The web can be a great source for scientific information, but unlike books and journals, which go through an editorial process before being published, the web is a little more free-wheeling. Some information is reviewed, but a lot of it is not. As the saying goes, anyone can publish anything on the web. As a result, we need to be little more discerning about the information we use from the web and ask some basic questions about both the content and the provider before we decide whether to use information from a particular web site. The information below describes how to evaluate a web site and gives you the chance to try it out.
Reference
Jacobus, J., Bava, S., Cohen-Zion, M., Mahmood, O., & Tapert, S.F. (2009). Mini-review: Functional consequences of marijuana use in adolescents. Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behavior, 92(4), 559-565. doi:10.1016/j.pbb.2009.04.001
From the language used, it's pretty clear that this is a scientific article, but does it exmplify scientific method? The section headings in the article don't map at all to the scientific investigation cycle, and while parts of the abstract look like they might resemble that cycle, it's pretty apparent that the authors are reporting on multiple studies and are not sharing any of their own experimentation.
By the way, did you notice that most of the articles you looked at have more than one author? Most scientific research is conducted in teams, rather than as solo enterprises, and it's not unusual to find yourself getting credit for significant contributions to the effort. The order of the authors' names on the article tells you who made the most significant contributions (they're listed first, of course!).
Evaluating a web site is not difficult, but it does require you to investigate both the content and the provider. The most straightforward way is to pretend you're a journalist, interviewing the web site (except that you'll be using the web site itself to determine the answers to your questions). The focus is on the 5 W's:
Because anyone can create a web site, we want to make sure that the information we use is both scholarly (i.e., research-based) and credible. Click on the tabs above to explore questions that you might find helpful in finding web sites useful for your reports.
These are not the only guidelines available for evaluating web sites, however; the links below offer some alternatives that you might find useful.
The "who" refers to the individual(s) or organization who created and maintain the web site. Ask yourself:
Most web sites will have an "about" link somewhere on their site. For pages with named authors, the author's name is sometimes a link that will give you more information about that author.
If a web site doesn't provide you with information about its authors or the organization behind it, you should probably treat it with a healthy dose of skepticism, especially when relying on it for science-related information.
The "what" refers to the nature and purpose of the site. Ask yourself:
How a site looks and functions is a good indicator of how much care and attention went into creating it. A well-organized site is easy to navigate, search, and quickly find information. But if a web site contains dead links, typos, poor navigation, lots of advertising or spam, continuous scrolling, or images that don't load, it might be wise to move on to another site.
The "when" determines how current the information is. Ask yourself:
In science, currency is often important - scientific discoveries happen all the time, and some scientists are using blogs as a way to get new information out to the scientific community much faster than is possible through other publications.
A site that has not been updated in a while may be an indication that the site author or creator has lost interest. And a web site with no date at all is probably one you want to avoid.
The "where" refers to the source of the information on the site. Ask yourself:
If an author or organization does not provide the sources (books, articles, other web sites) for the information provided on the site, you should probably find one that does.
The "why" refers to the relevance of the web site for your research. Ask yourself:
There is an abundance of information available on the web, and it is not all equal. You have a lot of choice - you can afford to be discerning and use only good quality information. The more you practice asking these questions, the faster you become at evaluating web sites. Using good quality sources will strengthen your lab reports.
Take a look at the following web site and evaluate it using the questions outlined above (the 5 W's or your favourite strategy) to determine if it would be appropriate to use in a lab report or other academic assignment.
Ready to find out what we think? Check out our response here.
Take a look at the following web site and evaluate it using the questions outlined above (the 5 W's or your favourite strategy) to determine if it would be appropriate to use in a lab report or other academic assignment.
Ready to find out what we think? Check out our response here.
Take a look at the following web site and evaluate it using the questions outlined above (the 5 W's or your favourite strategy) to determine if it would be appropriate to use in a lab report or other academic assignment.
Ready to find out what we think? Check out our response here.