Research 101

• the importance of evaluating sources
• how to use a way of thinking, like the SIFT model or the CRAP test, to ask questions of the sources we use 

Anytime we look for information, for school or in our daily lives, we make choices about what resources we decide to use and trust. Since the information that we trust helps us build our worldview, it is important to have an objective way of evaluating what we read.

Below are two methods you can use, the SIFT method and the CRAP Test.

What is a credible/trustworthy source online? How can we tell? All of us ask these questions. The truth is we have to evaluate everything we look at to determine if we can trust it, especially websites. 

The good news is using the SIFT method and other clues can help you decide. We can use the SIFT method to evaluate items  found on the open web (using a search engine like Google, Yahoo, Bing, Safari, DuckDuckGo, etc.). 

Watch the following video to learn more:

Online Verification Skills - Video 1: Introductory Video by CTRL-F. Video is closed captioned and a transcript is available on YouTube. (Approximately 1 minute.) 

(S)top: Check for Emotionally Loaded Language.

If an article title or a claim causes strong emotions — anger, glee, pride, vindication — and that emotion causes you to share a “fact” with others, STOP. You must fact-check this claim. Some information providers use emotionally loaded language to get you to read their content, and hopefully share that content with your network. Other reasons to STOP could be if you get lost, or hit dead ends, or find yourself going down an increasingly confusing rabbit hole during your investigation. STOP. Back up and start over knowing what you know now. You’re likely to take a more informed path with different search terms and better decisions.

(I)nvestigate the source.

Read what other people say about the source (publication, author, etc.). The truth is in the network. What you are doing when investigating the source is a skill called Lateral Reading.

Online Verification Skills — Video 2: Investigate the Source by CTRL-F. Video is closed captioned and transcripts are available on YouTube. (2 minutes, 45 seconds)

Understand the bias and the credibility of news/content providers by using Media Bias Fact Check.

(F)ind better coverage.

Look around to see if someone else has already fact-checked the claim or provided a synthesis of research or provided coverage that gives more useful information about the claim or the context of the claim. Sometimes, the first article we find isn't the best and we need to look for something with more credibility making the same claim, or discussing the same topic.

Skill: Find better coverage with Mike Caulfield by CTRL-F.  Video is closed captioned and a transcript is available on YouTube. (4 minutes, 27 seconds.)

Need to check on rumors or viral claims?

• factcheck.org
• SNOPES

As you become more familiar with news sources you can trust, "trade up" the news topic to them.  Then spend your time with a trusted source instead of trying to figure out if an unknown sources is credible and trustworthy.

Watch the following video to learn more:

Online Verification Skills- Video 4: Look for Trusted Work by CTRL-F is closed captioned and a transcript is available on YouTube. (approximately 4 minutes)

• Use fact-checking sites
• Do a reverse image search
• Practice Click Restraint

(T)race claims, quotes and media back to original context

Most web content is not original. Get to the original source to understand the trustworthiness of the information. Also, trace any links within a source to confirm that the claims are consistent and from credible sources.

Watch the following video to learn more:

Online Verification Skills - Video 3 : Find the Original Source by CTRL-F is closed captioned and a transcript is available on YouTube. (1 minute, 34 seconds.)

• Use fact-checking sites
• Do a reverse image search
• Practice Click Restraint

When to use SIFT

• Before you spend any time reading a web article (potential source) that you have found.
• I use it mostly on news and information sources, educational institutions, government departments, non-governmental organizations, major charities, etc. It can be difficult to find enough information to establish credibility of blogs, social media influencers, youtubers, small charities and organizations, and the like.
• When evaluating the source material (in-text hyperlinks, sources at the end of an article, etc) used in a web article you are evaluating as a potential source. Think of it as SIFT within SIFT.   

When not to use SIFT

• On peer-reviewed journal articles -  If you can establish that it is indeed a peer-reviewed journal article (evidence of the peer-review process noted in the article, or looking up the journal to see if it is peer-reviewed) you do not need to do SIFT, because that credibility establishing piece is built into the peer-review process.  This goes for peer-reviewed journal articles found through the Kirk Library website, Google Scholar, or on the open web. This is one reason why professors sometimes require peer-reviewed articles as sources. 
• On items found through the Kirk Library website - OneSearch and the Databases/Resources are designed to provide scholarly sources, this is why it is an important resource to use.  The library has selected collections of books, ebooks, and periodical articles that are appropriate for use for your assignments. Your instructor may add additional constraints to the types of sources they want you to utilize for their assignments.

There are many things to think about when looking for a credible website.

Some instructors might advocate use the CRAP test (Where you search for Currency, Reliability/Relevance, Authority/Author, and Purpose). 

Let's review each of these elements as you should use them to evaluate each source for your paper.

• Currency - Is the source up-to-date? Is the topic date-sensitive?
• Relevance/Reliability - Does the information fit within your research topic and relate to your thesis question? Is the information suitable for your assignment or is it too technical or too simple? Is the information in the source backed with facts and research?
• Authority/Accuracy - Who wrote the source? What are their credentials? Who published it? Are they reputable? Does it contain information you know to be false? Are their spelling errors or other indications of inaccuracy? Has the content been peer-reviewed?If you don't know what peer review is, this video can introduce you to the concept.
• Purpose/Point-of-View - Is the author trying to sell something? Is the author trying to persuade readers? Are important facts omitted? What is the bias of the author?

Evaluating Information by Charles Sturt University Library.  Transcript is available on YouTube.