Today we had a presentation from Chris in the library to discuss ways in which we can find credible sources for our research. The part of this presentation that stood out most to me was the concept of the CRAAP test. This is a very simple way to remind yourself of the important factors that determine whether or not a source is a good one to use.
C - Currency/Date
R - Relevancy/Coverage
A - Accuracy
A - Authority
P - Purpose
This simple acronym is extremely useful in uncovering relevant and valid material, especially when so much information is now available through technology. This task becomes much less daunting when one only remembers to test for CRAAP.
C - Currency/Date
- It is important for the information we use in our research to be as up to date as possible so that we may write from a place of current understanding, not the way things may have been understood 15 years ago.
R - Relevancy/Coverage
- Does the article in question actually speak to the specific research we are conducting? If an article only touches on one aspect of a subject without considering others, it may be written from a perspective of bias or lack of comprehension and would therefore be less credible than others.
A - Accuracy
- For a research article to be credible it must be written from factual material, not simply on opinion.
A - Authority
- Who is the author and what are there credentials? Do the credentials seem valid and relevant? What about the publisher, are they a trustworthy source of material? We must ask all of these questions, and put further research into who and where we obtain our research from.
P - Purpose
- The purpose of an article can be very important to its credibility. If an article intends to persuade an opinion upon the reader, it is likely that some facts may have been omitted or altered in the author's favour. We must take an author's biases into perspective when examining a source.
This simple acronym is extremely useful in uncovering relevant and valid material, especially when so much information is now available through technology. This task becomes much less daunting when one only remembers to test for CRAAP.