Evaluating sources PSY 2600
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This document provides guidance on evaluating the credibility and reliability of information sources. It asks questions about the author, publisher, date of publication, evidence and citations used, potential biases, consistency with other sources on the topic, typos or errors, and purpose or reason for writing. Evaluating sources on these types of criteria can help determine the relevance and authority of information for a given topic or thesis.
Evaluating sources PSY 2600
- 1. AIC Shea Library Nancy Little, Information Literacy Librarian, Liaison to Health Sciences
- 8. When was this published? Where do you find that information? Has this been updated? If so, when? Why does it matter? In Science and Medicine it does!
- 10. Ask yourself these questions… Who is this written for? An academic audience? High school students? Middle school?
- 11. Is it too sophisticated?Too simple? Evaluating Relevance Does it support your thesis?
- 14. Who wrote this? Who is the author? Publisher? Source? Sponsor? What are their credentials or organizational affiliation? Does the URL reveal anything about the author or source? .com, .edu, .gov, .org, .net What are their qualifications?
- 15. Evaluating Authority Is the journal reputable? You can find out more about the journal by going to their website.
- 16. Is the information supported by evidence? Are there citations? Check the citations! Are they real? Are their sources biased? Is the information consistent with what others have written about the subject?
- 17. •Is the language emotional or otherwise biased? •Does the source use a lot of anecdotes? •Are there a lot of typos or spelling errors? (Some companies pay by the word for articles which are published on the web, written by individuals who know nothing about the topic.)
- 18. Why was this article written? You can learn more about a website by visiting their “About Us” or “Mission” page. To report on research or statistics? To provide an overview?
- 19. Is it commentary, an editorial, or opinion? Evaluating Purpose To Sell Something? Websites that end in .com are commercial sites are usually trying to sell something. To entertain? Is it satire or parody?
Editor's Notes
- #3: The 5 W’s, Who? What? Where? When? Why? This method is easy to remember. More info: http://www.schrockguide.net/uploads/3/9/2/2/392267/5ws.pdf
- #4: Another simple method of evaluating information.
- #5: STAAR method excludes currency (date), which may be important, particularly in health sciences.
- #6: RADAR works the same as most methods.
- #7: This presentation will teach you how to use the CRAAP method. This method of evaluating information will help you determine if you are using high quality, reliable information, or… you guessed it, cr*p. ;-)
- #8: CRAAP stands for: Currency, Relevance, Authority, Accuracy, and Purpose.
- #9: Currency: When was it published?
- #17: You will have to look at more than one source to determine accuracy.
- #19: The last step in the CRAAP test is to determine Purpose. See if you can determine the purpose by asking yourself the following questions?