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Chiz Web > Basics > ResearchStrategies  

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Research Strategies

Search Engines to Compete with Google!

        Can't find what you're looking for?  Try these search engines! 

1) Not all Search Engines are created equal.

Know that often the results found at the "tops" of search lists are paid sponsors or are engineered by programmers to take advantage of a particular search engine style.  Your best result on some searched may be on Page 23!

Amazon's search engine (http://A9.com) is starting to find references inside books. Complete Planet (http://aip.completeplanet.com) is actually a directory of databases on the web. Google Scholar (www.scholar.google.com) goes after academic sources instead of stores and media.

2) Search with "exact phrasing."

Typing Iranian Republic and "Iranian Republic" will offer different results.  The quotation marks will return sources with the two terms  just as you typed them!  Do the same thing with key terms we discuss such as "civil society" and "popular sovereignty."

3) Use logic commands.

Most search engines will read the words "near," "and," "or," and "not" automatically as logic operators for your search.  Therefore you could type intelligence not quotient to avoid IQ tests, etc.  If the logic commands don't seem to work, try the search engine's advanced search functions for similar approaches

 Evaluating Sources

External Qualities of Source/Data

 

Consistent with other reports, data

Authoritative -- Source is Unbiased or has no political agenda; credible expertise

Internal Qualities of Source/Data

 

 

 

Qualitative – Data says what you need it to; holds up to analysis, logic

Quantitative – Not just a story, anecdote, but statistically relevant

Timely – Current, accurate

Accurate – Verifiable via primary source or reliable secondary source

The CRAAP Test of Evaluating Sources

California State University

Currency – The timeliness of the information

·         When was the information posted?

·         Has it been revised or updated?

·         Does your topic require current info?

·         Are the links functional?

Relevance – The importance of the information

·         Does the information relate to your topic?

·         Who it its intended audience?

·         Is the information at an appropriate level of depth?

·         Have you looked at a variety of sources?

Authority – The source of the information

·         Who is the author/publisher/source/sponor?

·         What are the source’s credentials & affiliations?

·         Is the source qualified to write on this topic?

·         Does the source offer contact information?

·         Does the URL reveal anything about credentials?

Accuracy – Reliability, truthfulness, correctness

·         Where does the information come from?

·         Is the information supported by evidence?

·         Has the information been reviewed or arbitrated?

·         Can you verify the info from another source?

·         Does the language/tone seem unbiased?

·         Are there spelling or grammar errors?

Purpose – The reason the information exists

·         What is the purpose of the information (to persuade, entertain, teach, sell, or inform?)

·         Do the authors make their purpose clear?

·         Is the information fact, opinion, or propaganda?

·         Does the point of view appear objective/impartial?

·         Are there political, ideological, cultural, religious, institutional, or personal biases?

Domain Names and Their Meanings (usually!)

  • .edu    --    Educational institutions.  However, student sites from these are often posted on the same domain name.  Usually, a student site follows the .edu domain name with a tilde (~) and the student's or department's identification.  That doesn't mean it's bad, just that it's an individual's work.

  • .com & .biz -- Companies. This doesn't help in determining bias, but are a clue to what might motivate the writing of the article.

  • .org    --    Non-profit organizations.  What is the purpose/mission of these organizations?  Special interest groups and think tanks often use this domain. Some are purely public interest groups (Doctors Without Borders, Royal Oak Model UN) to wildly partisan (The Cutting Edge)

  • .net    --    Internet organizations and companies.

  • .info    --    Sources of information.  Note how/why the information is being gathered.

  • .de, .ze, .uk, etc. -- Governments of different countries carry domain names of their own (such as .gov for the US government).  If you find one, it could be a government site; however, all this means really is that the government controls the domain assignments.  Greece (.gr), for instance, outsourced it registry to a technological university which in turn allows any website using Greek characters to buy a domain name with .gr.  By the way, many of the poorer governments have had web space donated to them by US universities, largely through UN sponsorship.  So it just gets more and more complicated!

  • Free web-hosters -- Angelfire.com, Tripod.com, Geocities.com, Yahoo.com, AOL.com, and others are available so cheaply that anyone can post on them.  The information may be good, but check it especially carefully.

Other Ways to Check:

  • Is there an "About" link or something similar which identifies the author/organization?  If not, this could be a big red flag.  If you don't see one, try removing everything on the URL address behind the first slash to get to the site's front/home page.