Evaluating Web Resources
No matter what information you find online, you should always evaluate it to see if it is accurate, if it supports the argument you are discussing (and if not, why not), and if it is appropriate for a university assignment.
To do this you should consider the following points:
Accuracy: is it clear to you that the information is correct? Can you verify it using another source?
Authority: where is the information coming from? Is the author affiliated to an organization, company or educational institution? Is the author an expert in their field? Or are they just giving their own opinion?
Bias: What is the purpose of the website/information? To inform or push a particular side of the argument? Is it promoting/selling something?
Currency: Is there a ‘last update’ date anywhere on the page? Are all the links live? If not, the information might not be accurate/current.
Peer review: Is the author recognized as an expert on this topic? Has the information been reviewed by other experts in this field? Has an expert recommended this website?
Relevance: Is the information provided relevant to your research? Or is it off-topic somewhat? You don’t want to accidentally veer away from what you are supposed to be researching as this will lose you marks. Has your understanding of the topic increased reading this?
This work is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
