Evaluating Sources: Accuracy
Evaluating Sources Using Accuracy
Vocabulary
- Accuracy
- Bias
The second ‘A’ in RADAR refers to accuracy. It’s important to determine whether a source is a fact, fiction, or opinion . Since many people can contribute to sources such as websites, social media, or Wikipedia, the accuracy of a source is not always clear.
Scholarly sources commonly undergo peer review, where other academics in the field evaluate the methods and results of the research to verify its accuracy. Additionally, scholarly articles will cite lots of sources to support their conclusions. News sites and popular or trade magazines have editors who are responsible for selecting which articles to publish.
Authors of news or popular sources may not cite in the same formal way as academics, but they can still indicate the accuracy of their article by quoting or linking to reliable sources. By following the links, you can see where they got their information from and evaluate that source’s credibility, and thus determine if the source you have is accurate.
Checking the links and evaluating the authority of quoted sources can also help you determine if a source is biased, or if the author is omitting or misusing the information to make their position seem accurate. This is why it’s preferable to cite an original source, rather than a source quoting it.
Also, be critical of the logic used to draw conclusions, and consider whether or not the source is “fake news” or meant as a joke (this may depend on the site from which you are obtaining the ‘news’ - refer to the websites and webpages page of this module for more).
Other questions you can ask to determine a source’s accuracy include:
- Is the source part of an edited or peer-reviewed publication?
- Can factual information be verified through references to other credible sources?
- Based on what you already know about the subject, or have checked from other sources, does this information seem credible?
- Is it clear who has responsibility for the accuracy of the information presented? Is it on a site like Wikipedia which can be edited by anyone?
- If data is presented in graphs or charts, is the source of the data clear?
Activity
- Let’s think about our Royal BC Museum video from the perspective of accuracy.
- What conclusions can you draw about the accuracy of this source?
- Can you verify any of the information in the video through other credible sources?
- Based on what you already know about the subject, does this information seem credible?
- Is it clear who is responsible for this information? Is there someone or an organization accountable?
(Need the worksheet? Evaluating Sources Worksheet Download Evaluating Sources Worksheet)
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