Skills Lesson: Gathering and Evaluating Sources Practice

The publisher is __________. The publishing date is __________. The author is __________.

Houghton Mifflin Company . . . 2002 . . . Gregory Stock

For which research question would this source be most relevant?

How would genetic enhancements impact competitive sports?

Which sentence, taken from the excerpt above, supports the evaluation that this article is objective

Others point out, however, that this altered perception does not occur today with identical twins, who are naturally produced clones

Which sentence, taken from the excerpt above, supports the evaluation that this article is objective?

Others point out, however, that this altered perception does not occur today with identical twins, who are naturally produced clones.

What questions should you ask when evaluating for objective reasoning? Evaluate the paragraph above using those questions and list the answers. If you cannot answer the question without more information or action, list exactly what you'd need to do or find to answer the question.

The student should list most of the questions listed below in the sample student answer and provide their own answers for each question. Here is a sample student answer: 1. "Is the information provided fact or opinion? If fact, is it verifiable? If opinion, does it evolve logically from the facts?": The paragraph is mostly opinion and predictions. There is one fact in the second sentence, but the writer does not provide any citation to explain the source of this information. In addition, the opinions do not evolve logically from facts. There are not enough facts provided on which to base the opinions. 2. "Is the information valid?": The information provided is not valid because it is not supported by evidence, reasonable, or well researched. There are no citations to indicate research. 3. "Is the information comparable to other credible sources?": In order to answer this question, I'd need to conduct more research about human cloning. However, because this source is not a credible source based on the amount of bias displayed, I would not use the information it gives. 4. "Is the information relevant to my project?": I would need to know my research question to answer this question. 5. "Is there bias?": Yes, this is a one-sided presentation. The writer also uses emotion-arousing language and gives a lot of opinions not based on facts. 6. "Is it sufficiently objective?": No, this is not based on facts and it is clearly influenced by personal feelings.

Is this a primary or secondary source? Would the information covered in this book be more relevant as a primary source or secondary source?

This is a secondary source because it is evalulating tons of data in order to draw a conclusion about the issue. The source is not performing new research or experimentation but is commenting on existing information out there. Since this issue is regarding a technology that is not yet fully developed and because the research is still new, it is more appropriately covered by a secondary source. As a quality secondary source, it is able to compile myriad factors and studies in order to draw an interpretation or make predictions that might otherwise be impossible to see using only an isolated experiment.

Based on the title and table of contents of the source, is the topic relevant to the research question?

Yes, it addresses the topic of genetic enhancements.

Based on your initial evaluation of the URLs, which website should you click on and examine further?

a

Based on his credentials and background, which topic would Gregory Stock be most qualified to write on?

new technologies in medicine

Which of the following reasons best reflects the author's purpose in writing the book?

to discover if the dangers of genetic enhancements can be prevented