Researching at UHV Workshop.
Researching at UHV Workshop.

Module 4: Evaluate Information, Documentation (1 page 1)  what's this?

Relevance Objectivity Authority Documentation

Documentation.

 How the author supports his or her arguments may help decide the authority of the document, so the issue of documentation is important.  Again, ask yourself two questions to determine if the documentation in the web source is appropriate.

Question 1: Is there documentation in the source?

Like your own research paper, your sources should be well-researched. If the  source doesn’t contain any documentation, ask yourself where the authors obtained the material.  The document may not be trustworthy if there is no cited information. When the author has cited information, consider the sources that the author has cited.  As in your own papers, you want to see research that is important and/or up-to-date in the field of study. The author should demonstrate an understanding of the field or body of literature surrounding the topic. Especially valuable may be the author’s discussion of his or her methodology of research.

Question 2: Is the information accurate?

Obviously, you want to include accurate information in your papers. Information that you obtain from sources should be verifiable.  This question is especially important for web sources. You may wish to check your web source against other sources, perhaps even some the author of the web source provides.  Harris (1997) indicates, “See if other sources support this source.  Corroboration or conformability is an important test of truth (p. 9).”

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Copyright 2003 by the Academic Center, the University of Houston-Victoria, and Summer Leibensperger.
Created 2003 by Summer Leibensperger.

Define Your Topic | Design Your Search Strategy | Locate & Retrieve Information
Evaluate Information | Use & Cite Information

Researching at UHV Workshop.