Unit 5 Concepts:

Assignment for Unit 5 

Evaluating information is important to good research--regardless of whether you got the information off the street, off the Web, or off the shelves of the library. But because the Web is essentially unregulated, its contents need close scrutiny.

Anyone with access to an internet service provider (ISP) can post a page about almost anything, and search engines can't distinguish between the college student who is posting his or her opinions of Maya Angelou's latest book from a scholarly article on the cultural relevance of Angelou's writing.

You'll need to determine if a site you've identified offers material that is reliable, current, and relevant to your topic--and you'll need to know if the information is biased in any way. Bias doesn't necessarily render the Web site useless; in fact, most sources have a bias of some sort.

For example, people often think of newspapers as among the most objective sources available, but newspaper editors must make subjective decisions about what stories to cover, in what order, and in what way. Follow this link to read today's news in the Washington Times. Then follow this link to read today's news in the Washington Post. Even if the two papers cover the same stories, there will be significant differences in presentation.

What's important is that you know what a source's bias is and how it might affect the content. If a source has a strong bias, you'll need to check the information against more neutral sources for accuracy. But the biased site still may offer valuable insight into a particular point of view.

As you evaluate various Web sites, remember too that some of the most visually appealing sites can be informationally empty. Don't be fooled by bells and whistles. Use the criteria below to determine the quality of a site.

1. What subject matter does the site cover? Is it closely related to the question you are trying to answer?

2. Does the source go into enough depth to be useful? Does it lead you to other useful sources?

3. Is the source too general or too specialized to be useful?

4. Who published the document? Are they experts or amateurs?

5. Does the document contain ciations for its sources? If not, how can you determine the credibility of its information?

6. How old is the source? There is often a "last update" date at the bottom of web pages; other sources have publication dates. Try to find the most recent sources--unless, of course, you're researching a historical event.

Questions about bias:

7. What is the purpose of the site? Is it informational, or is it there to sell you on a product or an idea?

8. Does the writer attempt to present information in an objective manner?

9. If there is advertising on the page, why would the advertiser be willing to pay to appear on that page? And why do the site owners need to make money from the site by selling ad space?

10. What bias can you detect, or might you expect, given the source of the information? Remember: government and corporate sources can be biased, too.

11. Who is the intended audience for the site? General public? Consumers? Supporters? Opponents? Specialists?

Assignment for Unit 5: Answer the above questions under usefulness, authority, and bias for each of the three Web sites you identified in Unit 3. At the top of your paper, write your research topic.