This video will walk you through how to use this page.
Evaluating what you find is an important part of your research. You need to be able to assess what you read for quality, accuracy, and be able to notice any biases. You cannot go wrong with asking, "Who?", "What?", "Where?", "Why?", and "When?" when reading. Context is important as well, and you can take a look at the slide show at the end to see different ways to approach information in varying contexts.
Generally, you will be safe using peer-reviewed articles that you can find in GALILEO. A peer-reviewed article is an article written by an expert in a field, reviewed by other experts in the field. Peer-reviewed articles often contain original research or review and discuss original research. These are articles written by researchers for other researchers, so you can generally spot these articles by the level jargon that they use. For a closer look, take a look at Anatomy of a Scholarly Article from NCSU Libraries. If you hear the words "evidence-based" from your instructors, peer-reviewed articles should be a part of your research strategy.
Currency
When was the information published or Posted?
Has the information been revised or updated?
Is the current or out-of-date for your topic?
Are the links functional?
Relevance
Does the information relate to your topic or answer your question?
Who is the intended audience?
is the information at an appropriate level?
Have you looked at a variety of sources before choosing this ones?
Would be comfortable using this source for a research paper?
Authority
Who is the author/publisher/source/sponsor?
Are the author's credentials or organizational affiliations given?
What are the author's qualifications to write on this topic?
Is there contact information, such as publisher or e-mail address?
Does the URL reveal anything about the author or source?
Accuracy
Where does the information come from?
Is the information supported by evidence?
Has the information been reviewed or refereed?
Can you verify any of the information in another sources?
Does the language or tone seem biased and free of choice?
Purpose
What is the purpose of the information?
Do the authors/sponsors make their intentions or purpose clear?
Is the information fact? Opinion? Propaganda?
Does the point of view appear objective and impartial?
Are there political, ideological, cultural, religious, institutional, or personal biases?
On the Media. (2014, August 1). The breaking news handbook: Active shooter edition. https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/otm/segments/breakingnews-consumers-handbook
Appraising scientific evidence: qualitative versus quantitative research
Medical knowledge is derived from a combination of qualitative and quantitative research. Qualitative research refers to the use of non-numerical observations to answer "Why?" questions, while quantitative methods use data that can be counted or converted into numerical form to address "How?" questions. As summarized in Table 5.2, each approach serves a different purpose, so most researchers view the two as complementary and accept a "mixed methods" approach.
Table 5.2: Comparison of qualitative and quantitative research methods
|
Qualitative research |
Quantitative research |
|
Generates hypotheses |
Tests hypotheses |
|
Is generally inductive (works from the particular instance to the general conclusion) |
Is generally deductive (works from the general theory to the particular explanation) |
|
Focuses on studying the range of ideas; sampling approach provides representative coverage of ideas or concepts |
Focuses on studying the range of people; sampling provides representative coverage of people in the population |
|
Answers "why?" and "what does it mean?" questions |
Answers "what?", "how much?" and "how many?" questions |
|
Captures rich, contextual, and detailed information from a small number of participants |
Provides numeric estimates of frequency, severity, and associations from a large number of participants |
|
Example of a study question: What is the experience of being treated for breast cancer? |
Example of a study question: Does treatment for breast cancer reduce mortality and improve quality of life? |
Source:
”Appraising Scientific Evidence: qualitative versus quantitative research.” AFMC Primer on Population Health, The Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada Public Health Educators’ Network, http://phprimer.afmc.ca/Part2-MethodsStudyingHealth/Chapter5AssessingEvidenceAndInformation/Appraisingscientificevidencequalitativeversusquantitativeresearch (Accessed September 17, 2015). License: Creative Commons BY-NC-SA