Teaching Source Credibility and Bias

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Teaching Source Credibility and Bias

• Standard 6.8 Evaluating Sources

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Essential question

• What do my students need to evaluate when
  choosing sources for their research projects?

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Research Assignment

• This year you will write a research paper that
  involves literary analysis.
• We will begin research this month, and you need
  to know how to choose good sources.

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Primary or Secondary

• Primary Sources Literary works (poems, short
  stories, novels, essays, plays) documents,
  autobiographies letters interviews speeches
  surveys tables of statistics
• Secondary Sources Comment on or analysis of an
  original text biographies

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Primary Sources

• Credibility is not an issue
• WHY?
• Bias, however, may need to be a consideration
• WHY?

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Secondary Sources

• Evaluation of these sources is essential
• Credibility of authorship, authenticity,
  accuracy, and bias may be an issue

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Evaluating the source

• Usefulness
• Credibility
• Bias

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Usefulness

• Your purpose What will this source add to your
  research project? Will it help support a major
  point, demonstrate you have researched
  thoroughly, or help establish your own
  credibility as a conscientious researcher?

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Is It CRAP?

• Currency
• How recent is the information?
• How recently has the website been updated?
• Is it current enough for your topic?
• Reliability
• What kind of information is included in the
  resource?
• Is content of the resource primarily opinion? Is
  is balanced?
• Does the creator provide references or sources
  for data or quotations?
• Authority
• Who is the creator or author?
• What are the credentials?
• Who is the published or sponsor?
• Are they reputable?
• What is the publishers interest (if any) in this
  information?
• Are there advertisements on the website?
• Purpose/Point of View
• Is this fact or opinion?
• the creator/author trying to sell you something?
• Is it biased?

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Usefulness

• Relevance Is the source relevant to your
  project, or are you simply listing sources to
  meet a quota?

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Usefulness

• Level of specialization General sources can be
  helpful when you are beginning your research, but
  you may need more specialized or more current
  resources. Ask yourself, Who was this source
  written for? A general audience? A more
  specialized group? How does this resource fit
  with your audience and purpose.

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Credibility

• Credentials of the publisher or sponsor What can
  you learn about the newspaper or sponsor of the
  source? For example, is it a newspaper known for
  integrity or is it a tabloid? Is it a popular
  source, or is it sponsored by a professional
  organization or academic institution? Is the
  book published by a company you recognize or can
  locate easily on the web?

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Credibility

• Credentials of the author An authors
  credentials often are included on the back cover
  or flap covers of the book. When researching,
  does the authors name come up in other sources?
  He may be influential in his field

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Credibility

• Date of the publication Recent publication dates
  may be more useful in the sciences or other
  fields where change is frequent and current
  information is essential. However, in the
  Humanities, the most authoritative works may be
  the oldest. Publications dates on the web are
  difficult to assess, which explains why MLA
  suggests recording the date you accessed the
  information instead of a publication date.

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Credibility

• Accuracy of the source Can you locate other
  sources that corroborate this source? In other
  words, can you find other sources that have
  similar information or support parts of what you
  find in this source?

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Credibility

• Cross-references to the source Is the source
  cited in other works? If you see the source cited
  other places, notice what another author says
  about the source. Anothers comments may give
  you insight into the credibility.

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Bias

• Stance of the source Its important to identify
  the sources point of view (bias). Would the
  author have a reason to slant the information?
  Omit essential facts or details? Identifying the
  source is the first step toward evaluating
  whether the sources bias would be a concern.
  For instance, would the source be trying to
  convince you of an idea? Sell something? Call
  you to action? Do any of those purposes call the
  information in the source into question?

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What is bias?

• According to Webster's Dictionary online
• Bias is defined as
• an inclination of temperament or outlook
  especially a personal and sometimes unreasoned
  judgment PREJUDICE

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Looking for bias

• In Politics
• Rush Limbaugh, Radio Talk Show Host
• Example Proclaimed right wing republican uses
  his talk show to promote his party's platform
  beliefs

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Looking for bias

• In SELF-PROMOTERS Authors of books, websites, or
  various written works promote their works for
  self-gratification.
• Example Toyota Today Magazine rating its Toyota
  cars as the best in its class based on some
  specifications outlined by them.

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Looking for bias

• In FINANCE A individual or company creates
  website to advertise a product or service.
• Example Receiving Tax Tips from a website
  designed and maintained by HR Block.

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Looking for bias

• From SPONSORS An individual or company supports
  a website with the intention of gaining exposure.
• Example Gaining interview and resume writing
  tips from a website sponsored by Kelly  and
  Manpower Temporary Services.com

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Red Flags for source credibility

• Anonymity no author or sponsoring entity
• Negative reviews by other sources
• Misspelled words and poor grammar
• Vague or sweeping generalizations
• One-sided viewpoint that does not address an
  opposing side

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Red Flags

• Intemperate tone or language ("stupid jerks,"
  "shrill cries of my extremist opponents") 
• Overclaims ("Thousands of children are murdered
  every day in the United States.") 
• Sweeping statements of excessive significance
  ("This is the most important idea ever
  conceived!") 
• Conflict of Interest ("Welcome to the Old Stogie
  Tobacco Company Home Page. To read our report,
  'Cigarettes Make You Live Longer,' click here."
  or "The products our competitors make are
  dangerous and bad for your health.")

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Red Flags

• Numbers or statistics presented without an
  identified source for them 
• Absence of source documentation when the
  discussion clearly needs such documentation 
• You cannot find any other sources that present
  the same information or acknowledge that the same
  information exists (lack of corroboration)

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Cues from URLs

• edu educational institution http//docsouth.unc.
  edu.
• gov US government site http//memory.loc.gov.
• org organization or association
  http//www.theaha.org.
• com commercial site http//www.historychannel.co
  m.
• museum museum http//nc.history.museum.
• net personal or other site http//www.california
  history.net

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Choosing a resource

• Your topic is acid rain and its effect on
  automobile paint. Would you be more likely to
  find relevant information in
• A brochure advertising Fords newest Green
  models
• A National Geographic article on changing weather
  patterns
• A study conducted by BMW on exterior paint for
  cars
• ICAR research on automobile safety in hurricane
  force wind and rain

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Answer

• The correct answer is C because it specifically
  refers to automobile exterior paint.
• All of the other sources listed do not refer to
  automobile paint. They may deal with rain but
  nothing indicates they refer to acid rain.
  Therefore,

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Which website?

• For a research paper on the history of the sport
  of lacrosse, which website will be the most
  relevant and reliable?
• www.lacrosse.com (home page of the Great Atlantic
  Lacrosse Company, which sells lacrosse equipment)
• www.lacrosse.org (home page of US Lacrosse, the
  governing body over men and womens lacrosse
  teams in the US)
• www.lacrosseuniversity.com (website of Lacrosse
  University in Bay St. Louis, MS)
• www.warriorlacrosse.com (website of
  manufacturer of lacrosse equipment

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Answer

• The correct answer is B. Option A and D both
  represent retail companies who sell sporting
  equipment. Their websites would be unlikely to
  have much information about the history of the
  sport. Option C is a link to a university.
  Option B is a link to an organization that
  oversees the development and rules of the sport,
  thus they would be more likely to have
  information about the history of the sport.

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Assess the source

• Rank each of these websites from 1(low) to 4
  (high) according to how reliable and accurate you
  think they would be
• The most recent U.S. Department of Labor
  statistics on unemployment
• Twelfth-graders blog on the history of silent
  films
• Wikipedia article about a controversial political
  issue
• An editorial about Abraham Lincoln from the New
  York Times, January 1862

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Support your ranking

• Explain your reasons for ranking each website to
  a partner.
• Did you and your partner agree on the rankings?

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Sources

• Harris, Robert. Evaluating Internet Sources.
  Virtual Salt. June 15, 2007. January 12, 2010.
  http//www.virtualsalt.com/evalu8it.htm. Web.
• Lunsford, Andrea A. The Everyday Writer Fourth
  Edition. Boston
• Bedford- St. Martins Press, 2009.
  170-171. Print