Evaluate
Evaluate Infographic Transcript
Primary Analysis
Evaluating sources of information is an important step before using them for research. When trying to decide if a source is sufficient for your topic, consider the author, accuracy, and publication date in an initial evaluation. Questions to ask yourself include:
- Author: Who is the author or sponsoring agency responsible for publishing this info? Are credentials evident?
- Has the author produced other information valued in the field of study?
- Accuracy: Is background information easy to look up? Does the author cite sources? Are facts clearly indicated?
- Publication Date: When was the information published, and how time sensitive is the topic? Is it updated regularly?
Even if you have found credible information, you must still do a secondary, or critical, analysis to make sure the information will fit into the context of your project.
Critical Analysis
When trying to decide if a source is sufficient for your topic, consider the type of authority needed for your project. Also, consider the audience or purpose of the source as well as relevance to your specific research project.
- Audience/Purpose: Who is the intended audience? Does the writing only share opinion or does it point to evidence?
- Relevance: Is anything being sold, or do you feel as if the writing is attempting to persuade you?
- Relevance: How directly does this information match my research or question(s)?
- Relevance: How well does this resource complement other sources I have found?
- Authority: How authoritative do my sources need to be?
- Authority: Do I need scholarly information or peer reviewed information? Differentiate periodicals here.
