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Credibility and the Internet
What is Credibility?
Credibility
The word credibility has several meanings. Alternatively, it means capability of being believed, to command belief or to truthfulness or correctness of what one says
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Topic #1
Topic #2
5 Questions
To Check if a Source is Credible:
Q #1
Q #2
Who published it?
Who wrote it?
Q #3
Q #4
Why did they write it?
When was it written?
Q #5
Who is the intended
audience of the source?
#1) Who published it?
Organizations and companies publish texts. If it was published by an educational organization, you can assume it is credible. If it was published by a university press, professional society,
scientific publisher, or a peer-reviewed journal, it is credible.
#2) Who WROTE it?
The author is the person who actually wrote the text. Is the author affiliated with a university or another institution? What is the author's education level? Has the author written many other works on the same topic? Has the author's work been cited by other professionals before? If so, the author is credible.
#3) Why was it written?
Every author has a purpose for writing a text, and every organization has a purpose for publishing a text. Try and see if you can infer both of these purposes.
#4) When was it written?
If the text is old, it might contain information that is no longer agreed-upon. In some disciplines, material can become outdated very swiftly. In others, texts can continue to be considered valuable for longer periods of time. Always search to see if there is a more recent interpretation of the information you are reading.
#5) Intended Audience?
If the audience is academic in nature, your source is more credible. If the audience is something like fundamentalist Mormon housewives or Neo-nazi activists, there will be an evident bias in the writing that renders it less credible. Several factors can lead to bias, such as the religion, political affiliation, geography, or nationality of the author or publisher.
Wikipedia:
The credibility of Wikipedia articles is often debated. You will have college professors who will allow you to use it, and others who will not.
Reasons Why Wikipedia is Not Credible:
1) The authors are anonymous, and anyone can edit Wikipedia articles. You have no way of knowing if the author is an expert in their field.
2) Administrators on Wikipedia have the power to delete or disallow comments or articles they disagree with and support the viewpoints they approve. In 2003, one administrator banned more than 2,000 contributors with opinions that opposed his own.