Information Exists on a Continuum of Reliability and Quality
Information is everywhere on the Internet, existing in large quantities and continuously being created and revised. This information exists in a large variety of kinds (facts, opinions, stories, interpretations, statistics) and is created for many purposes (to inform, to persuade, to sell, to present a viewpoint, and to create or change an attitude or belief). For each of these various kinds and purposes, information exists on many levels of quality or reliability. It ranges from very good to very bad and includes every shade in between. There is a saying "knowledge is power," or that information, the raw material of knowledge, is power. But the truth is that only some information is power: reliable information. Information serves as the basis for beliefs, decisions, choices, and understanding our world. If we make a decision based on wrong or unreliable information, we do not have power--we have defeat. If we eat something harmful that we believe to be safe, we can become ill; if we avoid something good that we believe to be harmful, we have needlessly restricted the enjoyment of our lives. The same thing applies to every decision to travel, purchase, or act, and every attempt to understand. An essential feature in the planning of evaluating a research article/s is the development of evaluating the research strategy used in the article, which will map out the main stages of the research and its sequence.
How to go about discovering how credible the article is before you evaluate it
Because people have always made important decisions based on information, evidence of authenticity and reliability--or credibility, believability--has always been important. If you read an article saying that;
¡§for the majority of time that you spend on the internet, what computer do you use?¡§, with responses similar for the various age groups with the exception of the 26 or over group. Students in that age group were twice as likely to use their own computer (62%) than a university computer (31%).
SOURCE : article Page 138 paragraph 3 (heading ¡¥findings)
It is important that you should know whether or not to believe the information. Some questions you might ask would include, What is it about this source that makes it believable (or not)? How does this source know this information? Why should I believe this source over another? As you can see, the key to credibility is the question of trust of information? Why should I believe this source over another? As you can see, the key to credibility is the question of trust. As it is said by Katzer, J in his book Evaluating research 4th edition page 47 paragraph 3: ¡§studies investigating a communication credibility tend to support the notion that identical message will be judged more favourably when it is given by a communicator with higher status and better credentials¡¨. What this quote is saying is that a if you have two pieces of research with the same hypothesis the one which is undertaken by the person with the highest qualifications and recognition is one to go by and use with preference.
There are several tests you can apply to a published research article to help you judge how credible and useful it will be. So, on the next page is my idea of what criteria should be used when evaluating a published research article based on internet published research articles.
Evaluation of published research article How to interpret the basics
1. Accuracy of the research article
„h Who wrote the article and can you contact him or her?
„h What is the purpose of the document and why was it produced?
„h Is this person qualified to write this document? Accuracy
„h Make sure author provides contact address/phone number, or email address
„h Know the distinction between author and Webmaster if published on the web.
2. Authority of published research article
„h Who published the document
„h If published on the internet, Check the domain of the document, what institution publishes this document?
„h Does the publisher list his or her qualifications? Authority
„h What credentials are listed for the authors)?
„h Where is the document published? Check URL domain. E.g .org, . edu,. mil
3. Objectivity of published research article
„h What goals/objectives does this article meet
„h How detailed is the information?
„h What opinions (if any) are expressed by the author? Objectivity
„h Determine if the article is a mask for advertising; if so information might be biased.
„h View any Web page as you would an infommercial on television. Ask yourself why was this written and for whom?
4. Currency of published research article if on the web
„h When was it produced?
„h When was it updated'
„h How up-to-date are the links (if any)? Currency
„h How many dead links are on the page?
„h Are the links current or updated regularly?
„h Is the information on the page outdated?
5. Coverage of Web published research articles Documents
„h Are the links (if any) evaluated and do they complement the documents' theme?
„h Is it all images or a balance of text and images?
„h Is the information presented cited correctly? Coverage
„h If page requires special software to view the information, how much are you missing if you don't have the software?
„h Is it free or is there a fee, to obtain the information?
„h Is there an option for text only, or frames, or a suggested browser for better viewing?
Putting it all together ( how to interpret the basics)
„h Accuracy. If the research article lists the author and institution that published page and provides a way of contacting him/her and . . .
„h Authority. If the published research article lists the author credentials and its domain if any preferred (.edu, .gov, .org, or .net), and, . .
„h Objectivity. If the published research article provides accurate information with limited advertising and it is objective in presenting the information, and . . .
„h Currency. If your page is current and updated regularly (as stated on the page) and the links (if any) are also up-to-date, and . . .
„h Coverage. If the published research article is on the web, can the information be viewed properly --not limited to fees, browser technology, or software requirement, then . . .
Comprehensiveness
Any source that presents conclusions or that claims (explicitly or implicitly) to give a full and rounded story, should reflect the intentions of completeness and accuracy. In other words, the information should be comprehensive. Some writers argue that researchers should be sure that they have "complete" information before making a decision or that information must be complete. But with the advent of the information age, such a goal is impossible, if by "complete" we mean all possible information. No one can read 20,000 articles on the same subject before coming to a conclusion or making a decision. And no single piece of information will offer the truly complete story--that's why we rely on more than one source. On the other hand, an information source that deliberately leaves out important facts, qualifications, consequences, or alternatives, may be misleading or even intentionally deceptive.
Conclusion
Generally, web sites that end in .edu (education), .gov (government) or .mil (military) and more reliable than general sites that end in .com. You have to know that it is a valid piece of work, not just someone¡¦s opinion
WWW ADDRESS
http://www.askjeeves.co.uk/main/metaAnswer.asp?MetaEngine=Yahoo%21&logQID=62D1EFE230A8D411B18D009027520A9A&qCategory=REF_&qSource=5&frames=yes&site_name=UKKB&scope=web&r=x&MetaTopic=Evaluating+Internet+Research+Sources&MetaURL=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.vanguard.edu%2Ffaculty%2FR_Harris%2Fevalu8it.htm&EngineOrdinal=2&ItemOrdinal=1&ask=evaluate+a+research+article&origin=0&MetaList=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.vanguard.edu%2Ffaculty%2FR_Harris%2Fevalu8it.htm&IMAGE2.x=14&IMAGE2.y=8
Books
Girden, Ellen R.
Evaluating research articles from start to finish / Ellen R. Girden.
Thousand Oaks, Calif. : Sage Publications, c1996.