Source Assessment Strategies

Getting informed on current issues in the sciences and health requires us to assess all our sources of information, because while all information has a point of view, some information we find may be opinion, based on little or inaccurate information, or too biased to be a reliable source of information.

ASK:

For sources you find online:

• VERIFY claims in news and other sources. We call this "lateral reading." Try to track the claim to the original source.
• Check CREDENTIALS to determine if the author, editor, and/or publisher has expertise in the area or in professional journalism.
• Read MISSION STATEMENTS to learn what the stated agendas and beliefs are of an organization. 
• INVESTIGATE THE SOURCE. After you read what the source says about itself, read what others say about the source. Wikipedia can be a useful outside resource for this.
• AND ASSESS if this is a good source for your purposes.

The CRAAP test for source evaluation

Source Evaluation is about assessing the quality of information we find before using it. The CRAAP test is one source evaluation tool.

Do your sources pass the CRAAP test? If not, find a better source!

Currency: The timeliness of the information

• How recent is the information? Can you find a date of publication?
• Is the currency of information important for your particular topic?
• Does information about your topic change rapidly or frequently?
• Is older, historical information important for your topic?
• If source is a website, are the links functional?

Relevance: The importance of the information for your needs

• Does the information relate to your topic or answer your question? 
• Is the source popular or scholarly?
• Is the information at an appropriate level (i.e. not too elementary or advanced for your needs)?

Authority: The source of the information

• Who is the author/publisher/source/sponsor? 
• What are the author's qualifications, credentials, organizational/educational affiliations? 
• Is there contact information, such as a publisher or email address? 

Accuracy: The reliability, truthfulness and correctness of the content

• Where does the information come from?  Does the source list its own references?
• Has the information been reviewed or refereed?
• Can you verify any of the information in another source?
• Are there spelling, grammar or typographical errors?

Purpose: The reason the information exists

• What is the information being published? Is it to inform, teach, sell, entertain or persuade? 
• Who is the intended audience?
• Can you determine if the publisher/sponsor has political, ideological, cultural, religious, institutional or personal biases?
• For web sources, what is the domain? (.edu, .gov, .com, .org, .net)?
• For web sources, who are the sponsors of the site?  Are there advertisements? Do they affect or color the information being presented?

Download a copy of the C.R.A.A.P. Test below

What is Confirmation Bias?

Confirmation Bias refers to our tendency to interpret new information in a way that supports our existing beliefs, to only believe information that confirms our existing beliefs, and to ignore information that challenges them. 

We need to check for bias not just in the sources we use, but in ourselves as well!

Watch the video below to learn about Confirmation Bias and Discomfirmation Bias.

Strategies for Resisting Confirmation Bias

What is a Filter Bubble? 

A filter bubble refers the "Intellectual isolation that results from information served primarily through search engines that filter results based on personalized data, creating a “bubble” that isolates the user from information that may not align with their existing viewpoints." (from American Library Association)