Finding and Using Credible Sources

Two Types of Research 1. Primary : research you have conducted yourself such as interviews, experiments, surveys, or personal experience and anecdotes.

Use of Interviews: Interview: I know this has been a major issue for you. Can you give me your stance on text books for students in a nutshell?   Doherty: Sure, essentially I feel that with the fees as inflated as they are, text books should be made available to students as a part of their tuition. And not just poor or underprivileged students either, I’, talking the student community as a whole. Interview: Wouldn’t this be very expensive for the school? Doherty: I’ve seen the projected budget figures and it is clear that LASU could indeed make substantial purchases of text books for their students without impacting the bottom line or increasing fees. Interviewer: Where would the money come from? Doherty: Well, from the general budget. Compared to other expenses, the outlay of monies for text books would be miniscule, especially considering the enormous good will it would generate in the community. The issue of “free” text books for students at LASU has been of particular interest to Shelia Doherty, the Dean of Economics. In an interview conducted for this assignment, Doherty suggested that the school could offer free text books not just to needy students but to “the student community as a whole.” Doherty’s own analysis of the school’s budget suggests to her that LASU could make “substantial purchases” of books for the students “without significantly impacting the [school’s] bottom line or increasing fees.”

Two Types of Research 2. Secondary : research you are getting from various texts that has been supplied and compiled by others such as books, periodicals, and websites.

Use of Second Hand Research: Journal of Higher Education Vol. 30 No. 3 Education: The REAL Costs by Elise Peters There are several factors which contribute to the budgetary concerns on most college and university campuses in this country, but the four major concerns include the overall cost of education. This includes the both two-year and four institutions, undergraduate as well as graduate level; the state of the US economy as a whole; spending by individual departments and divisions, and such uncategorized areaslike campus maintenances, health care, campus security, and other non-academic services -73- Use of Second Hand Research: A recent report in the Journal of Higher Education cites several factors play into a campus’s budgetary concerns: 1) the overall cost of education; 2) the state of the economy in general; 3) spending by individual departments, and 4) campus maintenances and other “non-academic services.” (Peters 73).

Major Difference: First Hand Evidence: ONE filter between the source and the author. Second-Hand Evidence: MULTIPLE filters between the source and the author.

Time: (how recent is the info? Is it still relevant?) A “Filter” is anything that gets between the original information and the author’s interpretation of the information. Filters can include Time: (how recent is the info? Is it still relevant?) Bias: (who has already used the info? What their agenda?) Interpretation: (who has already manipulated the info before the author got it? Maybe they misquoted the info?)

Strategies for Minimizing the “filter affect” - Check out the author’s reputation & credentials. What is their “ethos?” - Always use the most timely and recent sources. - Find another source that supports the one you are using. - Acknowledge when the information contradicts other data. (This protects YOUR ethos!)

How Do I know if a source is credible? Who is the author? Credible sources are written by authors respected their fields of study. Responsible, credible authors will cite their sources so that you can check the accuracy of and support for what they've written. (This is also a good way to find more sources for your own research.)

How Do I know if a source is credible? How recent is the source? The choice to seek recent sources depends on your topic. While sources on the American Civil War may be decades old and still contain accurate information, sources on information technologies, or other areas that are experiencing rapid changes, need to be much more current.

How Do I know if a source is credible? What is the author's purpose? Is the author presenting a neutral, objective view of a topic? Or is the author advocating one specific view of a topic?

How Do I know if a source is credible? Consider what sources you AUDIENCE will find credible: If you are writing for a professional or academic audience, they may value peer-reviewed journals as the most credible sources of information. If you are writing for a group of residents in your hometown, they might be more comfortable with mainstream sources, such as Time or Newsweek. A younger audience may be more accepting of information found on the Internet than an older audience might be.

* Never use Web sites where an author cannot be determined. What about websites??? * Never use Web sites where an author cannot be determined. * Make sure the site is associated with a reputable institution (university, credible media outlet, government program or department, etc. ) * Beware of using sites like Wikipedia, which are collaboratively developed by users. Because anyone can add or change content.

So… can we use Wikipedia or Encyclopedias at all? Although encyclopedias may contain out of date information and Wikipedia may not be accurate, they still have value: 1. As a “starting point” for general information about your topic. 2. As a bibliographic sources for finding more reliable or recent sources.

Wikipedia often has excellent reference sections

Your best bet for online research is to use the databases on the library’s website.

ProQuest is a popular database for academic use.

Putting your sources to work Next … Putting your sources to work