ESCC Learning Resource Center: Evaluating Sources: [A] Accuracy

Print
Website

Questions to Ask When Evaluating for Accuracy in Print:

1. Does the conclusions the article or book align with the conclusions other research you have been reading?

2. Can you tell if the article is mostly opinion?

3. Does the author effectively use citations to support their conclusions or findings?

How to Find Accuracy in Websites:

1. Can you find at least two or three other sources which come to the same conclusions?

2. Opinions are different than bias. If the text is purely someone's opinion, they will not use any citations.

3. If the author uses citations effectively, there will be a reference list at the end of the article or back of the book. Don't just assume that the citations are real. If you have questions about the validity of the citations, you can always look them up yourself. If the citations don't seem to exist, then that should be a big red flag.

Questions to Ask when Evaluating Accuracy in Websites:

1. After reading through the content of the website, does what you read seem to align with what you may already know about the topic?

2. Are there other sources who make the same claims and statements?

3. Does the information on the website seem too good to be true? Is it telling you what you want to hear vs. what is accurate?

4. Does the website give proper citations?

How to Find Accuracy in Websites:

1. Take a moment and compare the claims and statements of the website to the other research you've done. Does it contradict your other sources?

2. Can you find two or three other credible sources who make the same claims?

3. Look to the bottom of the page, are there references associated with the text of the website?

4. Sometimes websites will just tell you what you, the viewer, wants to hear. A fitness website will have two things going against it: a). It wants to sell you some sort of product. b). It will tell you how their product makes being thin really easy.