The Research Process: A Step-By-Step Guide

Use the links in the table below to navigate the Step-By-Step Guide.

Evaluating Information - Overview

Steps in this section:

• Understanding Scholarly vs. Popular Sources
• Understanding Primary vs. Secondary Sources
• Evaluating Web Sites

You are standing at the grocery store perusing the tabloid headlines. One catches your eye:

"Angels save trucker from fiery death--see the startling photo!!"

What a coincidence! You are doing your research paper for ENC1102 on the increasing popularity of angels in today's world. Do you buy the tabloid???

Save your money. Hopefully, the decision to not use a tabloid publication for a research paper will come naturally for you. But what about all those other sources you are finding on your topic?? How do you decide which to use?

The evaluation of information sources is extremely important. Do not assume that just because something has been published that it is a reputable, reliable source. You need to lose any "blind faith" you might have in the written word and also in information obtained from electronic sources. Remember, YOU are manipulating and controlling the information, not the other way around. The following tips and hints will help you, first, use common sense to evaluate all your sources, and, second, apply a more complex analysis and evaluation to those sources you actually cite in your research paper.

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Cursory Evaluation of Sources

Every source you consider for your paper should be evaluated according to the following set of criteria. Keep in mind that this will be a quick, common sense examination of your prospective sources, where you determine the relevancy of the source for your research needs. It does not take the place of the more thorough analysis of sources, but should be used as a selection/de-selection tool. Consider the following.

1. Look at the date of publication.
   • If your topic is a current controversy, make sure the publication dates are recent enough to be abreast of the controversy.
   • In many cases, this will limit you to periodical articles as books on the topic may be dated.
2. Look at the place of publication and the name of the publisher.
   • Some topics are geographically associated with certain areas of the country or world and the publication place may be important.
   • Ask yourself if the publisher is a reputable one. Your professor or librarian will be able to help you ascertain this.
3. If evaluating a book, look at the Table of Contents. Does the book cover your topic?
4. Within a book or periodical article, look for the following features:
   • Bibliographic citations;
   • Footnotes;
   • Appendices;
   • Glossary Information;
   • An Index;
   • Charts, Tables, Graphs.
   • These features are all designed to lead you to additional sources of information and to pinpoint appropriate information within the text or article.
   • If these features are not present, does that affect the overall quality of the source?
5. Look for clues within the text to help you identify important information.
6. Read the book jacket, if available, and scan the introductory material to help you determine the usefulness for your topic.
7. Ask yourself:
   • Does the information in this source answer one of my research questions?
   • Does the information in this source further my understanding of my topic?
   • Is this source useable and adequate and does it fit in with my other sources?

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Analyzing In-Depth

Once you have determined the overall relevancy of your sources, you will probably be left with 10 to 15 sources for your paper. These are the sources which you must evaluate and analyze in depth. The following are some questions to consider. This type of examination may seem difficult and time consuming at first, but the results far outweigh the effort put forth. In fact, many professors require annotated bibliographies as part of the research paper. These are the type of questions which provide the answers which form the annotated bibliography. Many of the following questions were taken from the Engeldinger article (p. 197).

1. Who is the author?
   • What is the author's position, occupation, education, etc.?
   • Is the author qualified, or not, to write this work?
   • To help you answer these questions, you may find the following reference sources helpful.
     • Contemporary Authors
     • Who's Who in America
     • A variety of directory reference sources
   • Ask a librarian for help in locating these sources.
2. What is the author's purpose for writing this book/article?
   • In books, this is often specified on the book jacket or in the introductory material.
   • In articles, an abstract or an introductory section may indicate this.
3. To what audience is the author writing?
   • Is it intended for the general public, scholars, professionals, etc.?
   • Is the audience reflected in the author's style of writing or presentation?
   • Does the author's research include footnotes and bibliographies?
   • The following sources may help you answer these questions.
     • Book Review Digest
     • Katz Magazines for Libraries
     • Encyclopedia of Associations
   • Ask a librarian for help in locating these sources.
4. Does the author have a bias or make assumptions upon which the rationale of the publication or the research rests?
5. Is the research based on facts or opinions?
6. Does the author use inflammatory words or phrases? Profanity?
7. Does the author oversimplify?
8. Does the author use misleading or deceptive arguments such as scare tactics, testimonials, generalizations, categorical statements, exaggerations, and the like?
9. Are there fallacies in arguments and reasoning such as proof by selected instances, unstated assumptions, and bandwagon persuasion techniques?
10. Does the author use stereotypes or ethnocentric arguments?
11. What methods of obtaining data or conducting research were employed by the author?
    • Is the article/book based on personal opinion or experience, interviews, library research, questionnaires, laboratory experiments, case studies, standardized personality tests, etc.?
12. What conclusions does the author arrive at?
13. Does the author satisfactorily justify the conclusions from the research or experience? Why or why not?
14. How does this study compare with similar studies? Is it in tune with or in opposition to conventional widsom, established scholarship, professional practice, government policy, and the like?
15. Are there significant attachments or appendixes, such as charts, maps, bibliographies, photos, documents, tests, or questionnaires? If not, should there be?
16. Does the date of publication and/or the date of research affect the validity of the work? Does the age of the author at the time of the research affect the validity of the work? Does the place of publication affect the research?
17. If the research is from a journal article, is it from a reputable publisher?
    • Was the article written by an anonymous person on the staff, or by an independent expert?
    • Is the journal refereed?
18. If the research is from a book, is the publisher reputable? Does the publisher have a hidden agenda?
19. Is this author and research cited by others? Use bibliographies, footnotes, and citation indexes to help ascertain this.

To help you answer some of these questions, consider the following "Indicators of Scholarship" and "Indicators of Propaganda." (Bodi, p. 23) This material was originally a handout by Professor Eileen Gambrill, School of Social Welfare, University of Berkeley.

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Works Cited

Bodi, Sonia. "Scholarship or Propaganda: How Can Librarians Help Undergraduates

Tell the Difference?" Journal of Academic Librarianship . 21 (1995): 21-25.

Engeldinger, Eugene. "Bibliographic Instruction and Critical Thinking: The Contribution

of the Annotated Bibliography." RQ . 28 (1988): 195-202.

Next: Scholarly vs. Popular Sources

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