Once you have found information that matches the topic and requirements of your research, you must evaluate the quality of that information. Not all information available on the internet is appropriate for academic research. Evaluating information encourages you to think critically about the reliability, validity, accuracy, authority, timeliness, point of view or bias of information sources.
It is important to remember that the first criterion for evaluating information is - Does it meet your needs? If an assignment requires you use peer-reviewed information, only peer-reviewed information will meet your needs. Likewise, if you are looking for information on how to gain state certification in special education, a GSC Discovery Service search will probably not meet your needs. The takeaway is- spend some time considering what information you need to meet your information needs. Doing this preliminary work will make your searching and evaluation of the information you find far more effective and efficient.
The CARS (Credibility, Accuracy, Reasonableness, Support) Checklist is designed to assist researchers in evaluating information sources. Few sources will meet every criterion on this list but if you learn to use these criteria you will be better able to separate the high quality information from the poor quality information as you do your research.
Credibility is a measure of the authenticity or reliability of the source of information. To determine credibility you may ask: Why should I believe this source of information over another? How does this source know this information? What about this source makes it believable?
Indicators of credibility:
An author’s credentials – his or her training and education in a field relevant to the information. Look for the author’s degree or title or position of employment. If the source of the information is an organization or group, ask yourself if it is a respected body (i.e.. the Mayo Clinic, American Dental Association, the psychology department at Harvard University).
Evidence of quality control – most scholarly information passes through a process of peer review, whereby several experts within that field of study review the author’s writings to ensure that his or her conclusions are valid and in keeping with current knowledge. Journals of this type are known as refereed publications.
Indicators of lack of credibility:
Anonymity (no author listed)
Poor visual presentation of information- authors may not present their information in a well-organized and professional manner.
Bad grammar and/or misspelled words
The goal of the accuracy test is to ensure that the information is up to date, detailed, exact, and comprehensive. Keep in mind that something that was true twenty years ago may no longer be true today, and that the more information you have on a subject the better able you are to make an informed judgment.
Indicators of accuracy:
Timeliness – this is a measure of the ‘up-to-date-ness’ of the information. In many disciplines (i.e. the Sciences, Medicine, Technology) timeliness is a very important measure of the relevance of information.
Comprehensiveness – the ideal article presents a thorough discussion of the subject as opposed to only “hitting the high points.”
Unbiased Approach – by addressing all sides of an issue the author ensures that you have a and complete objective treatment of the topic.
Indicators of a lack of accuracy:
Vague or sweeping generalizations as opposed to exact figures.
No date on the document, or a very old date on a document containing time-sensitive information.
A very one-sided view that does not acknowledge opposing views or respond to them. For example, a gun rights website that promotes gun ownership and defends the 2nd Amendment but does not address the societal problems stemming from gun violence.
The measure of reasonable information is fairness, moderateness, and consistency.
Indicators of reasonableness:
Fairness – look for a balanced and well-reasoned argument. The tone of the article should be factual and thoughtful.
Moderateness – keep in mind that most information is ordinary and not likely to cause great excitement. Consequently, it should be presented in a calm and professional manner.
Consistency – the facts and findings in an article should not contradict themselves in other parts of the article.
Indicators of a lack of reasonableness:
A shrill or overly aggressive tone on the part of the author (i.e. referring to opponents as ‘stupid jerks’ or belittling findings not in accordance with his own).
Over-claims – (i.e. ‘Thousands of children are murdered in this country every day’ or ‘This is the most significant piece of medical research ever!’).
Sweeping generalizations – (i.e. ‘It is obvious to everyone that…’).
Data that contradicts itself
Most information presented in an article comes from other sources. By properly citing and acknowledging sources of information an author strengthens his or her credibility.
Indicators of support:
The claims made in the article are supported by facts and/or figures.
Proper documentation and citing of the sources for facts and statistics used in the article. A bibliography at the end of the article, for example.
Indicators of a lack of support:
Numbers or statistics presented without an identified source.
Claims are made by the author but are not supported with evidence.
As with any source, it's important to identify the author of a Web site and to become familiar with the author's qualifications. Be skeptical of any Web page that does not identify an author or invites you to contact an unnamed "Web master." If you are going to depend on this Web site as a source of information, you need to determine the author's credentials as well as the purpose and rationale for posting the site in the first place. For example, a Web site created to serve a particular viewpoint, or to make a monetary profit, might skew information for the author's own ends. In addition to considering the author, you should also consider the publishing body of the Web page—the place or server on which the document resides (or from which it originates). If this information isn't readily apparent, try backing up several levels (deleting from the right side of the URL). Is the Web document linked to a federal agency (.gov), a non-profit site (.org), an educational institution (.edu), or a business (.com)?
Always ask yourself whether the organization sponsoring a particular site is a known, reliable, and suitable site for the document—a research center, for example, a college or university, or a government office.
If you are going to cite information found on a Web site, it's important to know whether you can trust the accuracy of the facts (i.e., hard data) under discussion in a particular document. First, determine if the factual information on a Web site can be corroborated elsewhere—through a reference to or citation of a clearly reliable source, for example. A Web site with data that cannot be confirmed should never be trusted, no matter how perfect it might seem for your purposes.
It's also important to understand the Web site's point of view or bias. How clear are its purposes? Does the language used on this site suggest a specific ideology or social or political agenda? Advocacy for a particular cause is not in itself a bad thing; when the slant of a site is deceptive or extreme, however, you should reject it as a legitimate research resource. If advertising appears on a Web page, try to determine the extent to which it may be influencing informational content: Is it clear where the boundary is between the advertising and information content? Does the data seem manipulated to serve the ads, or are the ads simply used to fund the site?
Sites that have academic or educational content are often non-profit sites and generally follow certain rules. Scholarship relies upon context and usually builds on precedent, so ask yourself these questions:
Do you have the sense that the author is positioning himself or herself within an ongoing and serious discussion?
Does the site demonstrate knowledge of related research—and does the author cite current and reliable sources?
If footnotes, bibliographies, and hypertext links are used, do they add authority, credibility, or depth to the argument or only seem to do so?
Since information on the Web is so easily posted, it's especially important to make sure that the sources you consult are timely. Ask yourself these questions:
Is the creation date of the document (or of its most recent revision) listed?
Is the information up-to-date or are the resources outdated? Age is relative on the Web: certain documents are timeless—their value is determined completely by their place in the historical record, and a document that is three or four years old can still be "timely" in certain disciplines. In fields where knowledge develops rapidly (the sciences, for example) or data is expected to change (statistics, for example), currency is more critical. As always, if you have questions about whether a source is current enough for your purposes, ask your instructor or Contact the Library
The University of California, Berkeley- Evaluating Web Pages: Techniques to Apply & Questions to Ask.
More and more people get news and information from new media available online, but it is important to remember that fast does not always mean accurate.
Identifing credible information on social media can be challenging. Rumors and misinformation can spread quickly through social media outlets such as Twitter or Facebook. Some of the criteria used to evaluate Internet sources, such as being skeptical, asking questions, looking at the quality of the source of the information, still apply in social media. At the same time, a new and quicker way to exchange information, without some of the clues of authorship provided by more traditional online sources, means we can add some new techniques and approaches to evaluating information.
If you are unsure whether a social media post is from a person or bot, do not use the source.
Social media can provide instant news faster than traditional news outlets or sources and can be a great wealth of information, but there is also an ever increasing need to verify and determine accuracy of this information. Here are some items to consider that can help determine authenticity:
Location of the source - are they in the place they are tweeting or posting about?
Network - who is in their network and who follows them? Do I know this account?
Content - Can the information be corroborated from other sources?
Contextual updates - Do they usually post or tweet on this topic? If so, what did past or updated posts say? Do they fill in more details?
Age - What is the age of the account in question? Be wary of recently created accounts.
Reliability - Is the source of information reliabl
Paul Bradshaw, a leading digital media expert and teacher in Europe, provides a variety of basic guidelines about online verification with a section related to social media:
How long has the account existed? If it’s only existed since a relevant story broke then it’s likely to be opportunistic.
Who did the person first ‘follow’ or ‘friend’? These should be personal contacts, or fit the type of person you’re dealing with.
Who first followed them? Likewise, it should be their friends and colleagues.
Who has spoken to them online? Their connections can tell you about their position, or lack thereof, in a community of academic conversations.
Who has spoken about them? Don’t take anyone else’s word for their existence unless you can verify them too. Can you correlate this account with others? You can search the library or the web for evidence of academic scholarship or journalism credentials, too.
