As you find and collect sources, you will also need to critically evaluate them. This will help you determine whether they are credible and appropriate for your research project.
You can use a checklist approach, the CRAAP Test, to take a look at specific parts of the source you want to evaluate. CRAAP stands for Currency, Relevance, Authority, Accuracy, and Purpose.
Check out the CRAAP evaluation checklist for more information.
Spotting unreliable and misleading information is becoming more difficult in today's complex information landscape. Individuals and organizations that want to spread misinformation are often familiar with the tips traditionally used to judge credibility, and they know how to manipulate them. This means that tricks like checking for spelling errors on a website, or trusting certain domain names (like .org), don't really work anymore to judge a source's trustworthiness.
In response to these challenges, Civic Online Reasoning (COR) developed a method for investigating credibility based on how professional fact-checkers approach information sources.
To go deeper than the CRAAP test, and focus on the most salient aspects of evaluating your sources, ask these three COR questions:
To find out who is behind the information, investigate who the author is.
We should care about who is behind our information sources because different individuals and organizations have a wide range of motivations for sharing information. Sometimes they want to make money or entertain. Sometimes they want to express opinions or create policy change. Different motivations can influence the information they present.
Consider these questions:
To find out what the evidence is, ask how this source supports its claims.
Because different authors have a range of motivations for sharing information, it is important that we do not take a source's word for granted. Instead, explore what evidence the source is using to support its claims.
Consider these questions:
To find out what the evidence is, go to other information sources (trustworthy ones!) and see if they support or contradict the source you are evaluating.
Some sources are more credible than others. Seeking multiple, trustworthy accounts on a topic will help you gain a stronger understanding of a topic than relying on any single source would.
Consider these questions:
Different assignments and research interests all require different types of sources. Sources can be categorized as primary, secondary, or tertiary sources.
Primary sources are first-hand accounts of an event or topic, created by people directly connected to it.
Examples of primary sources include:
Secondary sources interpret, evaluate, or analyze primary sources.
Examples of secondary sources include:
Tertiary sources index, abstract, organize, and otherwise compile other sources.
Examples of tertiary sources include: