Stage 9:
Grade 8
Checkpoint
Source evaluation
(200-300 words)
Introduction (200)
01 A description of the issue
Analysis (1000)
Essay 02 The causes and consequences
of the issue
structure
Course of action (200-
P.1
03 300)
Either to improve the
national OR local level.
Source evaluation (200-
04 300)
Explain why one source may
contain bias.
1. To Understand
Lesson objectives:
How to complete the source
evaluation section of your
checkpoint essay (200-300
words)
2. To review
4 examples of a source
Secondary data evaluation paragraph and
identify their strengths and
weaknesses
B i as
3. To continue
Working on your checkpoint
mock assignment.
Overview: Source
evaluation
The source evaluation section of the
essay will give you the opportunity
to show your GP evaluation skills.
Your goal is to evaluate the
credibility, reliability and bias that is
found in 4 primary and secondary
data sources.
Overview: Source
evaluation
Key questions to consider:
Is it a relevant source?
Was it useful?
Why did the author write it?
How did it help your research? I
s there bias?
Is it one sided or reliable info?
Source evaluation:
Guidance
Choose 4 of your sources to evaluate.
Your sources are the authors who wrote
the research you have included in your
report.
Top tip: Choose authors instead of
organisations to score higher.
Key questions to consider:
Source evaluation
● Can we trust the author?
● Has their research been verified?
● Is their research relevant to your
topic?
● Does your source have any bias? (Are
they connected to another
organisation/company which may
mean that their perspective is for or
against something)
● Have you cross checked this research
finding elsewhere?
You may want to begin your source evaluation by
Teacher tip: completing a CRAAP test for the 3 sources as this
is something you are familiar with!
CRAAP test
You will not include your full test in your
Teacher tip: assignment HOWEVER it will make it easier for
you to assess which source is the most reliable or
CRAAP test credible!
Bias
Source evaluation
Is the information in favour of one person, or
one side? Is the information unfair about one
person or one side?
Reliability
Can we trust the information? Can we trust
the author? Is it verified anywhere else?
Credibility
Can we trust the information? Is all the
information we need provided? Is the data
provided accurate?
Think back to
our previous
challenges!
How can we
check this
information?
Discuss your ideas with your
partner!
Don’t forget, the author should ALSO
Things to look out reference any information they use
within their
for: Evaluation
Tone
Vocabulary Is there a positive, negative or neutral tone in the
information?
Is there any emotive language used? Is the Remember: You are aiming for neutral!
language very in favor of one side?
Origin of the source
Author Where does this information come from? Is it a
Is the author qualified to write about this trustworthy organisation or is this information
topic? Is the author from the nation you are still up to date?
writing about - how does this influence their
perspectives?
Does the language exaggerate the severity of the
Things to look out problem?
Example: If you do not eat health it is certain
for: Evaluation that you will get diabetes and die.
Does the language divide people (polorize
Is there any emotional language? them?)?
Examples: terror, proudly Example: The migrants think X whilst our
nation’s people think Y.
Is the language strongly positive or negative?
Examples: wonderful, tragic Is there any language used to spark a reaction?
Example: We MUST act.
Are there any generalisations?
Example: Everyone knows that …
Does the author provide multiple perspectives?
Are there any labels given to a specific group Example: Looking at both sides of the
of people? argument we can see…
Example: Criminals
Identifying bias: Additional tips
Source: Relevance
What is it about?
-The title of the article or book will give
you a clue to what the source is about.
-You may also want to look at the
abstract, which gives a summary of the
article, the introduction or the article or
chapter headings.
Source: Relevance
What is the focus?
Is this article relevant to your research question?
If the article comes from a scientific journal and you are
studying a social science subject you may not find it
relevant.
Example: You want to learn what problems are
associated with HIV in The DRC.
You want to: Find an article concerned with social and
economic problems of HIV or how it spreads.
You want to avoid: Scientific journals talking about the
RNA structure of the virus.
Source: Your
Understanding
Identify the level of the academic journal.
Who is the intended audience? How much of the
article do you actually understand? Is the language
suitable for you as a second language learner to
read?
Teacher advice: You should be using academic
journals where possible. If you understand most of
the language you may want to translate some of
the more trick terms HOWEVER you should not
use these words in your assignment - instead
replace them with one you do know!
Source: Your
Understanding
Identify the level of the academic journal.
Who is the intended audience? How much of
the article do you actually understand? Is the
language suitable for you as a second language
learner to read?
Top tip: Read the extract first!
If you are unable to understand the information
provided in the extract you will need to find
another article.
Source: Author
checking
Where does the source come from? Why has the
information been researched or produced?
Key considerations:
-Who has written, produced or published the information?
-Is the author a known academic, or are they affiliated to a
reputable institution?
- Has the article or book been published by an academic
publishing house?
-Why have they written it? -
Has it been written for a particular reason (to
inform/sell/persuade)?
-Can you detect whether there is any bias?
Source: Timeliness
A practical way of evaluating whether information
is suitable is to consider where it comes from and
how or why it has been produced.
Key questions:
-When was the information written or published?
-Is it still useful, or true?
- Has it been recently updated?
Tip: Usually any articles past 5 years old are very
outdated. If you are studying COVID any
information prior to 2019 will be irrelevant!
Source: Cross-
referencing
Source 1:
It is important for you as the reader to understand Worldometer
where the writer has provided you with factual
information. If they do not include references for their
research, how can we trust them?
If the researcher provides NO references the article is
likely to just be their opinion NOT fact! Source 2: WHO
Top tip: If the researcher has included references you
should cross-reference this information to check if it is
actually true!
You should also be cross-referencing any statistics and
data you find not generated from reputable sources to
ensure the information is accurate!
Class example: Credibility check
Topic Sustainability
Research Question What actions could governments take to
reduce fast fashion?
Source Kirsi Niinimäki
‘The environmental price of fast fashion’
Published: 2020
Research finding ‘It is estimated that in the UK over 900,000
million items of clothing are disposed of each
year’
Where was this research found? Google Scholar
Step 1: Look at the
Topic Sustainability
Research
author
What actions could governments
Question take to reduce fast fashion?
Source Kirsi Niinimäki Research:
‘The environmental price of fast Kirsi Niinimäki is an Associate Professor in
fashion’ Design, especially Fashion Research at
Published: 2020 Aalto University.
Write up:
Research ‘It is estimated that in the UK over Niinimäki (remember we refer to authors by
finding 900,000 million items of clothing are their last names only) is a Professor at a
disposed of each year’
University who specializes in fashion research.
Where was Google Scholar Therefore, she can be considered a trustworthy
this research source as she has credibility in the field of
found?
fashion.
Step 2: Is the Topic Sustainability
information bias? Research
Question
What actions could governments
take to reduce fast fashion?
Source Kirsi Niinimäki
Could the author be biased? ‘The environmental price of fast
fashion’
Articles: Ethics declarations : Competing Published: 2020
interests (conflict of interest)- The authors has not
declared competing interests (she does not work
for the company)
Research ‘It is estimated that in the UK over
Write up: finding 900,000 million items of clothing are
disposed of each year’
Niinimäki has no competing interests and
Where was Google Scholar
therefore the research can be considered unbiased. this research
found?
Step 2: Is the
information bias?
Academic articles/ journals: You will usually
be provided with the researcher's background
information or their place of work in the
abstract so make sure you review the
information.
Tip: This information is sometimes provided
for you on google scholar!
Other sources: This may be harder to identify,
you will need to make use of bias tips we
covered earlier in class!
Step 3: Has the Articles: Top tip: This can be accessed via google
information been scholar under the subheading : Additional
Information.
peer reviewed? Niinimäk, 2020 The environmental price of fast
fashion
Additional information
Peer review information: Nature Reviews Earth &
Environment
Write up:
Furthermore, the journal was peer reviewed by
Nature Reviews Earth & Environment (2020),
meaning that the research was scrutinised by other
experts in the field. This further shows that the
information is accurate and reliable.
Key information: Google scholar
Step 4: Accuracy
Can facts or statistics be verified through
another source?
The source should contain accurate and
up-to-date information that can be verified
by other sources.
Write up:
Lastly, I cross referenced the statistic and
found the same findings published in
Circular online magazine (Moore, 2020).
This again reinforces the validity of the
research obtained.
Completed: Source one:
Niinimäki (The environmental price of
Teacher example fast fashion, 2020) is a Professor at a
University who specializes in fashion
research. Therefore, she can be
Author trustworthiness
considered a trustworthy source as
she has credibility in the field of
fashion. Furthermore, the journal was
peer reviewed by Nature Reviews
Earth & Environment (2020), meaning
that the research was scrutinised by
Credibility: Peer reviewed other experts in the field. This further
shows that the information is accurate
and reliable.
Final tips: Source ● You do not need to choose
different ways to evaluate for each
evaluation source. (e.g you can check if each
source has been peer reviewed)
● This section is worth 5 marks in
total so don’t go way over your
word limit.
● You need to use evaluative
language to score highly.
● You must use in-text citations.
1. To Understand
Lesson objectives:
How to complete the source
evaluation section of your
checkpoint essay (200-300
words)
2. To review
4 examples of a source
Secondary data evaluation paragraph and
identify their strengths and
weaknesses
B i as
3. To continue
Working on your checkpoint
mock assignment.
Source evaluation: /4
Key information: Teacher advice:
You will need to do this for at least 3 sources Don’t do MORE than 4, instead make sure
if you would like to achieve maximum points your evaluation of the 4 is well focused and
for this section! compares and contrasts the reliability of the
sources.
Example 1: Bronze
Look at the example provided.
Does the example evaluate 4 or more sources of Here are all the link:
information?
[Link]
100-safest-countries-in-the-world-for-covid-19/?sh=3e36e7
Does the example use 4 sources which provide us b368c5
with the author?
[Link]
Does the example consider whether we can trust the tics/why-the-worlds-first-covid-19-vaccine-spurred-global-s
cepticism/77510506
author?
[Link]
Does the example consider why this information e-cancer-data
have been produced?
[Link]
us-cancer-death-rate-68351
Does the example check the date of the information?
[Link]
Does the example identify any bias that may have [Link]/
occurred within the source?
[Link]
[Link]
Example 2: Silver
Source evaluation:
[Link]
Look at the example provided. e/en/document/[Link]
This source helped me because it told me about the vietnam
Does the example evaluate 4 or more sources of famine in 1944 so i got information to do my work and also gave
information? me some information that i haven't learned in the past. This
source have an arthur and the date that it was published so i
Does the example use 4 sources which provide us think that it's reliable and can be a good source for me to use
[Link]
with the author? text=The%20latest%20available%20estimates%20indicate,AIDS
%2C%20malaria%20and%20tuberculosis%20combined
Does the example consider whether we can trust the .
author? This source tells me about the whole world's hunger problem, it
tells me about food insecurity in the world and it gave me a lot
of information for my work. I chose this source because the
Does the example consider why this information website was made by the united nations so that i think that it was
have been produced? a good source
[Link]
Does the example check the date of the information? This source told me about hunger in Vietnam and helped me alot
on my national work. The website has an arthur but it doesn't
have a published date, but since I couldn't find some better
Does the example identify any bias that may have
sources, I used it because it gave me good information for my
occurred within the source? work.
Example 3: Gold Source Evaluation
Look at the example provided. One of my sources was from Brookings. The article
discussed AI's role in the 2016 U.S election scandal using
Does the example evaluate 4 or more sources of
information? evidence from the Mueller investigation. There may be
Does the example use 4 sources which provide us bias, as the Brookings is an outlet with a left-center stance,
with the author?
and the discussed topic is political. However, the
Does the example consider whether we can trust the particular article has still given objective valuable facts.
author?
Another source was published by the U.S National
Does the example consider why this information
Institute of Justice. The data presented were collected in
have been produced?
1997, which renders it outdated. Nonetheless, it has
Does the example check the date of the information?
provided a viewpoint on the topic, as well as data for
Does the example identify any bias that may have
comparison with more recent tests of ShotSpotter.
occurred within the source?
1. To Understand
Lesson objectives:
How to complete the source
evaluation section of your
checkpoint essay (200-300
words)
2. To review
4 examples of a source
Secondary data evaluation paragraph and
identify their strengths and
weaknesses
B i as
3. To continue
Working on your checkpoint
mock assignment.
Primary sources of Secondary sources of
information information
Books, articles etc.
It is better to use primary sources
when possible These authors have already given
their opinion to the topic at hand.
Reports/ Documents So you are using their opinion to
backup your point.
Using evidence to support
you: Secondary data sources
Images
Ask for referencing support.
Websites
Graphs Journal articles
Ask for referencing support.
Documentaries Youtube clips
+ videos Ask for referencing support.
Ask for referencing support.
Spelling and grammar
Once you have completed your
introduction check your spelling and
grammar in this paragraph to make sure
your ideas are communicated clearly to
the reader.
Top tip: Check your spelling and
grammar the day AFTER you have
completed your work - a fresh pair of
eyes can really make a difference!
Avoiding plagiarism
At this level, it is extremely important you
do not plagiarize any of your work.
This will result in an instant 0 for your
checkpoint report.
Remember: It will not just be me
checking for plagiarism but also an
external grader, so make sure your work is
100% your own and that you include in-
text references when you use evidence! Your similarity report should be no higher
than 10%
Should be
finished by
7/12
Writing
time.
Source evaluation: 200-300
words