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Health Studies

Evaluating Sources

Evaluating your sources is a critical element of the research process. It is particularly important to evaluate information that you find on the Internet. 

You need to evaluate carefully each source to determine its appropriateness and quality. Use the CRITICAL guide to determine if a source is appropriate for your research and to prompt you to think about how you search for and select research materials. This guide supports our commitment to decolonizing information literacy and our focus on I-EDIAA (Indigenous, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, Anti-Racism, and Accessibility).  Evaluation criteria may include:

  • Credibility: The reliability or accuracy of the information.
  • Relevance: The depth and importance of the information.
  • Intention: The purpose of the information. 
  • Timeliness: The currency of the information.
  • I-EDIAA (Indigeneity, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, Anti-Racism, Accessibility): The voices that are represented.
  • Coverage: Does the source address your topic in depth, only partially, or is it an broad overview?
  • Authority: The source of the information. Consider the author's background, writings, experience, and positionality.
  • Level: The reading and analysis level of the source.

Resources

HLTH 102: Evaluating Health Information

Consult this presentation for tips on how to evaluate health information, particularly resources found on websites.

Critical Literacy

Critical literacy ensures that anti-racism, anti-discrimination, and decolonization is put into practice. Engaging in critical information literacy, readers are encouraged to ask questions such as where the power is in the text, whose viewpoint is present, and whose is missing.