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POLITICAL SCIENCE 1AA3 - Government, Politics & Power

How to Evaluate Resources

Not sure if a source is valid? This video explains how you can tell -- by using the CRAAP test. (2:10)

Transcript (PDF) | Transcript (.docx)

Critical Reading Strategies

1. Preview: See what you can learn about a text before reading it.

2. Contextualize: Situate a text in its historical, biographical and cultural contexts.

3. Question: Ask questions about the text in order to understand it.

4. Reflect: Consider whether this text challenged any of your preexisting beliefs. 

5. Summarize: Outline and identify main ideas in your own words.

6. Evaluate: Assess the credibility and logic of the text.

7. Compare:Consider similarities and differences between this text and others.

(adapted from: http://www.salisbury.edu/counseling/new/7_critical_reading

_strategies.html)

Scholarly Versus Popular

Scholarly versus Popular Articles What are the differences?  Authors: Scholarly authors may be researchers and scholars such as university professors. Popular source authors include staff writers such as journalists and freelance writers.  Audience: Scholarly audience could include professors, students, and other researchers. Popular source audiences are the general public.  Purpose: Scholarly articles are written to present and share original research or experiments. The purpose of popular sources is to inform, entertain or persuade the general public.  Language: Scholarly articles use formal, technical and specialized language. Popular sources use every day language.  References: Scholarly sources use footnotes, endnotes, bibliographies and suggested reading. Popular sources typically use few to no citations

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