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English 102 Composition II / Research

This Research Guide will assist students needing to explore topics before writing a research paper.

What is this page for?

This page provides tools for evaluating sources.

Evaluating sources helps to determine credibility and reliability.

Interrogating the source, or asking questions, provides clues to help you determine credibility.

Share this page: https://library.skagit.edu/research-help/eval 

You can use the CRAP checklist as a quick way to evaluate sources, whether they are books, articles, websites or other kinds of sources. You don't need to be able to answer all the questions but use the list as a general evaluating tool.

CRAP Checklist

CURRENCY
  • How recent is the information, does it matter to your topic?
  • Has the resource been consistently updated/revised?
  • Are links current and working?

RELEVANCE
  • Is the information really relevant to your topic?
  • Does the creator provide references or sources for data or ideas?
  • Are there errors?

AUTHORITY
  • Who is the creator, author or sponsor?
  • What credentials does the author or organization have?
  • Does their experience or education indicate that they could be considered "experts"?
  • Is information about the creator easily found?
  • Is information provided about funding sources or data gathering for the work?

PURPOSE / POINT OF VIEW
  • What is the the purpose of the site? Is it obvious what it's for?
  • Are they trying to sell you something or promote an idea?
  • Who is the intended audience?
  • Is there a strong bias, an aggressive use of language, or a balanced tone?
  • Are there lots of pop-ups and irrelevant ads?

You can use the SIFT method for evaluating digital sources. (More about SIFT)

SIFT Method

STOP
  • Check your emotions - if your first response to information is emotional or reactive, take a moment and pause before you act.
  • What do you know about the source?
  • What do you know about the information?
  • Try the other steps before you commit, share, or repost.

Investigate
  • Who wrote it and why?
  • Who is the speaker, author, or publisher? What is the purpose or the agenda for supplying the information? Who supports them? Where does the financial support come from? What is the expertise, education, experience behind the information?
  • If you don't know or can't find out, try a quick Google or Wikipedia search for the person or organization.

Find better coverage
  • Look for the information in other trusted sources.
  • Check in at least three other places to verify accuracy and coverage.
  • Is there more reliable or in-depth information elsewhere? Use that instead!

Trace to original source
  • Dig deeper to find the original source for the claim and verify how the information is used or reused.
  • Check for expert consensus or historical context.

 

Tutorial from U of AZ

How Do I Evaluate Online Information? Tutorial from the University of Arizona:

  1. Watch - Becoming a Fact Checker
  2. Then try the THINK practice quiz
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