| Finding and Evaluating Information Resources | |||||||
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Lesson One: Defining Your Topic Lesson Two: Finding Periodical Articles Lesson Three: Finding Web Sites Lesson Four: Evaluating Web Sites Lesson Six: Evaluating Information Lesson Seven: Citing Your Sources HCC Library Research Resources
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Lesson Six: Evaluating Information Now you have piles of computer printouts and books, how do you select the best information to use for your paper? Judging whether or not a source is legitimate depends on the specific need. In the field of psychology, the most authoritative sources are those that are based on empirical evidence gathered through scientific observation or experimentation. This research is usually published in scholarly journals written by psychologists. Research-based information can also be found in books and web sites. At the other end of spectrum are poor quality sources that rely on anecdotal evidence or unscientific methods.
Audience - Who is the intended audience for the source? Consider the language, is it simple or technical. Purpose - What is the purpose of the source? Is the source biased? Research-based - Does the author include scientific evidence or cite other research studies? Or is the evidence based on unscientific observation or personal experience? Author - Is the author an expert or a journalist or a member of the general public? What institution is he/she affiliated with? What is the domain type (.edu, .com, .gov, .org)? Do you think he/she is qualified to write on this topic? Currency - How current is the information? Is there more current research available? Bibliography - Is there a list of sources/references that the author used?
Tutorial
Home | 1.
Defining Your Topic | 2. Finding Periodical Articles
| 3. Finding Web Sites
| Questions or Need help? 06/30/2004
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Factors
to consider when judging quality