ASK Online Learning Resources 2.1: Evaluating Information - Six questions

Summary

This script emphasizes the importance of critically evaluating information before incorporating it into academic work. It highlights the necessity of assessing the credibility, relevance, and accuracy of sources, given the prevalence of conflicting opinions, misinformation, and fake news. The script introduces a six-question framework—'who,' 'what,' 'when,' 'where,' 'how,' and 'why'—to guide researchers in scrutinizing sources. It underscores the value of this skill for academic integrity and employability, encouraging a discerning approach to information consumption.

Takeaways

• 🤔 Evaluate information before using it in your work.
• 🔎 There are many sources of information available online, including websites, books, journal articles, and videos.
• ⚠️ Information online may contain conflicting opinions, contradictory facts, and misinformation.
• 🧠 Learn to critically assess whether information is trustworthy, accurate, and relevant to your work.
• ❓ Use six questions to evaluate information: who, what, when, where, how, and why.
• 👤 Who: Consider the author's qualifications and intended audience.
• 📚 What: Check if the information is relevant to your topic and appropriate in depth and format.
• ⏳ When: Make sure the information is up-to-date for your needs.
• 🌍 Where: Consider if the source is scholarly or popular and whether it is credible.
• 🔬 How: Assess the reliability of the data and whether the information is objective.
• 🤔 Why: Understand the authors' motivation and whether they are trying to influence your perspective.

Q & A

Why is it important to evaluate information before using it in academic work?

Evaluating information is crucial to ensure that the work is based on trustworthy, appropriate, accurate, and relevant sources. This helps prevent the use of conflicting opinions, inaccurate data, and misinformation.

What are the six simple questions to ask when critically evaluating sources?

The six questions are: Who wrote the information, What exactly is the information, When was it published or last updated, Where did you find the information, How did the authors reach their conclusions, and Why did the authors write the information.

What does 'Who' refer to when evaluating a source?

'Who' refers to the authors of the information, their affiliations, sponsors, intended audience, and their qualifications. It also includes whether the work has been cited by other writers and academics.

Why is it necessary to consider the 'What' aspect of a source?

The 'What' aspect helps determine the relevance and quality of the information. It involves assessing how well the information relates to the topic, supports arguments, or provides alternative viewpoints, and whether the level and format of the information are appropriate.

How does the 'When' question help in evaluating a source?

The 'When' question helps in determining the currency and up-to-date nature of the information. It's important to know when the information was last updated or published to ensure its relevance to current research or historical perspectives.

What insights does the 'Where' question provide during source evaluation?

The 'Where' question helps in understanding the source's appropriateness by identifying where the information was found. It can reveal the publisher's credibility through the source type, such as scholarly journals, popular media, or websites with specific URLs.

Why is the 'How' question significant in the evaluation process?

The 'How' question is significant because it examines the methodology and evidence behind the authors' conclusions. It assesses the reliability of data, the verifiability of sources, and the objectivity and inclusiveness of the work.

What does the 'Why' question reveal about a source?

The 'Why' question reveals the authors' motivations for writing the information. It can uncover whether they are trying to sell something, persuade readers of a viewpoint, or influence them for personal gain, and assesses the emotiveness of their language.

How does evaluating information subjectively depend on the type of information you're looking for?

Evaluating information subjectively depends on the type of information because authoritative sources like books and journal articles are key for academic research, while company reports, newspapers, or blogs might be more appropriate for other types of inquiries.

What is the importance of not taking anything for granted when evaluating sources?

Not taking anything for granted ensures a critical approach to source evaluation, which is essential for maintaining the integrity and quality of academic work. It encourages a habit of questioning and verifying the credibility of all information encountered.

Why is the ability to quickly and effectively evaluate information valued by graduate employers?

The ability to quickly and effectively evaluate information is valued by graduate employers because it demonstrates critical thinking, analytical skills, and the capacity to discern reliable sources, which are crucial for making informed decisions in professional settings.

Outlines

00:00

🔍 Critically Evaluating Information Sources

This paragraph discusses the importance of evaluating the credibility and relevance of information found during research. It emphasizes the need to assess whether the information is suitable for academic work such as essays or dissertations. The paragraph highlights the variety of sources available, including websites, books, journals, and videos, and acknowledges the presence of conflicting opinions, misinformation, and fake news. It introduces a set of six questions (who, what, when, where, how, and why) to help researchers critically evaluate their sources and ensure they are using trustworthy and appropriate information.

Keywords

💡Evaluate

To evaluate, in the context of the video, means to critically assess the quality and reliability of information sources. It is a process of determining whether the information is trustworthy, appropriate, accurate, and relevant for the work at hand. The video emphasizes the importance of evaluating sources to ensure that the research or academic work is based on high-quality information. For instance, the script mentions evaluating information by asking questions such as 'who wrote the information?' and 'is it trustworthy?'

💡Information Overload

Information overload refers to the difficulty in making decisions, solving problems, or understanding information due to the presence of too much data. The video script acknowledges the vast amount of information available online and the potential for conflicting opinions, facts, and misinformation. It suggests that researchers must learn to deal with this overload by critically evaluating sources to prevent being overwhelmed.

💡Critical Evaluation

Critical evaluation is the process of systematically assessing the quality and credibility of information. The video script outlines six questions (who, what, when, where, how, and why) to guide this process. By asking these questions, researchers can determine the trustworthiness and relevance of the information they find, ensuring that their work is based on solid and appropriate sources.

💡Reliable Sources

Reliable sources are those that provide accurate, authoritative, and unbiased information. The video script encourages researchers to look for reliable sources such as scholarly journals, books, and reputable websites. It warns against taking information at face value and emphasizes the need to verify the credibility of sources to ensure the quality of research.

💡Authoritative Sources

Authoritative sources are those that are recognized as trustworthy and reliable due to their expertise, accuracy, and the credibility of their content. The video suggests that books and journal articles are often key authoritative sources for research. These sources are typically peer-reviewed, which adds to their reliability and authority.

💡Cutting-Edge Research

Cutting-edge research refers to the most recent and advanced studies or findings in a particular field. The video script mentions that for some subjects, researchers may want the most up-to-date and current information, which could include cutting-edge research. This type of research is often found in recent journal articles and conference proceedings.

💡Historical Perspective

A historical perspective provides a view of information or events based on their historical context. The video script suggests that for some research topics, a historical perspective might be more appropriate than the latest research. This could involve looking at older books, articles, or records that provide a historical context to the subject.

💡URL

Uniform Resource Locator (URL) is the address of a web page on the internet. The video script advises researchers to examine the URL to gain insight into the publisher of a website, which can help determine the credibility of the source. A URL may reveal whether the publisher is a university, charity, or company, which can be an indicator of the source's reliability.

💡Data Verification

Data verification is the process of checking the accuracy and validity of data. The video script emphasizes the importance of verifying the data and results presented in research-based publications. This involves checking if the sources cited are reliable and if the authors' conclusions are supported by evidence, ensuring the research is trustworthy.

💡Objective Tone

An objective tone in writing or research means that the language used is unbiased and presents information without personal feelings or opinions. The video script suggests that researchers should look for information that is presented objectively, as this can indicate a higher level of credibility and trustworthiness. An objective tone is particularly important in academic and research contexts.

Highlights

The importance of evaluating information before including it in academic work

The variety of sources available online, including websites, books, and journal articles

The potential for conflicting opinions, contradictory facts, and misinformation in online sources

The necessity for independent researchers to critically evaluate information

The six simple questions to ask when evaluating sources: who, what, when, where, how, and why

Evaluating the author's credentials and the sponsor of the work

Assessing the relevance and accuracy of the information for the specific assignment

Determining the currency and timeliness of the information

Considering the appropriateness of the source type for the research

Analyzing how authors reached their conclusions and the reliability of their data

Examining the objectivity and inclusiveness of the work's tone

Understanding the authors' motivations and the emotional language used

The subjectivity of information evaluation and the need for personal judgment

The value of authoritative sources like books and journal articles in academic research

The appropriateness of non-academic sources like company reports and blogs for certain research needs

The importance of treating each source with care and critically assessing each piece of information

The skill of quickly and effectively evaluating information as essential for personal and academic success

Practicing information evaluation to improve speed and accuracy

Transcripts

either so you found some interesting information  that you want to include in your work that's great  

but before you use it you first need to evaluate  it and decide if it's suitable for the assignment  

essay or dissertation that you're writing let's  see how as you search for information online  

you're gonna find a lot of different results from  a lot of different sources websites books journal  

articles conference proceedings videos images  the list goes on and on they'll be conflicting  

opinions contradictory facts unresolved  arguments inaccurate data and maybe some  

good old misinformation and fake news it's the  world that we live in now and as an independent  

researcher you're going to have to learn to  deal with it so what can you do to prevent being  

overwhelmed by it all and to make sure you base  your work on information of the highest quality  

you need to learn to critically evaluate your  sources this means scanning the information in  

front of you and working out if it's trustworthy  appropriate accurate and relevant for the type  

of work you're doing to help there's six simple  questions you can ask who what when where how  

and why let's look at each of these in turn who  who wrote the information you're looking at who  

do they work for who has sponsored the work and  why who is the intended audience how qualified  

are the authors and has the work been cited by  other writers and academics what what exactly  

is the information just because it tops your  search results doesn't mean it's any good how  

well does it relate to your topic does it help  answer your question support your arguments or  

provide an alternative viewpoint is the level and  format of the information appropriate and not too  

simple or in-depth for your needs when how current  and up-to-date is the information when was it last  

updated is there a newer version available for  some subjects you'll want cutting-edge research  

for others maybe a historical perspective  might be better where where did you find  

the information is that source appropriate for  example is it a scholarly source like a journal  

or something popular like a newspaper or blog  if it's a website does the URL reveal anything  

about its publisher is it a university charity or  company how how did the authors of the information  

reach their conclusions if it's a research-based  publication how reliable and trustworthy are their  

data results can their sources be verified and  are their statements supported by evidence also  

is the tone of the work objective unbiased and  inclusive other people's views why why did the  

authors write the information why are they sharing  it what motivates them are they trying to sell you  

something persuade you of a viewpoint or influence  it means for their own gain how emotive is their  

language of course evaluating information is  highly subjective and depends on the type of  

information you're looking for most of the  time authoritative sources such as books and  

journal articles will be your key resources at  other times a company report newspaper or blog  

might be more appropriate you'll need to use  your own judgement treat each source with care  

critically assess each piece of information  you find and never take anything for granted

so there you go every time you find a new  piece of information ask yourself six simple  

questions who what when where how and why if  the information checks out use and learn from  

it if not forget about it move on being able to  quickly in effectively evaluate information in  

this way is an important personal and academic  skill to master and a skill highly valued by  

graduate employers and the more practice you get  the faster and better you'll become good luck