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ANALYZING INFORMATION
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 | "Is the information in this source related to my topic?" (relevance) |
| "Is this the most current research on my topic?" (timeliness: check copyright date or, in the case of web pages, when the page was last updated) |
| "Is the author qualified to write about this topic?" (authoritativeness) |
| "Are the resources "compiled" or "written by" the author?" (Do students know what difference this can make as regards validity of information?) |
| For web pages, what are the "affiliations" or links to the page? |
Terminology (Webster's Dictionary) |
Bias: |
An inclination of temperament or outlook; a personal and sometimes unreasoned judgment; prejudice. |
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Fact: |
Information presented as having objective reality; based on provable truth. |
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Opinion: |
View, judgment or appraisal formed in the mind about a particular matter; someone's personally considered belief. |
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Propaganda: |
A spreading of ideas, information or rumor for the purpose of helping or injuring a cause, institution or person; a systematic effort to persuade. The propagandist gives a one-sided message, emphasizing the good points of one position and only the bad points of the opposing position. |
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Value Judgment: |
A judgment assigning a good or bad value to something.
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Special attention should be paid to the purpose of the writing as this may be helpful in identifying information tarnished by bias, opinion, propaganda and/or value judgments, all of which can seriously compromise the reliability of information. Once again, students should be asking themselves questions such as these:
| "What is the author’s purpose? Did he write this to inform, or is he/she trying to persuade?" |
| Loaded word choice |
| Opinions stated as facts |
| Overgeneralization |
| Stacked arguments |
Web sites can be especially difficult to evaluate because they may be technologically impressive, yet lack factual information. The evaluation of web sites is therefore discussed in more depth elsewhere.
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