1. How to Research and Evaluate Your Sources
Personal Project 2014
How to Research and Evaluate Your Sources

2. Evaluation Criteria Criterion A: Investigating (7-8)
Identify prior learning and subject-specific knowledge, consistently highly relevant to the project
Demonstrate excellent research skills.
What are “research skills”?
Planning (brainstorming, questions, sources, etc)
Variety of sources & source evaluation
Note-taking & citation
Organization
Use of knowledge to create solutions, make decisions, solve problems etc.

3. What do you need to find out?
Topic?
Do you need more information to understand your topic?
Global Context?
How is it related to your GC? What issues do you need to investigate in relation to your Global Context?
Product How To?
Do you need more info about how to make or do something?
Research questions are key!
Topic?
Do you need more information to understand your topic?
AOI?
How is it related to your AOI?
How to?
Do you need more info about how to make or do something?
Write research questions to guide your research!

4. Are you looking for…. Background information? News?
Magazine or journal articles?
Photos?
Videos?
Someone with specialist knowledge?
ShironekoEuro via Compfight cc
What type of information are you looking for and where might you find it?
Background information? Encyclopedia, website, book
News? – Newsbank, news website,
Magazine or journal article? – Database – EBSCO, JSTOR, ACB Clio, Project MUSE
Photos? Flickr/Compfight, Google Images
Videos? YouTube, (BrainPop?)
Someone with specialist knowledge? Interview in person, by phone or Skype, by ?
pasukaru76 via Compfight cc
urban_data via Compfight cc

5. Types of Research Primary Research Secondary Research Interviews
Surveys
Observation
Secondary Research
Books (print & e)
Internet
Websites
Encyclopedias
Videos
Photos
Databases
As you have chosen a variety of topics of personal interest to you, you will each need to find different types of information. I will go over these briefly, but will put this Power Point onto the portal so that you can access it when you begin your research and use it as a reminder of where to go and how to research effectively.
All of you will use Secondary research to find information about your topics. These include books, various internet sources & information from databases. Many of you will also need to collect primary research in order to understand your topics better. This might include doing interviews, collecting survey data or doing observation.
Flickr photo by jimmiehomeschoolmom

6. Interviews Expert Detailed info – individual or small group Types
Face to face
Phone/Skype - -
Chat/IM -
Key – record, with permission!
Detailed information
Expert – Is there someone you can contact who knows a lot about your topic?
Detailed info – individual or small group
Types
Face to face – good as you can adapt your questions to the person’s answers as you’re interviewing them.
Phone/Skype – Helpful when someone lives far away
– Less personal, but convenient for people who are really busy. They can also think about their answers in advance and hopefully give you a detailed response.
Chat/IM – Good for distance also, and you can adapt questions based on responses. But not everyone is good at typing… responses may be short.
Key – As for permission to record!
Flickr photo by Ayton

7. Interviews – How to Setting up interview: courteous, professional
Who you are
Purpose of interview
Questions
Written in advance and carefully thought through!
Interview
Start “small” – break the ice
Be prepared
Don’t pester
Pay attention
Be flexible
Keep control
Setting up interview: courteous, professional
Explain who you are & the purpose of interview
Questions
Written in advance and carefully thought through!
Interview
Do start the interview with some small talk to give both yourself and the person you are interviewing a chance to get comfortable.
Test your recording equipment before!
Do come to the interview prepared. You should learn as much as you can about the person you are going to interview before the interview takes place so that you can tailor your questions to them.
Don't pester or push the person you are interviewing. If he or she does not want to talk about an issue, you should respect that desire.
Do pay attention to what is being said during the interview and follow up responses that sound interesting.
Don't stick to your questions rigidly. If an interesting subject comes up that relates to your research, feel free to ask additional questions about it.
Don't allow the person you are interviewing to continually get off topic. If the conversation drifts, ask follow-up questions to redirect the conversation to the subject at hand.
Flickr photo by smiling_da_vinci

8. Surveys Large number of people Issue or behaviour Who?
Focus group
How many people?
Target number
How?
In person, on paper, via internet
How long?
How many questions? What do you need to know?
Type of questions?
Open-ended (many possible responses)? Closed (yes/no, limited responses)?
Which questions?
Carefully consider wording…
Flickr photo by Boltron-
Who are you planning on surveying? Decide what group you are going to focus on surveying based on who you have access to and what your research is focused on.
How many people are you going to survey? You want to choose a target number of surveys to conduct. You don't want too few surveys because you won't have enough answers to support any generalizations or findings you may make. At the same time, you do not want too many surveys because you will be overwhelmed with analyzing your data.
How are you going to survey people? You can choose to conduct your survey in person (i.e. walk up to people and ask them questions); on paper (i.e. hand out surveys and ask people to return them); or even via the Internet. The survey method should be chosen based on the length of your survey and types of questions.
How long is your survey going to be? The answer to this question depends on what information you are attempting to discover and how much you want to find out. Longer surveys sometimes involve the same question asked in multiple ways to see if people are consistent in their answering strategies. For your first survey, however, it is better to keep things simple. Short questions are usually more effective than longer ones.
What type of questions are you going to ask? Do you want open-ended questions or closed questions? Open-ended questions are questions that allow the participant any type of response. An example of an open-ended question is: How are you feeling today? A closed question is one with a set of possible responses or yes/no responses. An example is: Did you feel that the new campus regulation about parking was fair? While closed questions are much easier to analyze they do not provide the rich responses you may get with open-ended questions. Ultimately, what type of question you ask depends on what you want to discover.
What questions are you going to ask? Carefully consider the wording of your questions. Please see the "Creating Good Interview and Survey Questions" section for more detailed information about creating good survey questions.
For more detailed information, see Purdue’s page on Surveys

9. Observations Expert in action Behaviour in action
What do you want to observe?
Who will you observe?
For how long?
How often?
Flickr photo by Capt Kodak
Expert in action
Coach, chef, etc
Behaviour in action
body language, verbal responses, habits, etc
What do you want to observe?
What behaviours, actions?
Who will you observe?
Kids, expert, others?
For how long?
How long will it take at one time to observe?
How often?
Do you need to see different types of sessions?
Change over time?
For more detailed information, see Purdue’s page on Observing

10. Good Questions Avoid questions that are: Biased Leading
Don't you agree that campus parking is a problem?
Leading
There are many people who believe that campus parking is a problem. Are you one of them?
Double-barreled
Do you agree that campus parking is a problem and that the administration should be working diligently on a solution?
Confusing/wordy
What do you think about parking? – confusing…
Do you believe that the parking situation on campus is problematic or difficult because of the lack of spaces and the walking distances or do you believe that the parking situation on campus is ok? - wordy…
Irrelevant
Have you ever encountered problems in the parking garage on campus? Do you like or dislike the bus system?
Questions that assume what they ask
These questions are a type of biased question and lead your participants to agree or respond in a certain way.
Biased question: There are many people who believe that campus parking is a problem. Are you one of them?
Revised question: Do you agree or disagree that campus parking is a problem?
Double-barreled questions
A double-barreled question is a one that has more than one question embedded within it. Participants may answer one but not both, or may disagree with part or all of the question.
Double-barreled question: Do you agree that campus parking is a problem and that the administration should be working diligently on a solution?
Revised question: Is campus parking a problem? (If the participant responds yes): Should the administration be responsible for solving this problem?
Confusing or wordy questions
Make sure your questions are not confusing or wordy. Confusing questions will only lead to confused participants, which leads to unreliable answers.
Confusing questions: What do you think about parking? (This is confusing because the question isn't clear about what it is asking--parking in general? The person's ability to park the car? Parking on campus?) Do you believe that the parking situation on campus is problematic or difficult because of the lack of spaces and the walking distances or do you believe that the parking situation on campus is ok? (This question is both very wordy and leads the participant.)
Revised question: What is your opinion of the parking situation on campus?
Questions that do not relate to what you want to learn
Be sure that your questions directly relate to what it is you are studying. A good way to do this is to ask someone else to read your questions or even test your survey out on a few people and see if the responses fit what you are looking for.
Unrelated questions: Have you ever encountered problems in the parking garage on campus? Do you like or dislike the bus system?

11. Secondary Sources For preliminary research
World Book, Britannica, Wikipedia, (check Bibliography, “see also”, “Notes” or references, external links)
Google – Use Google Advanced. See Get More Out of Google
For deeper research
Books in the NIST Library (Check “Digital Resources” for ebooks)
Books at Kinokuniya or other book stores
EBSCO, ABC Clio, JSTOR, Project Muse – Magazines & journals
NewsBank – news articles
You Tube - Videos
You’ll want to start of your project by doing some basic or preliminary research. This will involve understanding the main gist of your topic – what is it about?

12. Evaluating Sources Essential part of your PP Use the CARRDSS test
Assessed in Criterion A
Use the CARRDSS test
Use the ones that matter
Use in any order
Keep track of your evaluations as you go along
Is it Current:
When was it published or posted?
Is it current/recent?
Does it matter if it's current for your research topic?
Is it Reliable/Relevant:
What kind of information is included?
Can you find similar information in other reputable sources?
Does the author provide sources for their information?
How reputable is the website that has published the information?
Is it relevant to what you're looking for? Does it answer your research questions?
Is it Authoritative/Accurate?:
Who is the author?
What are the author's credentials?
Do they work for a reputable organization?
Do they have degrees listed?
How can you tell if she or he knows what they're talking about?
What is the Purpose/Point of View:
For what purpose has it been published?
Who is sponsoring it (e.g. a website on Depression published by a company that sells medicine for depression...?)
Is this fact or opinion?
Is it biased?
Is the website/author trying to sell you something?

13. Credibility Who is providing the information? Experience Education
Publications
Type of site (~personal, .com, .org, .edu, .gov)
Links to this site? (link:
Example
Jeezny via Compfight cc
cesarharada.com via Compfight cc
IOE London via Compfight cc

14. Accuracy Is it correct? Compare different sources
Spelling mistakes & poor grammar?
Compare different sources - are they consistent with other sources?
Spelling mistakes & poor grammar?
Cayusa via Compfight cc

15. Reliability Can you trust it? Bias Balance sources Try Points of View
Manipulating information to sell you a product
Selectively presenting information to sell you a point of view
Balance sources
Try Points of View
database (EBSCO)
the|G|™ via Compfight cc
futureatlas.com via Compfight cc
Reliability  - Can you trust it?
 Bias - an unfair presentation of information. Not necessarily false, but interpreting facts from one point of view.
Manipulating information to sell you a product
Selectively presenting information to sell you a point of view
Balance sources with information from all sides and weigh the information yourself
Are you looking for different points of view on a topic? Try the Points of View database available through EBSCO.

16. Relevance Will it help you answer the question? Quality, NOT Quantity!
Sort & select
Relevance - Will it help you answer your question?
It's not about how MUCH information you collect, but about the quality of that information!
sort through information sources and selct what you need to answer a specific question
zipckr via Compfight cc

17. Date When was it created? Has it changed since? How? Does it matter?
Has it been revised since then?
How might it have changed since then, and does it matter?
Ontario Wanderer via Compfight cc

18. Sources Where did the author get their information? In-text citation?
Reference list?
Sources - Where did the author get their information?
Do they mention/cite their sources in their writing?
Do they include a list of sources, reference list?
futureatlas.com via Compfight cc

19. Scope & Purpose Why was it created & for whom? Too limited?
Too specialized?
Scope & Purpose - Why was it created and for whom?
Is it too limited? (e.g. for elementary students, so not detailed enough)?
Is it too specialised? (written for experts and includes language and information beyond your ability/needs)

20. Where should I record my evaluations?
Short term:
Worksheet
EasyBib – Comments
NoodleBib – Annotation
With notes
Long term:
Process journal reflection
This should happen anyways, but can be one post reflecting on many sources (e.g. everything that week, or in the past couple of weeks)

21. Planning your Research - PP Research Checklist