|
Evaluating Content
Preface
Table
of contents and index
References
and citations
Audience
Fact,
opinion, or propaganda?
Accuracy
|
Evaluating Sources of Information
Evaluating Content in the Source
After you have asked yourself some questions about the citation and determined
that it's worth your time to find and read the source, you can plunge
in by doing the following to evaluate the material in the source as you
read through it.
Read the preface
What does the author want to accomplish?
Browse
through the table of contents and the index
This will give you an overview of the source.
Is your topic covered in enough depth to be helpful? If you don't find
your topic discussed, try searching for some synonyms in the index.
Is
there a list of references or other citations that look as if they will
lead you to related material that would be good sources?
Are
you the intended audience? Consider the tone, style, level of information,
and assumptions the author makes about the reader. Are they appropriate
for your needs?
Try
to determine if the content of the source is fact, opinion, or propaganda
-
If you think the source is offering facts,
are the sources for those facts clearly indicated?
-
Do you think there's enough evidence offered?
Is the coverage comprehensive?
-
(As you learn more and more about your topic,
you will notice that this gets easier as you become more of an expert.
)
-
Is the language objective or emotional?
-
Are there broad generalizations that overstate
or oversimplify the matter?
-
Does the author use a good mix of primary and
secondary sources for information?
-
If the source is opinion, does the author offer
sound reasons for adopting that stance? (Consider again those questions
about the author. Is this person reputable?)
Accuracy
-
How timely is the source? Is source 20 years out of date? Some information
becomes dated when new research is available, but other older sources
of information can be quite sound 50 or 100 years later.
-
Do some cross-checking. Can you find some of the same information
given elsewhere?
-
How credible is the author? If the document is anonymous, what do
you know about the organization?
-
Are there vague or sweeping generalizations that aren't backed up
with evidence?
-
Are arguments very one-sided with no acknowledgment of other viewpoints?
|
