There is no single set of standards available to judge the credibility of the millions of webpages out there. Indeed, the very concept of some universal standard is troubling to some folks who believe that standards are set by some folks to keep other folks from speaking their minds. While this is a persuasive argument, you must nonetheless be prepared to defend your choice of online evidence because -- like it or not -- the web is simply not granted the same kind of authority as a published text in many classrooms.
This exercise is designed to offer some ideas that may guide you in your selection of websites to offer evidence to support your claims.
Who is the author?
- The first way to judge the credibility of a website is to consider its author. As indicated in our workbook, an "unsigned" site begs the question: how do we know whether this author is justified in making the claims s/he makes? Also, check to make sure that a person's credential meets the subject matter of the page. Just having a "doctor" behind the name doesn't assure that the author is qualified to discuss this particular topic.
Watch out for bias
- Discover the author's affiliation - especially given the fact that some groups who post websites possess enough bias to call their claims of "facts" into question. Remember, though, a biased claim is not always bad. Indeed, when you're discussing a polarizing issue, it's a good idea to site someone who is direct about his or her idea - as long as you justify your choice of this evidence and identify the bias to your reader.
When was the page developed?
- Watch out for internet ghosts. Many pages online were posted months or years ago and are no longer supported. In many cases, the information found on these sites may be perfectly useful. But an old page that is no longer actively maintained (indicated, perhaps, by a "last updated" line that states a very old date) make soon "disappear" if the author no longer chooses to maintain the page on the WWW. Your citation is more likely to be credible if it exists when the reader looks it up!
Now, let's check out some sites that offer evidence on contemporary issues. Your goal is to assess them for credibility . This is still a somewhat slippery concept. Even so, using some of the ideas we've discussed, you are better able to decide whether the evidence here will be persuasive for your audience. Take a look at the sites below. Identify why these sites might pose some problems for your reader. Could you find alternative sites that contain similar information? A hint, many of your research topics will deal with a social issue. To find a list of social issues, conduct a Yahoo search under the section, Society and Culture/Issues and Cases.