Evaluating Sources

GROUP 4 PRESENTATION
Definition of key terms
 Validity - Validity is defined as the extent to which a concept is
accurately measured in a quantitative study.
 Internal validity - Internal validity examines whether the manner in
which a study was designed, conducted, and analyzed allows
trustworthy answers to the research questions in the study.
 External validity - ​External validity examines whether the findings of
a study can be generalized to other contexts.
 Reliability - is the degree to which a research method produces stable
and consistent results.
 Credibility - Credibility refers to the extent to which a research
account is believable and appropriate, with particular reference to the
level of agreement between participants and the researcher.
Definition of key terms (contd.)
 Authority - Authority within qualitative research refers to the claims
that the researcher makes within the research process, so as to
speak/write in the way they do about the social process or phenomenon
being studied.
 Bias - Bias, in research, is a systematic error introduced in sampling or
testing by selecting or encouraging one outcome or answer over others.
 Fact - ​A fact is an indisputable observation of a natural or social
phenomenon.
 Opinion - Opinions in a survey research can be defined as subjective
attitudes, beliefs, or judgments that reflect matters of personal
(subjective) preference.
 Fallacy - ​A fallacy is a common error in reasoning that will undermine
the logic of your argument.
Definition of key terms (contd.)
 Source - Research sources are usually thought of as primary sources
and secondary sources. Primary sources can be firsthand accounts of
actual events written by an eyewitness or original literary or artistic
works while secondary sources were created by someone who did not
experience first-hand or participate in the events or conditions you're
researching.
 Context - The context of a research gives the audience the picture of
"where", "who", "what" and possibly "when" of the research. It
becomes easier for the reader to have a better understanding of the
background of the research.
 Medium- A medium is a channel or system of communication, the
means by which information (the message) is transmitted between a
speaker or writer(sender) and an audience (receiver).
Criteria for evaluating primary and
secondary sources according to CAPE
requirements
 Reliability

How trustworthy is the information found in the source? Primary sources are
some times created by individuals with prejudices, and in order to find out if
the picture painted is truthful, other primary sources should be used to
corroborate the story.
 Origin
If you are unable to find information that tells you where it comes from then it
is harder to determine if is an authentic primary source.
Criteria for evaluating primary and
secondary sources according to CAPE
requirements
Validity
(contd.)
•Is this source really important to the research being undertaken, does it
add meaningful information? When determining validity pay attention
to who is the creator of the source, and the quality and relevancy of the
information obtained.
Accuracy
•Are there any errors in the primary source? Human beings are
imperfect creatures and we make mistakes. Therefore as said in a
previous point, use other primary sources to corroborate the facts.
Criteria for evaluating primary and secondary
sources according to CAPE requirements (contd.)
 Suitability
•Read the introduction, go through the table of contents and the index, to
determine if the source has sufficient and relevant information. Also,
the information in the work should meet the required academic standard,
for example do not use a primary school textbook for your CSEC
History SBA.
 Objectivity
•Prejudices and biased opinions will never be excluded from secondary
sources. It is important to detect these biases, and an introduction or
preface will usually give an idea of the point of view of the writer.
Therefore use other secondary sources to get a balanced view
Criteria for evaluating primary and secondary sources
according to CAPE requirements (contd.)
 Accuracy and Credibility
Two ways to determine if a secondary source is accurate and credible is to use other
secondary sources to corroborate the information and to check the list of references
used by the author. The reference list can tell you the type of sources used and how
they can be verified, so if a secondary source does not have references, do not use it.
 Authority
Although in history the older the work the more valuable the information it contains, it
is important that secondary sources contain information that reflect the most recent
discoveries in the field. Therefore pay attention to the date of publication, and use the
newer edition.
 Currency
Who is the author, is he or she an expert in the field and is well-known? Is the
publisher a reputable company that only publishes works of high academic quality?
Tips for evaluating sources

 Is the information

 ◦ Suitable
 ◦ Objective
 ◦ Current
 ◦ Accurate
 ◦ Credible
 and does it have Authority?
Evaluation of Activity 9.5 of Simon &
Osbourne text
-This speaks on the effects the internet and social media has on children. We
are to evaluate whether the article presented is a viable source of research on
the topic “the effects of the internet on the young people”. Firstly the
information presented in the article has been said before plenty of times by
other articles pertaining to the topic . However despite the information being
underwhelming and lackluster, it still fulfils its purpose of providing
information to the reader. It also does not help that the article is outdated. We
found the site it was published and it has been out for more than 10 years. It
was written in March 2007 and hasn’t been updated at all ever since. While
the information is somewhat accurate, it is not up to date with modern
statistics on the topic. Additionally the information in the article seems
heavily opinionated rather than factual.
Evaluation of Activity 9.5 of Simon &
Osbourne text (contd.)
-While the message of the internet's effects on the young people hold some truth to it, it
is presented in a biased way as the more you read the article, the more you hear it as the
author sharing their opinion on the matter rather than what is statistically accurate. It
also does not help that there is no bibliography to reinforce the information being
displayed in the article. This proves even further that most of what the author is saying
is mainly opinionated, it also shows that the author is unaware of other works dealing
with this similar topic. Did we mention the article does not even have the author’s
name, we went onto the website the article is posted, JW.org, and found no sign of a
name. Without the author’s name how could we tell if their knowledge and research has
been referenced by others? Since we could not find a trace of the author we assumed
they were not someone of renown. Also we mentioned earlier that the site where this
article is published is called JW.org now because the site is called .org instead of .edu or
.gov we can deem this site as non reputable meaning it is not a well known cite.
Evaluation of Activity 9.5 of Simon &
Osbourne text (contd.)
-Therefore we can say that someone should not be going to this site for
reliable information. With that being said we can see that this article is
mainly catered to the adult audience, more specifically parents. The
point of this article is to bring awareness to parents on the negative
effects the internet could have on their children and we can appreciate
the effort they put into this article despite its shortcomings. In
conclusion this article does not sell itself as a reliable source for
research. It is mainly opinionated, it is highly outdated and there are
just more articles that fulfil the purpose of providing information on
this topic that are simply better.