Thesis Statement: "Adult learners should mentors in order to further their educational, personal and professional goals". Thinking Critically About Sources Worksheet Attached Files: Thinking Criticall

Thinking Critically About Sources Worksheet

Becoming a confident consumer of information will help you attain academic, career and life goals. An understanding of how to critically evaluate sources will help you achieve these goals. This assignment will guide you in determining whether your sources are authoritative and reliable.

Search for one source that you might use for a class project. This source can be a journal article, book, website, newspaper, magazine, or something else. Then answer the following questions about this source. It would be helpful if your responses are in a different font color than the questions.

Please provide your approved thesis statement here:

Please indicate the source type (i.e. book, journal article, website):

Please provide the full APA style reference list entry:

Authority

Who is the author [name(s), agency, organization]?

What are the author’s credentials? What expertise does the author have in this field of study?

Purpose

Who is the intended audience?

Why was it written or created? Is the source appropriate for your purpose? Explain.

Accuracy

Check the facts with other sources. Is the source contradicted by information found in other sources? Give specific examples.

Objectivity

Are multiple sides of an argument represented? Does the author carefully document facts? Give specific examples.

Do you detect bias or a hidden agenda? Explain.

If this is on a website, what links or ads does the page have?

Currency/Date of Publication

When was this item published or created?

How can you determine how current the information is?

Has the source been updated since its original publication? What makes you think so?

Scholarly vs. Popular Sources

If your professor said you could only use scholarly* sources for this project, explain why you would or would not be able to use this source.

If your professor said that you must use a source that can be updated instantly, and where many different people can express their opinions, explain why you would or would not be able to use this source.

Remember, different sources can and should be used for different projects! For some projects, websites and blogs will be great sources of information. For other projects, your professors will want you to stick to traditional journal articles and books. Think about what your project is and where you’ll get the most appropriate information. We trust that you will find this worksheet to be helpful through your matriculation at SU.

*Finding appropriate scholarly articles in the databases can be difficult at times. Please do not assume that an article that you find in an SU database is automatically a scholarly source. You still need to think critically about the source. Here are some things for you to keep in mind:

Our guide on scholarly vs. popular resources is a good starting point for understanding the differences between the kinds of items you might encounter.

Many, but not all, of our library databases include scholarly sources that you can use for your research.  Each database is different and includes different types of items. For example:

1. Some databases include popular articles and books along with scholarly articles and books.

2. Some databases include mainly popular articles and books.

3. Some databases include mainly scholarly articles and books.

If you're using a database that falls in the third category, that's great! Most of your results will be scholarly sources.  If you're using a database that falls in the first or second categories, you can use the "Scholarly (Peer Reviewed) Journals" option or similar to narrow down your search.

Keep in mind, however, that just because a source is scholarly doesn't mean that the article is. Think critically about the source. For example, if the article does not contain in-text citations and a list of references, it is not a scholarly source. Also, many peer-reviewed journals include short blurbs or articles such as a letter from the editor, letters from readers, and press releases. These items are not considered scholarly sources, even if they were published in a scholarly journal. As always, read the entire article and review the scholarly vs. popular criteria before you decide whether to include it in your research project.