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*The Research Process: A Guide for GWC Students

Use library resources to locate and evaluate information for your class assignments.

Evaluating Resources Using the SIFT Method

The SIFT Method is critical, especially when you are looking at online sources.

Criteria

Questions to Ask

S
  • STOP!
    • Do NOT read the source you just found, instead:

I
  • Investigate the source.
    • Use Google and/or Wikipedia to find out about the source of information.
    • If Wikipedia doesn't have enough information, look at the linked reference sources at the bottom of the Wikipedia article.

F
 
  • Find the original source.
    • If the source you found seems to be quoting from another article or other source, find the original source of information to confirm facts and investigate the original source.
    • *Do not click through links from the website you are evaluating. 

T
  • Look for Trusted Sources.
    • Build a library in your mind of sources you have found to be trustworthy. When you see a claim online, you can Google the claim and add the name of one of your trusted sources to see if they have covered the same story. Fact-checking websites like Snopes are great sources of trustworthy information because of the amount of research they do to verify a story.

Adapted from Mike Caulfield's SIFT (Four Moves), which is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Evaluating Resources Using the CRAAP Method

This method is for beginning questions you need to ask.

Criteria

Questions to Ask

Currency
  • When was the source written and published?
  • Has the information been updated recently?
  • Is currency pertinent to your research?

Relevance
  • Does the source cover your research topic comprehensively or only cover one aspect?
  • To what extent does the source answer your research question?
  • Is the source considered popular or scholarly?
  • Is the terminology and language used easy to understand?
  • Does the source meet the requirements of your research assignment?

Authority
  • Who is the author (person, company, or organization)?
  • Does the source provide any information that leads you to believe the author is credible or an expert on the topic?
  • Can you describe the author's background (experience, education, knowledge)?
  • Does the author provide citations? Do you think they are reputable?

Accuracy
  • Can facts or statistics be verified through another source?
  • Based on your knowledge, does the information seem accurate? Does it match the information found in other sources?
  • Are there spelling or grammatical errors?

Purpose
  • What is the purpose or motive for the source (educational, commercial, entertainment, promotional, etc.)?
  • Who is the intended audience?
  • Is the author pretending to be objective, but really trying to persuade, promote or sell something?
  • Does the source seem biased?
Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License unless noted otherwise.