Evaluating Sources: Point-of-View/Purpose

Questions to ask when evaluating POV/Purpose in Websites:

1. Is the webpage mostly opinions and not factual?  Or is it opinion based in fact?  (Big difference!!)  

2. Does the publisher of the website have an agenda?  Can you tell if that agenda creates a bias for the website?  

3. Are they trying to sell you something?

4. Who is the audience that this website is written for? 

How to find POV/Purpose in websites: 

1. The structure and format of the website should tell you a lot.  It is a big red flag if the website has to emphasize their main points by using bold text or increasing the font size.

2. Using the "About" section of the website is very useful.  If the website is an organization, you can read their mission statement to easily find their agenda. 

3. If the site asks you to purchase information or a product, this is the website's agenda.  Vendors will say most anything in order to convince you to purchase their product.  

4. Gauging audience is very important when evaluating a source.  How a website will write for the common person is quite different than the way they would write for an audience with an expertise in the field.  Sometimes using sources that are too technical may be too difficult to understand, while using sources that are written for the common person aren't scholarly enough.  Find your comfort level. 

5. There is a big difference between pieces that have opinions which are based in fact and sources that are based not at all in fact. If the source gives you opinions AND gives you references as to why the author came to that conclusion then it might be a good source.  

Questions to ask when evaluating POV/Purpose in Print:

1. Who is the audience?  What can the audience tell you about the bias or point-of-view?

2. Who is the publisher of the book or article?  Does the publisher have a bias or agenda that they are tying to convey?

3. Does the author(s) offer abundant citations as evidence for their conclusions?

4. Are they trying to sell you something?  

How to find POV/Purpose in Print:

1. There is strong bias if there are advertisements next to the article for the product being discussed in the articles.

2. If the article or book is published by an organization, you can always look them up online.  The organization will most likely have their web address printed somewhere in the article or book.  

3. If there are citations offered as evidence, you might want to see if they are just quoting themselves or if they are quoting a wide variety of people in that particular field of study.  

4. Often you are able to tell POV when the author or organization is funded by an industry.