Research: Finding and Evaluating Sources

Read the following excerpt from the article "What's Wrong With the News?" from FAIR's (Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting) website: Independent, aggressive and critical media are essential to an informed democracy. But mainstream media are increasingly cozy with the economic and political powers they should be watchdogging. Mergers in the news industry have accelerated, further limiting the spectrum of viewpoints that have access to mass media. With U.S. media outlets overwhelmingly owned by for-profit conglomerates and supported by corporate advertisers, independent journalism is compromised. Is this article biased? Why or why not?

A. Yes, even though the website's name, Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, seems unbiased, the title of the article, "What's Wrong With the News?" indicates a bias as does the article's contents.

Jani is researching the life span of dolphins. Which of the following would probably be the BEST website for accurate and reliable information?

B. http://earthtrust.org/wlcurric/dolphins.html

Based on the above image of the Defenders of Wildlife website, is the website reliable? Why?

C. This website is reliable because it is a .org with a long valid history.

All of the following statements about bias are TRUE except:

D. bias gives an objective assessment of a situation

"Why I Wrote The Yellow Wallpaper" is a short article written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman explaining her reasoning behind writing her short story, The Yellow Wallpaper. Is her article a primary or secondary source? Why?

It is a primary source because it is a first-hand account.

Germaine is writing a research paper on the human digestive system. In his research, he has found one source that states that nutrient absorbtion occurs in both the small and large intestines and another source that states it only occurs in the small intestine. What should he do in this situation?

Responses may vary but should include some or all of the following information: Germaine should consult additional sources, perhaps scholarly journals, to further validate which is true by determining the consensus of the scientific/medical community.

Phung is analyzing poems by E.E. Cummings. He is searching the Internet for some poems that are not in his literature textbook. He comes to a website called Famous Poets and Poems. Although the website has quite a few poems by Cummings, the first thing he sees when the page loads is an advertisement. Then, three advertisements appear on the page before any other text. Is this a good source for Phung to use? Why or why not?

Responses may vary. A sample response follows. It is probably not a good source to use because all the ads not only make the website hard to navigate, but also raise questions about the site's credibility.

Jeanie is writing an argumentative paper against the implementation of a school uniform policy for students at her school. She is in the research step of the research process and gathering information. For her resources, she is allowed to use two websites. The second site that she clicks on is about uniform debate, and it contains a poll. Her first impression of the site is that it does not look very professional. There are misspellings and grammatical mistakes. The author of the site (though she cannot find the author's name anywhere) is very opinionated and gives outlandish reasons why uniforms should not be utilized. Describe what Jeanie is experiencing in her research.

Responses may vary. A sample response follows. Jeanie is experiencing a source that is not credible because of the author's bias against uniforms.

Jenny is writing a review of the book The Story of Walt Disney - Maker of Magical Worlds by Bernice Seldon. Is the book considered a primary or secondary source in Jenny's review? Why?

Responses may vary. A sample response follows: Since Jenny's review is based on the book's contents, the book is considered a primary source.