Dissertation Research Guide – Evaluating Resources

The act of dissertation research can be an arduous task. Even after you have collected all the information you believe will be needed, the task of research is not finished. Before you can actually begin using the information gathered, you will need to weed out any resources that are inaccurate or inappropriate, allowing you to focus on the resources deemed appropriate and useful. This will assist you in saving time by not wasting it attempting to collect information from sources that are unreliable or unacceptably biased.

Evaluating Research Resources

Evaluating the usefulness of research resources is, perhaps, the most vital step in the research process. Today almost anyone can get websites established, publish a newsletter or magazine, or even get a book to market, thanks to the development of computer technologies and the Internet. This has allowed many unqualified sources of “information” to develop that would be inappropriate to use as research sources.

Due to this fact, every potential research resource must be evaluated with a critical eye. The researcher must consider six key questions in this process of evaluation:

• Does an authority write the source on the topic?
• Does it contain accurate, reliable information?
• Is the source relevant to your dissertation topic?
• Does the source have a clear purpose and what is that purpose?
• Is the source free of biased information, opinion or positional advocacy?
• Has the source been reviewed prior to publication through peer review?

Authority

The authority is the background of the source that demonstrates his or her qualifications to publish the source document. In establishing the authority of the source, ask the following questions:

• Who wrote the source materials and is he or she a respected authority or expert on the topic?
• What is the author’s experience, education or training on the topic?
• Who is the publisher and what reputation does the publisher have?

Accuracy

The second question raises the issue of accuracy concerning the source content. To judge the accuracy of the source, answer the following questions:

• Is the material of the source drawn from a reputable source and properly cited or documented for you to verify the information?
• Is the source an official publication from a particular organization or was it created by an individual not associated with an organization or institute of higher education?
• Was the source published by a commercial publisher or was it published by the author through vanity publishing?
• Is there any corroboration of the stated facts found in the source?
• Are the facts presented accurately and completely or have they been taken out of context?
• Does the information contain noticeable grammatical or spelling errors indicating questionable reliability?

Relevancy

The third evaluation is relevancy, which is the relational usefulness of the source to the purpose or message of your dissertation topic. The following questions will expose the relevancy of almost any research source:

• Is the source information directly related to your topic?
• Does the source support or further your topic?
• Is the source a primary or secondary source of information?
• If it is an Internet source, was it published by a reliable organization?
• Has the source been maintained or updated on a regular basis?
• When was the source published?
• Was the source published recently enough to be useful or is it purely historical context?
• Are any statistics or data included timely (i.e. the most recent available)?
• Are the links (for Internet sources) and citations valid?
• Is the source prominent enough compared to other available source you have found on the topic?

Purpose

The purpose of a given source can also dramatically affect its usefulness. The purpose can be indicative of the type of information included and, perhaps more importantly, excluded from its presentation. To evaluate this, ask the following questions regarding each source you intend to use:

• What is the purpose or message of the source?
• For whom was the source originally intended?
• Is the source attempting to sell a product or service related to your topic?
• Is the source intended to persuade or alter your opinion on a subject or is it a factual presentation or report on research and its results?
• Are the facts contained in the source supported by documentation and/or independently verifiable?

Bias

It is important to be aware that many sources will have a level of bias regarding the information presented. Information found on corporately sponsored websites or organizational websites may be biased towards their products, services or agenda and should be viewed with that fact in mind. The presence of bias does not rule out the information’s usefulness, however. Dissertations must show the broad spectrum of ideas and opinions that exist on a given topic, and then present the author’s own ideas and opinions within the context of that spectrum. When evaluating this issue, the following questions should be answered:

• Does the author or publishers have a particular, known bias concerning the topic?
• Is their evidence in the body of the source indicative of bias or an advocacy of a particular opinion on the topic?
• Does the language used indicate the source to be factual or opinionated?

Peer Review

Peer reviewed sources have been evaluated by others in the discipline or industry outside of the organization or company publishing the information and opinions given as to the authenticity, accuracy, and suitability of the source document. The presence of such review adds validity to the source, but its lack does not necessarily rule out its usefulness, either. The following questions should be considered to evaluate this aspect of the document:

• If the source is a journal or magazine article, is the journal or magazine known to be peer reviewed?
• If the source is a book, does the publisher have a reputation for having peer reviews performed?
• If the source is a website, is there any indication that it has been peer reviewed either explicitly or via commentaries from reliable sources?
• Has the source been post-publication reviewed by an independent, reliable critic?

Remember, if there is no indication that a source has been reviewed, assume that it has not been peer reviewed. Books and websites are rather vain about being peer reviewed and tend to advertise that fact prominently. Often with books, such review is published within the book as a “forward” to the materials.

A Word about Our Writers

The validity and usefulness of resources is an extremely important issue in research. Our staff of research writers knows this all too well and strives to maintain high standards in this regard. Often, they will solicit the opinions of other writers in our company on source materials for articles they are preparing for clients (note however in such cases, client identity remains confidential at all times). Through their personal expertise and consultation with other writers, our clients can be assured that materials used by our writers will be suitable for their assignments.

This is yet another aspect of our company that has earned us one of the highest reputations in the writing industry. Contact us today for assistance with your next assignment.