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Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

Suddenly The Most Important Thing

robot giving the thumbs up signIt's easy to find stuff: a search on Google or Articles Plus will easily yield 1,000s of hits. Then you have to figure out what's GOOD. 

You need to develop a really good CRAP Detector. 

 

Facts don't necessarily have the power to change our minds. In fact, quite the opposite. Research keeps proving that, "Rather than simply ignoring factual information, presenting respondents with facts can compound their ignorance." (Wood and Porter, 2016)

If exposure to facts cannot educate us, research has no value.  

 

The CRAP Test

The CRAP Test

Evaluate Sources with these Criteria:
Currency, Reliability, Authority and Purpose/Point of View

  • Currency
    • How recent is the information?
    • Is it current enough for your topic?
  • Reliability
    • Is content of the resource primarily opinion?  Is it balanced?
    • Does the creator provide references or sources for data or quotations?
  • Authority
    • Who is the creator or author? What are the credentials?
    • Who is the published or sponsor? Are they reputable?
  • Purpose/Point of View
    • What is its bias / purpose? For whom was it written?
    • Is the creator/author trying to sell you something?

(adapted from LOEX 2008 wiki)

Would You Trust This Guy? Video