Evaluate All Sources - English 1302 - Garza, Antonio: I-Search Narratives

Authority is Constructed and Contextual

Evaluate
Learning Outcomes

When choosing a document to support our writing, we must bring a certain amount of skepticism and always be questioning the value of our sources. Not all sources are created equal and not all sources are worthy to be included in our work.

So how do we know what documents are worthy and valuable and which ones might be questionable in support of our arguments?

We start by:

reading like a detective looking for clues to an unsolved crime
questioning like a reporter conducting an interview
looking for bias - be suspicious! Bias conveys partiality, favoritism, bigotry, preferences, preconception, and unfairness
considering the tone, style, level of information and assumptions made by the author about the reader

Purpose: Understand that authority is created and based upon context.

Student Learning Activity: Evaluate a variety of sources using the 5 Ws Method.

Skills: The activity will guide your practice of evaluating sources with a focus on:

S. 1. Defining types of authority such as subject expertise, social position, or special experience;

S. 2. Recognizing that information may be packaged formally or informally and may include sources of all media types.

S.3. Understanding the increasingly social nature of the information ecosystem where authorities actively connect with one another and sources develop over time.

Knowledge: This activity will also help you expand the following important knowledge:

K.1 Motivation to find authoritative sources, recognizing that authority may be manifested in unexpected ways;

K.2. Develop awareness of the importance of assessing content with a skeptical stance.

Five Ws Evaluation Method

WHO: Who is the author?

Identify any credentials the author has that make him/her an authority?
If an individual author is not named who is the editor or sponsor?
If the source is a web site, is there a link to a "home page" to see who is sponsoring the page?
Can you detect any conflict of interest or potential bias in this author?

WHAT: What type of document is it?

Is it a primary or secondary document?
Is it an:
- Opinion, news article, review, report, research study, popular article, scholarly article, blog post, peer-reviewed article, statistical analysis, corporate document, government document

WHEN: When was the information published and/or updated?

What is the date of publication?
When did the event or research being discussed in the document occur?
Is your topic time-sensitive so that you can only use the most updated information or is your topic more historically oriented?

WHERE: Where was the information published?

Is it published in a scholarly journal, popular magazine, encyclopedia, book, website.
Is the publisher a known and respected source in the discipline?
If the source is a web site, you can check the domain name for clues (.edu, .org, .com, .mil, .net) to determine what type of page this might be.
- Is there an "about" or "what is" link from either the information page or the "home page" that outlines the purpose of the pages? Are they trying to sell something?

WHY: Why was the document created?

Who is the intended audience?
- General audience
- Specific audience
- Educated audience
What is the author's purpose toward this intended audience--to inform, to persuade, to entertain, to share a point of view? What is the author’s desired effect upon this audience?
Does this purpose seem honest and trustworthy?
Was the author paid for his opinion by a third-party that may be considered biased?

HOW: How was it written? How was it produced?

How did the author gather data to prepare the artifact? Did the author:
- gather data or information from outside sources;
- incorporate in-text citations and a list of references;
- present supporting pieces of data, sources, citations, quotes, personal experience, a reliable methodology.
- If there's not an actual "works cited," are there any internal references to other sources?
  - If yes, what kind of sources are they? Do these sources supplement the information given?
  - If links are provided, do the links work?

Information Cycle

Credit:University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Undergraduate Library. https://www.library.illinois.edu/ugl/howdoi/informationcycle/#Text Information Cycle