Inquiry-mindedness - The Critical Thinking Consortium

Credibility of sourcesassessing whether or not sources ofinformation are reliableSTUDENT RESOURCE #5PurposeThis strategy helps meselect the most reliableor trustworthy sources ofinformation when I amresearching a topic orlistening to accounts ofevents.For a sample use of thestrategy, see the nextpage.APPLYthe strategy• Identify the purpose of the research topic or question.• Identify clues that can be used to assess the credibility of the source. Beforestarting to view or listen to the source, examine the following aspects ofthe source:−− title−− publisher−− profession of authors−− summaries of sources−− end notes or bibliographyRemember that on-line reviews and bookstores can provide additional cluesabout the credibility of sources.• Use the criteria to assess the credibility of the source:− − expertise: Was the source created by an individual or group with recognized expertise or credentials?− − reputation: Was the source created by an individual or group with a reputation for high quality work?− − corroborated: Does the source include information from other sources that confirm the details in thesource?Assessing my ability to judge the credibility of sourcesAccomplished Good Basic StrugglingFinds evidence of credibility:I know where to lookfor evidence and I findevidence that is obviousand not obvious. Ican easily connect theevidence to the criteria.I find evidence butsometimes I miss detailsthat are important. Mostof the time I can connectthe evidence to thecriteria.I can find some obviousevidence but sometimes itis hard for me to connectit to the criteria.It is really hard for me tofind evidence and I amnot good at connectingevidence to the criteria.Asseses credibility of sources:I can easily identifycredible sources ofinformation, includingless obvious sources.I can identify crediblesources of informationmost of the time, but Isometimes misjudge thecredibility of a resource.I can tell when the mostobvious sources arecredible but I often forgetto consider all the criteria.It is very hard for me todecide whether a source iscredible or not.Tools for Thought 2008-09:3 46 © The Critical Thinking Consortium