Research Exercise 1 - Evaluating Sources

Overview

For this assignment, you will find two sources and evaluate them.

This assignment will be organized somewhat differently than past assignments.  You will see a material section.  Please review all of the material links.  Then you will see the Assignment section. 

Materials

Sample Article

This is the sample article Links to an external site. I refer to in my example response. 

Finding Sources

Finding Sources Links to an external site.

Proquest Database

Evaluating Sources

Evaluating Sources for Credibility Links to an external site.

Evaluating Sources Links to an external site.

Evaluating Sources:  The CRAAP Test Links to an external site.

QUINCY'S THINK-ALONG SLIDE SHOW ON EVALUATING SOURCES Download QUINCY'S THINK-ALONG SLIDE SHOW ON EVALUATING SOURCES

Assignment

Assignment:  Assessing Credibility of Internet Sources

Value:  20 points

Due:  By Tuesday, Feb. 28 (planned in-class work session Thursday, Feb. 23)

Assignment closes March 9

Special Note on Due Date and Grace Period for this Assignment:  It is most helpful if you complete this assignment BEFORE you draft Essay 3; however, I understand work load issues, so I have extended the grace period for this assignment just a bit longer than a week.

The advantage to completing this assignment sooner, rather than later, is that you can use my feedback to help you have more correct information and citations on your final for the third essay.

Submit via Canvas text box or file upload

The Assignment

Your assignment is to choose two (2) different internet sources and convince your reader that they are or are not credible sources of information.  For this exercise, choose articles rather than whole websites.

Note:  You should choose articles that you would use for our next Essay 3--Persuasion/Research.

DO NOT EVALUATE THE SAMPLE ARTICLE.

1)  Give each source a rating – one to five stars.

            Five stars means - I feel completely comfortable using this site for a research report on which my grade depends

            One star means - I would not use this site as a credible source under any circumstances

2)  Write an assessment for each site in paragraph form explaining your rating

            Address several of these issues:

                          Goals of the source or site

                          Presumed audience of the source or site

                          How you found the source or site

                         Authorship of the source

                         Address

                         Accuracy of the information 

 Example Response for one source

Sample article for this response Links to an external site.

The article "Vaping and Health:  What Do We Know about E-Cigarettes?" by Carrie Arnold is quite credible.  I would give it 4.5 out of 5 stars.  It does come from a peer reviewed journal; however, the author is a freelance science write, and I am not certain exactly how qualified she is.  The publication date is recent enough to be accurate and relevant, 2014, but it is more than five years old.  I especially was impressed by the corrections note at the end of the article.  This tells me the journal reviewers take their work seriously.  Additionally, several sources were referenced in the article and listed at the bottom.  The content was unbiased, admitting to difficulties in verifying information.