The Important Questions of Evaluation: Digging Into Your Sources (3 Levels)
| The 5 Ws (and one H) | The Surface-Level Questions | The Deeper Questions |
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Who? |
Who is the author, editor, or creator? |
What are the author's qualifications? First-hand experience? An advanced degree? |
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What? |
What type of document is it? For example, is it a newspaper article? A blog? A government website? A scholarly article? A book? What is it about? |
There is no 'bad' type of document, but some have gone through a more rigorous review process than others.
Is it relevant to your topic? |
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When? |
When was this source published? |
Is the publication date appropriate for the type of research you are doing? |
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Where? |
Where did the authors get their information from? Are citations provided? |
What types of sources did they cite? |
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Why? |
What was the goal of the author or publisher?
Who is the intended audience? |
Is there bias? Bias does not necessarily negate credibility. We all have biases. The question then becomes: are those biases disclosed? Do they impact the quality of the information? Is the source intended for a scholarly audience or a more general audience? |
Many of these questions will NOT (a) be easy to find answers to and (b) tell you that the source you are reading is 100% credible, but they are still important to ask. Digging into a source itself and finding out more about it is part of the research process.
Evaluating sources is an ongoing activity you will do throughout your research, and it includes evaluation of your own search process.
As you search, pay attention to the keywords and phrases you are using. Are you looking for information that will only confirm what you already suspect, or are you looking for possibly contradictory or opposing information as well? Do you have any 'go-to' sources that you use to find information? Are you looking in too narrow or too broad an area for information?
Source types make up the scope of the literature you are searching. Common source types for historical research include:
What are "peer-reviewed" journals?
A peer-reviewed journal is a respected publication. Before articles are published within these types of journals, they are sent by the editors of the journal to other scholars in the field ("peers"), often anonymously, to get feedback on the quality of the scholarship, review research methods, as well as relevance or importance to the field. The article may be accepted, often with revisions suggested, or rejected for publication. Many peer-reviewed journals have low acceptance rates.