TGC: The Roadmap to Research

4: Evaluating Sources

Using library resources is a great step towards ensuring you are using reliable information, but it's also important to know how to evaluate your sources. Section 4 introduces the final step of research before drafting: evaluating your sources for credibility and bias. 

1. Develop a Topic
2. Conduct Preliminary Research
3. Formulate a Research Question
4. Find Sources
5. Evaluate your Sources

Read (7 minutes):

• Credibility
• Bias

Watch (4 minutes):

• Evaluating Sources for Credibility (3:15)

Do (10 minutes):

• Credibility & Bias Check

End Goal: 

After completion of Section 4 on your journey through the Roadmap to Research, you will be able to: 

• Identify the difference between credibility and bias.
• Identify different types of media bias in the news.
• Become a credible source by selecting appropriate information in order to meet the assignment requirements.

Credibility

Remember, format matters!

In section 1, you watched a video about why the formats of information (news reports, posts, journal articles, etc.) matter. To recap:

• All formats have value.
• The format tells you about the process of how the information was created. (For example, a news article indicates that it was written by a journalist, edited, and published quickly.)
• Not only can you use credible sources, but you can be a credible source!

Why do we need to evaluate sources?

It's our job as good researchers to know what information we're looking at, who has created it, why it was created, and to critically evaluate the credibility of the source. Watch this video created by NC State University LibrariesLinks to an external site. on how to evaluate sources for credibility.

Video credit: NC State University Libraries

Credibility Spectrum

As was shown in the video, there are many factors that impact credibility. Use the Credibility Spectrum below to evaluate all of the factors to choose sources for your research. Some of these may weigh heavier than other. For example, if an advocacy group for cattle farmers funded a research study this year on the health benefits of red meat, the unacknowledged bias would be more important than the date and expertise.

Credibility is not...

Here are some things that don't determine credibility:

• .org sites are more reliable than .com sites. Our databases are hosted on .com sites, and they provide access to some of the most reliable information! Domain names tell you a little bit about the organization, but not about the author or organization.
• Sources with good grammar are more credible. While bad grammar should make you concerned, it is much easier to check and correct grammar.
• Sources that are well designed are more credible. It has become easier for anyone to create professional-looking websites. On the other hand, some universities share amazing primary sources on ugly, outdated websites.

Instead, use this method to quickly check credibility:

1. Stop what you're reading and watching and ask yourself what your goal is in consuming this content. Does your own bias make you more or less likely to accept the claim that they're making?
2. Investigate the source. Run a quick search on the publisher, author, or creator.
   1. Do they have expertise or experience in the subject?
   2. Do they have an agenda? (for example, are they trying to sell you something? Is their primary purpose to get you to vote a certain way?)
3. Find better coverage. Search the claim and scan multiple sources. Do they agree?
4. Trace back to the original.
   1. If you're unsure if an image has been photoshopped, run a reverse image search.
   2. Did the source quote a respected source? Find the original quote to see if it was misquoted or taken out of context.

The SIFT Method by Mike Caulfield is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Bias

The video defines bias as "an inaccurate or unfair presentation of information." While that can be an outcome of bias, this definition is not fully accurate. We'll be using the definition that bias is "a tendency, inclination, or leaning towards a particular characteristic, behavior." Everyone is biased. All of the sources that you find will contain some bias, but you can be a credible source by:

• Understanding your own bias.
• Spotting how a source is biased.
• Reading broadly from multiple viewpoints and building your research on a wide range of viewpoints.

Spotting Media Bias

Media bias is "the tendency of a news outlet to report in a way that reinforces a viewpoint..." Here are several ways that a news outlet can reinforce a viewpoint while still reporting the facts of an event:

Mind-Reading: when an article makes assumptions about what a person is thinking. 

Both of these examples are making assumptions about what President Trump and President Obama were thinking.

Word Choice: there are many ways that a media outlet can choose words to indicate bias, such as: 

• Qualifying Adjectives: disturbing rise, serious accusations, troubling trend, baseless claim, critical bill, or offensive statement.
• Polarizing Word Choice: often, people with different viewpoints will use different language to describe the same situation, such as: pro-choice/pro-abortion, gun rights/ gun control, illegal immigrant/ migrant, Obamacare/ Affordable Care Act, or Columbus Day/ Indigenous Peoples Day.
• Spin: intentionally choosing hyperbolic, sensational and vague words, for example, replacing "said" with lashed out, mocked, or gloated, or using "dodged", "refused to say", or "conceded" to imply bad behavior.

Omission of Source: If a outlet makes a claim or quotes a source without linking to the source (or giving the name of the source).

While The New York Times linked to the tweet, they did not link to a source for why it was false.

Epoch Times repeatedly uses the phrase "Critics say" without giving the source for the critics.

Photo Bias: using a photo to create a positive or negative impression of a person

Stating Opinion as Fact: using subjective language to state opinions rather than facts, such as: suggests, better, is considered to be.

In this example, the journalist does not provide evidence to support why Elon Musk's decision-making is arbitrary, but instead presents his opinion that it is "seemingly arbitrary."

Bias by Omission and Story Choice: either when an article omits important details or when a media source features specific stories and omits others. This form of bias is difficult to notice in a single article and can only be discovered from reading broadly from a variety of viewpoints.

“How to Spot 16 Types of Media Bias.” AllSides, 26 Aug. 2019, https://www.allsides.com/media-bias/how-to-spot-types-of-media-bias.

Navigate back to Canvas to submit the Roadmap to Research, Section 4: Credibility Quiz