Lesson 4: Evaluating Sources
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Transcript of Lesson 4: Evaluating Sources
Lesson 4: Evaluating Sources CRAAP Test
How do YOU evaluate info?• When YOU do a
Google search, HOW do you decide what results are good?
• What would help you be better at evaluating information?
KEY RESEARCH SKILL =
Ability to evaluate ANY type of information source to see if it meets your needs
Being able to find good sources…
… in the Age ofInformation
Overload
Format• Most students consider FORMAT to be
THE most important criterion for selecting sources
• Joe Student: “INTERNET is best!!!”
• “A source should be judged for what it contains, NOT how it is stored or produced” (Quaratiello, 2011, p. 21).
Content vs. Format
Content
Format
“While evaluating the information you find in books and periodicals is important, evaluating web-based material is absolutely crucial”
(Quaratiello, 2011, p. 20).
WHY?
Quality
Quantity
Internet sources
Often hard to tell:
1. WHO wrote the info
2. WHO published the info
3. HOW accurate it is
4. WHERE they got their info
5. WHEN it was posted
There are many models of evaluation
• Relevance/Credibility Model
• CARS Model
•CRAAP Test
CRAAP Test
CRAAP Test
• Currency
• Relevance
• Authority
• Accuracy
• Purpose
Applying the CRAAP Test:
CURRENCY
CRAAP Test
CURRENCY• DATE the item was published (or last
updated)
Ask yourself…
•Is the information current enough for your research needs?
BUT…
•Is the most current information always the best?
CURRENCY
MOST CURRENT
• Science• Health/medicine• Business
OLDER SOURCES
• Historical topics• Humanities• Literature
When do older sources work well?
RELEVANCE
CRAAP Test
RELEVANCE
• Does the information relate appropriately to your topic or help answer your research question?
• Who is the intended audience?
Audience
• WHOM is it written for?
• Consider your own level of knowledge in selecting a source.
Level
• Is it at a level that you can understand and use?–Too easy–Too difficult
Ask yourself: Would you be comfortable citing this source in your research paper?
AUTHORITY
CRAAP Test
AUTHORITY• QUALIFICATIONS of the writer
- Image copyrighted by Wikimedia foundation
WHO?
Author
You are looking for…• Expert in field/ subject matter expert
• “Peer review”
• On websites: Look for About link
• Contact information– Publisher– Email address
Using URLs to analyze site host• .com
• .org
• .edu
• .gov
ACCURACY
CRAAP Test
Where does the info come from?• Different types of sources pull their
information from different places.
• The type of source can give you an idea of where the information they used came from.
Cycle of Information
At what stage of the cycle of information was your source written?
And what does this mean?
Cycle of Information
Turn on the
News
Newspapers
Magazines
ScholarlyJournals
Event Happens
Books
Coverage and Perspective• As an event occurs, you get live
reporting and footage.
• Immediately after an event, you get more reporting and eyewitness accounts.
• The further away from an event that you get, the more ANALYSIS you will find. • News Analysis
• Expert Analysis• Scholarly Analysis
Is the information supported by…
• Are the sources listed?– Are they scholarly?– Are they popular?– Are they credible?– How old are they?
• Can they be checked?
EVIDENCE?
GOAL:
A source with verifiable sources of information
CONTENT• Has the information been reviewed or
refereed?
Checking for Accuracy
“With clear documentation, a reader can hypothetically check the ACCURACY of a given source”(Quaratiello, 2011, p. 29).
Does the language or tone seem…
Unbiased?
Free of emotion?
ACCURACY• Absence of errors – spelling,
grammar, typos
CRAAP Test
PURPOSE
PURPOSE
• WHY the item was written
WHY?
InformEntertainPersuade
GOAL:
A source that is informational and unbiased.
Point of view vs. Bias
POINT OF VIEW• Every source is going
to have a point of view.
• Does the author tell you his/her point of view?
• Are both sides presented?
• Is information presented fairly?
BIAS• Some sources have a
BIASED point of view.
• Is one side presented exclusively or far more than the other?
• Is charged or emotional language used?
Is BIAS bad?
Weekly Reflection
• Evaluate what a simple Google search on your topic provides
• Practice using the CRAAP Test– Evaluate the 2 Web sources you found
last week
Activity/Practice• Practice using the CRAAP Test on
scholarly sources
• Evaluate– Scholarly Journal Article– eBook
Homework• Find a scholarly journal article on your
topic using Google Scholar– Cite it in MLA or APA– Evaluate it using CRAAP Test
MIDTERM EVALUATION• Keep | Start | Stop
• List ONE thing you would like your instructor to KEEP, START, and STOP doing.
• List ONE thing YOU would like to KEEP, START, and STOP doing in order to do well in this course.
References
Quaratiello, A. (2011). The college
student’s research companion:
Finding, evaluating, and citing the
resources you need to succeed (5th
ed.). New York, NY: Neal-Schuman.