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Critical Evaluation of Sources: Why Evaluate?

Criteria and guidelines to evaluate information from ANY location - web pages and print sources.

Why?

While most of us realize that we can’t trust all the information we see or read, we don’t always spend a lot of time considering how we actually make decisions about what to trust. Whether we’re watching the news, reading a friend’s blog, researching a health condition, or using information in some other way, we generally draw on our own values and life experiences to make relatively quick judgments about the validity of the information we are exposed to or seek out. Sometimes we don’t even consider the fact that we made a judgment about what to trust in the first place. We’re simply on autopilot.

Although the amount of deep thinking we need to put into evaluating the validity of an information source can vary depending on the significance of the situation, we ultimately make better decisions and construct more convincing arguments when we have a strong understanding of the quality of the information we’re using (or not using). This is especially true in an academic context, where our ability to create knowledge and meaning depends on our ability to analyze and interpret information with precision.   

To evaluate information, then, is to analyze information from a critical perspective. The evaluative process requires us to step back and carefully consider the sources we use and how we use them, to not rush to judgment but to think through the content of the articles we’re reading or the online search results we’re browsing. We also need to consider the relationships among different sources and how they work together to form “conversations” around certain topics or issues. A “conversation” in this sense refers to the diverse perspectives and arguments surrounding a particular research question (or set of questions).

The questions in this guide can help you think through the evaluation of information sources. Keep in mind that evaluation is not simply about determining whether a source is “reliable” or “not reliable.” It’s rarely that easy or straightforward. Instead, it’s more useful to consider the degree to which a source is reliable for a given purpose. The primary goal of evaluation is to understand the significance and value of a source in relation to other sources and your own thinking on a topic.

Note that some evaluative questions will be more important than others depending on your needs as a researcher. Figuring out which questions are important to ask in a given situation is part of the research process. Also note that your evaluation of a source may evolve over time. For instance, a source that seems very useful early on may prove less useful as your project develops. Likewise, a source that seems insignificant at the beginning of a project may turn out to be your most significant source later in the research process.

From:  http://louisville.libguides.com/evaluation

More Why

This evaluation process is really no different than the process people use everyday as they acquire all types of information from a neighbor, a friend, a newspaper, a television broadcast, or a bulletin board flyer. 

All of this happens so automatically, you don't even realize you're doing it. While you should evaluate all of information sources (books, periodical articles, etc.) before using them in your research, it is most vital that you evaluate the information you find on the Internet.  Every book and article published (even those available in Internet-based databases) goes through some sort of evaluation process, but Web pages go through no such pre-publication evaluation.

The number of resources available via the Internet is immense. Companies, organizations, educational institutions, communities and individual people all serve as information providers for the Internet community. Savvy members of the Internet community are aware that there are few, if any, quality controls for the information that is made available. Accurate and reliable data may share the computer screen with data that is inaccurate, unreliable, or even purposely false. In addition, the differences between the two types of data may be imperceptible, especially for someone who is not an expert in the topic area. Because the Internet is not the responsibility of any one organization or institution, it seems unlikely that any universal quality control will be established in the near future. In view of this, members of the Internet community must prepare themselves to be critically skilled consumers of the information they find.

Hoaxes, Fallacies, Propaganda - OH MY!

Types of hoaxes with examples -  http://virtualchase.justia.com/hoaxes-and-other-bad-information

Listing of Types of Fallacies -  http://www.nizkor.org/features/fallacies/

Propaganda -   http://guides.library.jhu.edu/content.php?pid=198142&sid=1657614

Critical Thinkers

Defining Critical Thinking

A Source:  http://www.criticalthinking.org/pages/defining-critical-thinking/766

Which states:  

The Problem 
Everyone thinks; it is our nature to do so. But much of our thinking, left to itself, is biased, distorted, partial, uninformed or down-right prejudiced. Yet the quality of our life and that of what we produce, make, or build depends precisely on the quality of our thought. Shoddy thinking is costly, both in money and in quality of life. Excellence in thought, however, must be systematically cultivated.

A Definition 
Critical thinking is that mode of thinking - about any subject, content, or problem - in which the thinker improves the quality of his or her thinking by skillfully taking charge of the structures inherent in thinking and 
imposing intellectual standards upon them.

The Result 
A well cultivated critical thinker:

  • raises vital questions and problems, formulating them clearly and precisely;
  • gathers and assesses relevant information, using abstract ideas to interpret it effectively comes to well-reasoned conclusions and solutions, testing them against relevant criteria and standards;
  • thinks openmindedly within alternative systems of thought, recognizing and assessing, as need be, their assumptions, implications, and practical consequences; and
  • communicates effectively with others in figuring out solutions to complex problems.

Critical thinking is, in short, self-directed, self-disciplined, self-monitored, and self-corrective thinking. It presupposes assent to rigorous standards of excellence and mindful command of their use. It entails effective communication and problem solving abilities and a commitment to overcome our native egocentrism and sociocentrism.

Critical Thinking

Critical Thinking and introduction to the basic skills by William Hughes
1992 Broadview Press Ltd.
Lewiston, NY
Isbn 1-921149-73-2

The primary focus of critical thinking skills is on determining whether arguments are sound, i.e. whether they have true premises and logical strength.But determining the soundness of arguments is not a simple matter, for three reasons.First, before we can assess an argument we must determine its precise meaning. Second, determining the truth or falsity of statements is often a difficult task. Third, assessing argument is complex because there are several different types of inferences and each type requires a different kind of assessment. 

There three types of skills—

interpretive skills, verification skills, and reason skills—constitutes what are usually referred to as critical thinking skills. 

mastering critical thinking skills is also a matter of intellectual self-respect.  We all have the capacity to learn how to distinguish good arguments from bad ones and to work out for ourselves what we ought and ought not to believe, and it diminishes us as persons if we let others do our thinking for us.  If we are not prepared to think for ourselves, and to make the effort to learn how do this well, we will always remain slaves to the ideas and values of others and to our own ignorance. P. 11


Argumentation and Debate Critical thinking for reasoned decision Making
Austin J. Freeley and David L. Steinberg
10th edition 2000 Wadsworth/Thomson Learning Belmont, CA
Isbn 0-534-46115-2


Critical thinking:   the ability to analyze, criticize, and advocate ideas; to reason inductively and deductively; and to reach factual or judgmental conclusions based on sound inferences drawn from unambiguous statements of knowledge or belief.    P. 458


Author: Theresa Rienzo, Reference Librarian,James Edward Tobin Library, Molloy College 1000 Hempstead Ave. Rockville Centre, NY  11571

Copied from:  http://molloy.libguides.com/criticalthinking