13 Critical evaluation
Critically evaluating information is a great skill to build. As you find and read sources for a research paper or assignment ask yourself:
- Who wrote this? What is their “expertise” or “experience”?
- Why did they write it? What evidence or sources are they using? Can I find similar information in other sources?
- Is it relevant? Does it help me bring my own voice into my writing assignment?
Critically evaluating information is useful in your college career, in a future job and IRL (In Real Life) – like voting, shopping, making medical decisions or straight up not getting scammed.
If you don’t already have these tools in your critical thinking toolkit — then let us introduce you to #ToolsWeLike:
Snopes: www.snopes.com
Snopes is a fact checking website. It can help you uncover misinformation, false claims, made up stories, hoaxes and scams. It has been checking facts since 1994 and it has a long history of doing a pretty good job. Don’t just take our word for it — read about snopes yourself.
Politifact: www.politifact.com
“PolitiFact is a fact-checking website that rates the accuracy of claims by elected officials and others on its Truth-O-Meter.” Politifact is run by the Poynter Institute, a nonprofit school for journalists. Don’t just take our word for it — read more, who pays for politifact.
Choose an option to move forward.
