evaluate
Evaluate Information
Check out these approaches:
As you find information, you must evaluate its credibility. But how? There is an art and science to the whole matter that involves critical thinking, common sense, and intuition that builds up over time. However, everyone can start with asking some basic questions such as:
- Who is the author and/or publisher of the source? What is their background? Have they written anything else on that topic? Do they have any bias?|
- What is the purpose of the source? To inform, persuade, entertain, educate, or sell you something?
- Do they cite where they get their information? What types of sources are they citing? Are they credible?
- How current is the source? Is the date it was published appropriate? For example, if it's a medical topic you will want something published in the last few years, although if you want to discuss what was done historically it would be appropriate to use something older. If it is a literary topic, it can be decades old and still be relevant.
- How relevant is it to your topic? How will you use it to support your thesis (to provide statistics, background information, definitions, an opposing viewpoint, as evidence to support your viewpoint, etc.)?
Careful and consistent attention to validating sources should become a habit. Yes, it takes extra time, but credibility is the currency of college level writing, so think of it as an investment in your integrity and grades.
A widely-used method is to evaluate against a checklist of criteria. One useful checklist is the CRAAP Test since it uses a memorable acronym that serves as a memory-aid for the 5 criteria: Currency, Relevance, Authority, Accuracy, and Purpose. Familiarize yourself with these standards.
View this video for more information:
- The CRAAP TestThere is a PDF link at the bottom of the webpage.
Since we daily confront an onslaught of information from various news/media sites including our social accounts, evaluating that information needs concrete strategies and tactics for tracing claims to sources and for analyzing the nature and reliability of those sources. The web gives us many such strategies, tactics, and tools, which, properly used, can get us closer to the truth of a statement or image within seconds -- bottom line, the web is both the largest propaganda machine ever created and the most amazing fact-checking tool ever invented. Working through the S.I.F.T. process ensures successful truth finding.
To practice, visit the S.I.F.T. Analysis Research Guide and work through the scenarios.
(S.I.F.T. Analysis Research Guide created and used with permission by Kande Mickelsen, Adjunct Librarian, MCCCD.)
Internet sources are not regulated for any levels of quality like other types of sources. Make sure you review internet sources for credibility, accuracy, and bias. This video will explain the basics on evaluating internet sources (3:52):
A website's address or URL (Uniform Resource Locator) can tell you a lot about the website and its content. The following table explains the difference between the most popular domains on the web.
Domain |
Ownership and Purpose |
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.gov |
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.edu |
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.org |
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.mil |
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.com |
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.net |
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