Evaluating Sources

Goal: Find a source that was produced for the appropriate audience, and understand the bias or point of view presented. 

What is the purpose of the information? Why does it exist?

• Is it to inform or educate a group of people?
• Who is the audience? Is it written for students, consumers, professionals, children?
• Does it try to persuade the reader to a particular point of view?
• Is it selling something?
• Is it purely for entertainment?
• Do the authors make the their intention(s)/ purpose clear?

Is it biased?

• Is the information factual? Does the point of view appear objective and impartial?
• Is it opinion? Propaganda? Is inflammatory language used? 

• In a book: look for statements in the forward, preface, or introduction. Check the end of the book for a conclusion.
• ​For an article: read the abstract or introduction of the article, and the discussion or conclusion. You also might be able to find a mission statement for the magazine, journal, or website where the article is published.
• For a website, look for an "About us" or mission statement.
• For any type of source, look a little deeper. Go beyond the source itself. Google or search in library databases for the name of the author or sponsoring organization. Do they have a hidden agenda?

Watch out for hidden agendas. For example, be skeptical of a web site that touts the benefits of an alternative medical treatment when it includes a link to buy the product. Although advertising in itself is fine, beware of deceptive advertising masquerading as fact, and of "click bait" that exists only to drive advertising. 

For a political or controversial issue, make sure you get information from organizations or individuals on more than one side of the issue. Arguments can sound perfectly reasonable until you read the other side and see what they left out. Also, you need to find out the arguments of the opposing side if you are to effectively argue against them. 

Strong, inflammatory, and emotional language are signs of bias. Look closely at the types of adjectives and verbs used, especially superlatives/absolutes (“always” and “never”), emotional/sweeping generalizations, and exaggeration. Examples: "This is obviously the most important idea ever conceived!" or "All teenagers are distracted drivers since they are always texting."  
 

        Where do you stand?

Bias is the tendency to favor a particular point of view and to present that view instead of other equally valid alternatives. When presented with new information that can be interpreted in several ways, individuals with different biases may present wildly different conclusions based on that information. Often, issues with multiple interpretations are presented as one-sided.

Here are a few examples of bias that you should look out for:  (Source: Wikipedia pages)

• Confirmation Bias: The tendency to readily accept conclusions that agree with one’s beliefs, and discard conclusions that disagree with them. 
• Media Bias: Selectivity in what stories and perspective are covered in the media. This can happen when only certain stories or interpretations are covered, such as those that are sensational. In science reporting, bias can be introduced by emphasizing views not supported by evidence.
• Funding Bias: The tendency of a study or report’s conclusions to favor its financial supporters.
• Belief Bias: The tendency to reject logical arguments with unbelievable conclusions and accept illogical arguments with believable conclusions.
• Selection Bias: This occurs when study participants are not representative of the general population, which can occur through selective inclusion or exclusion of study participants.

If you find or believe there is a bias in argumentation from an individual or group, it does not necessarily mean that the argument is wrong. For instance, people often claim that there is a funding bias when a scientific study is funded by an industry group. That is not reason enough to dismiss the study, but potential bias is good to keep in mind when interpreting its conclusions and comparing them to the conclusions of other studies. To reject them out of hand would constitute a bias in itself. Ultimately, accepting or rejecting a conclusion should be based on the scientific evidence.