Skip to Main Content

*Masters Programs in Education: Evaluate Sources

Some thoughts from the librarian...

As you interact with the various sources you have discovered, you will want to look closely at several key elements to determine their level of credibility. This is especially important if you located some sources using popular web browsers such as Google.

There's a place in scholarship for all types of sources. Newspaper articles can give important first-person details of an event or reaction, trade journals are sometimes the best place to find authorities in a practical field, and peer-reviewed articles (while often the best resources for academic arguments), can sometimes be overly specific if you are looking for high-level perspectives. Your professors and librarians are here to help you learn how to discern among sources - don't worry if it doesn't come naturally at first!

Evaluate Sources

Anatomy of a Scholarly Article

Video - Credible Sources (4 min. 8 sec.)

Script is a derivative of "Evaluating Sources for Credibility" by Lisa Becksford, NCSU Library, used under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0

Additional Questions

 

Components of a Scholarly Article

Sections:

  • Brief overview and key points of the study
  • Read to quickly determine the article’s relevance to your topic
  • Hypothesis of the study and review of relevant literature
  • Read for the context of the problem and the prior relevant research
  • EVALUATE:
    • Check the statement of the problem/hypothesis:
      • Problem or Hypothesis clearly stated?
      •  Problem is significant?
      •  Assumptions stated?
      •  Limitations stated?
      •  Terms defined?
    • Check out the literature review:
      • Pertinent literature is included?
      • Review of literature is well organized?
      • Review of literature is critical?
      • Relationship of the literature reviewed to the problem is apparent?
  • Detailed information about the research conducted
  • Includes participants, procedures, instruments, history and background of the instruments chosen, and the variables
  • EVALUATE:
    • Check the design of the study:
      • Research design is explained fully such that you could repeat it?
      • Research design is appropriate to the problem?
      • Variables are well described such as: population, sampling method, data gathering methods, etc.?
      • Instrument used is described and some history and context for this decision is given?
      • Measures to assure the validity and reliability of the data collected are given?
  • Summary of data, including:
    • relationships among variables
    • methodology for statistical analysis
    • P value (construct for significance, .05 or .01)
    • N (sample size)
    • how the results relate to the hypothesis or problem stated in the introduction.
    • Comparisons may be included to clarify findings, or to explore unanticipated findings
  • EVALUATE:
    • Check the data analysis:
      • Method used to analyze data is well explained?
      • Methods used are applied and interpreted correctly?
      • Results of analysis are clearly stated?
  • Summary of results in narrative form. 
  • Usually relates the results of the study to prior study results and gives suggestions for further study
  • EVALUATE:
    • Check out their arguments:
      • Conclusions are clearly stated and relevant to the stated problem?
      • Generalizations are applied appropriately?
      • Limitations are noted?
      • Recommendations for further study are appropriate?
      • Tone of discussion is objective?
  • List of the sources cited
  • Sources not directly cited but used as prior reading

Librarian's Guide to Navigating Sources