Anthropology

  Evaluating Sources

Some of the questions you should ask when evaluating sources of information are:

• Audience? Who will be reading this source?

• Author? Who wrote this source?

• Credentials? What are the credentials of the author? Can you tell if they are an expert on the subject? 

• Are there sources or links to other information about the topic? Yes (If so, what kind?) or No.

• Purpose? What is the purpose of this source?

• Language? How easy or difficult to read or understand will most people find this source?

• Publisher? Who published this source?

• Source of information reliable? Would you trust this source? 

• Scholarly/Popular? Is this source scholarly or popular?

• Peer Review? Is this source peer-reviewed? How can you tell?

Sample size matters!