new groups based on our numbers. (That way, each group will have at least one member from group A, B, C, and D.)
Share and Discuss
In your new groups, talk about each source in turn (starting with Source A).
Introduce your source to the group, and talk about how and why your previous group evaluated it. (Feel free to use the paragraph you wrote.)
As a group, take a look at each source together. Come up with a ranking, from "most reliable" to "least reliable."
Let's Share Our Rankings
My answers:
- Source C
- Source D
- Source B
- Source A