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Nutrition and Food Science Research: Evaluating Sources for CREDIBILITY

Why Evaluate Sources and Information? One word: CREDIBILITY!

FINDING CREDIBLE RESOURCES SHOULD BE EVERY STUDENTS GOAL WHEN CONDUCTING RESEARCH.

Good research habits include identifying sources, assessing their expertise and verifying information found. The sources that you select are a direct reflection of the quality of your project.

Evaluate every source and the information it contains no matter where it comes from before you use it to be sure it is credible and relevant to your topic. 

It helps to have set of criteria in mind to use for evaluating sources you find. 

Try using the "CARS" method for finding CREDIBLE information.

Think Critically About Your Sources

USE THE "CARS" Method To Evaluate Your Resources.

Information is everywhere on the Internet, constantly being created and revised. How do you tell if it is reliable or not? The CARS test can help. Below are questions to ask about a source to tell if it is credible, accurate, or reasonable. Not all questions may apply to each source, but you can get an idea of reliability by applying the CARS test.

C = Credibility is being recognized as knowing about the subject the author is writing about and caring about the quality of the information the author shares.

  • Look for the organization that is publishing or sponsoring the information source. Are they an authority on the subject? Does the source have an agenda?
  • Look for the author of the information source. Is the person an authority on the subject? How do you know?
  • Look at the document as a whole. Are there obvious writing errors? Are there broken links that suggest the page isn't maintained? Are there advertisements that are out of place?
  • When using websites, try looking at the URL's to better located credible content:
    • .edu (higher education in the United States)
    • .gov (United States government)
    • .org (Non-profit organization)

A = Accuracy is having information that is current, complete, and correct.

  • Look to see if the information in this source agrees with other sources on the same subject.
  • Check to see if the information source contradicts itself.
  • Look to see how recent the information is and how recently it has been updated.

R = Reasonableness is being truthful and unbiased.

  • What is the author/site's point of view?
  • What is the author/site's argument? Do they provide evidence to support it? Is the evidence relevant or irrelevant to the argument?
  • Is the author/site trying to sell you something?
  • What does the author/site gain by sharing this information with you?
  • Does the author/site have a bias? Are they arguing for an opinion?

S = Support is having verifiable sources of information.

  • Does the author/site list their sources?
  • Can you find the sources? Are they also high quality sources?
  • Can you contact the author/organization if you need to?