how do you evaluate the credibility of a source

This will give you an overview of the source. For web sources, the URL and layout should signify that it is trustworthy. 208 Hamilton Hall, Mail Code 28051130 Amsterdam Avenue New York, NY 10027, Follow on Facebook Follow on Twitter Follow on Instagram, 510 Mudd Hall, Mail Code 4714500 W. 120th St.New York, NY 10027, 2023 Columbia University | Privacy | Terms of Use | Accessibility | Notice of Non-Discrimination |University Home Page, Remember, your use of sources is a means of supporting the argument you make. When doing research, you will use a variety of sources such as books, newspaper articles, magazines or journals, and websites. Authority. Writing Letters of Recommendation for Students. Before you evaluate your source, you need to first evaluate the purpose of your research. Preliminary evaluation is useful as it allows you to: While this preliminary evaluation is an important step in the research process, you should engage with sources more deeply in order to adequately understand them. The author and publication should be a trusted authority on the subject you are researching. The reliability (source, evidence, truthfulness) of the information. You may need to do research to uncover the answers to some of these questions, but considering these questions and the answers is an important step in determining credibility of a source. Sometimes, citing a scholar who goes against the tide of established thinking provides you with ammunition for a compelling devils advocate argument. Credible sources are published in peer-reviewed journals, scholarly books with lists of references, or .gov websites. Use it to try out great new products and services nationwide without paying full pricewine, food delivery, clothing and more. 2 . Approved. wikiHow marks an article as reader-approved once it receives enough positive feedback. An article that has been peer-reviewed is credible, but it still might . Transcript Need Help? With over a decade and a half of experience in the education industry, Alexander coaches students to increase their self-awareness and emotional intelligence while achieving skills and the goal of achieving skills and higher education. 2015. How timely is the source? Consider your audience and compare with a variety of sources. Search engine optimization (often abbreviated SEO) is a strategy used to increase unpaid views on a website from search engines. Among them are the author's level of expertise, her point of view, and the source's publication date. Podcasts are essentially audio files that can be streamed on a computer or mobile device, like portable radio. Evaluating Your Sources. However, the veracity and reliability of online news sources can vary enormouslybe sure to pay careful attention to authority here. Most of the sources you use in your assessments should be credible and academic, such as peer reviewed journals and scholarly texts. "Dialect, Interaction And Class Positioning At School: From Deficit To Difference To Repertoire." To assess an arguments strengths and weaknesses, ask: Situating a source in relation to other sources (lateral reading) can help you determine whether the authors arguments and conclusions are reliable and how you will respond to them in your own writing. Often, the most reliable information you will find on the internet will come from online databases. Non-scholarly books might deal with scholarly subject matter sociology, for example, or politics. Communication & Mass Media Complete. Use information from a textbook only for the background information necessary to build the foundation for your more innovative argument. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. 2 Mar. Validity is harder to assess, but it can be estimated by comparing the results to other relevant data or theory. Published on By following these guidelines, you can produce a high-quality research paper that showcases your research skills and impresses your audience. "Dialect, Interaction And Class Positioning At School: From Deficit To Difference To Repertoire." It is important to consider how the author uses these sources. How does the source engage with them? Are they an expert or are they less experienced with the topic? {"smallUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/images\/thumb\/a\/ae\/Evaluate-the-Credibility-of-a-Source-Step-9-Version-2.jpg\/v4-460px-Evaluate-the-Credibility-of-a-Source-Step-9-Version-2.jpg","bigUrl":"\/images\/thumb\/a\/ae\/Evaluate-the-Credibility-of-a-Source-Step-9-Version-2.jpg\/aid368290-v4-728px-Evaluate-the-Credibility-of-a-Source-Step-9-Version-2.jpg","smallWidth":460,"smallHeight":345,"bigWidth":728,"bigHeight":546,"licensing":"