Reliability of Sources

How can you tell if a source is going to be reliable?

Primary sources

A primary source is an original object or document -- the raw material or first-hand information.

A primary source is an original object or document -- the raw material or first-hand

information. historical and legal

documents results of an

experiment statistical data pieces of creative

writing art objects eye witness

accounts

Secondary sources

A secondary source is something written about a primary source.

You can think of secondary sources as second-hand information. If I tell you something, I am the primary source. If you tell someone else what I told you, you are the secondhand source.

Secondary sources Secondary

sources include: comments on interpretations of discussions about

the original material

Secondary sources

Secondary source materials can be: articles in newspapers popular magazines book or movie reviews articles found in scholarly journals

that evaluate or criticize someone else's original research

What is the source of the information being considered?

Publication-Date - is the information current, or does it need to be current?

-Reputation of publication - is the source well known and trustworthy?

-Kind of publication - is it a scientific report,   eye-witness account, a work of fiction?

Author or Speaker

-Qualifications - is he an expert in his field?-Bias - is he one-sided in his point-of-view?-Values - what does the author value in regards to the topic?-Chance for personal gain - does the author stand to benefit from his position?

Means of getting the Information

-Witness or researcher - was the author or speaker a first-hand witness to the information or did he gather it from some other source? 

-Equipment - what kind of equipment was used to record information?          

How Reliable?

How Reliable?

How Reliable?

How Reliable?

How Reliable?