Database Evaluation:

Opposing Viewpoints

vs. Points of View

Katie Keeler and Mary CummingsUniversity of Colorado Denver

SCHL 5030Instructor Large-Swope

Rationale

Many secondary schools that have access to a database for controversial issues have either Opposing Viewpoints or a Points of View subscription.

Our goal was to determine which of the two would be a better subscription to purchase.

We also took into consideration the Common Core Curriculum that emphasizes argument writing. Students will need access to timely articles on relevant issues in order to research and develop their argumentative speeches and papers in the secondary grades.

Audience: Junior High (grades 7, 8, 9)

Purpose: Students research both sides of a controversial topic of their interest in order to make a logical and debatable argument.

Scope: Databases should contain enough material for students to find answers to their questions.

Authority: Databases should provide scholarly articles from diverse viewpoints.

Question to be addressed in this evaluation:Is Gale Opposing Viewpoints in Context or Points of View Reference Center a better tool based on the following criteria?

Audience 1. Do the topics represent the interests of our students?

We surveyed seventh, eighth, and ninth grade students to determine which database, Points of View or Opposing Viewpoints, contains more issues that interest them—enough to research further. Students were asked to tally the number of issues that interested them for each database. Then, they calculated the percentage they found interesting in relationship to how many were offered. Finally, we calculated an overall percentage for each database and grade level to show which generated the most interest.

Seventh Grade Eighth Grade Ninth Grade0%

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Database Preferences

Points of ViewOpposing Viewpoints

Points of View Opposing Viewpoints0%

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Average Interest in Each Database

All Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth Grade Students

Conclusion: Based on the results of the student interest surveys, seventh grade students preferred the issues offered for research in the Opposing Viewpoints database. Eighth and ninth grade students, however, leaned toward the Points of View database. Overall, the Opposing Viewpoints database was the top choice when averaging all the students’ input, albeit by only two percentage points.

Audience2. Does the electronic database appeal to our learners

visually?Opposing Viewpoints

Flash player with images related to current controversial issuesMultiple tabs at top for quick linksSidebars of imagesVery “interactive-looking”

Points of ViewVery simple design with purple background; no imagesBasic search bar on home page“In the Spotlight” link box on home page

(see next slide)

Conclusion: Our students, particularly our visual learners, would find Opposing Viewpoints to be more appealing at first glance. Although Points of View may appear easier to navigate, they would be more inclined to explore the Opposing Viewpoints database because of the images and layout.

Opposing Viewpoints homepage

Points of View homepage

Purpose1. Does the database contain organizational features that

help students search for appropriate articles?Opposing Viewpoints

Easy search bar on home page to search by keyword and material source

Search by category of issue

Simple, clear advanced search option By content level and lexile

Points of View

Easy search bar on homepage page

Search by category or all topics

Satisfactory advanced search option

Conclusion: Both databases offered fairly user-friendly search options. However, for our students reading above or below grade level, Opposing Viewpoints allowed users to narrow results by content level and lexile number, which is of great value to our students and thus the better option here.

(see next slide)

Opposing Viewpoints narrows by content level

and Lexile range

Points of View narrows by similar advanced search, minus text difficulty.

Purpose2. Is the database easy to use and navigate for 7th-9th

graders looking for information?

Opposing ViewpointsEasy search bar plus quick linksResults automatically divided by categoryResults page can be overwhelming at first

Points of ViewEasy search bar plus quick linksResults can be divided by tabs at top which students might missStudents must know to only use full-text articles (no abstracts)

Conclusion: Both databases we would consider easy to navigate for junior high students. However, because the tabs at the top of the Points of View results seem clearer than the overwhelming all-on-one-page results in Opposing Viewpoints, Points of View would be the better of the two.

(see next two slides)

Search for “capital punishment” on Opposing Viewpoints:

Results divided into categories automatically

Search for “capital punishment” on Points of View:Tabs for result options

“Full Text” links

Scope1. How many topics/issues are presented on each

database?

Database Number of topics/issues

Opposing Viewpoints 321

Points of View 517

Conclusion: Points of View has significantly more available issues for research than Opposing Viewpoints. It is clear, then, that Points of View offers more research options for students versus Opposing Viewpoints. If vast options for students is the goal, then Points of View is the ideal database.

Scope2. On average, how many articles are provided for each

topic/issue?

In order to find out how many articles are provided in search results, we looked up three common topics that were listed in the “Browse Issues/Topics” pages of the databases (same-sex marriage, obesity, and animal experimentation) and one state-specific issue (Amendment 64).

Issue Opposing Viewpoints

Points of View

Same-sex marriage 5176 9046

Obesity 4164 9953

Animal Experimentation 582 217

Colorado’s Amendment 64 1 37

TOTALS 9923 19253

Same-sex marriage Obesity Animal experimentation Colorado Amendment 640

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Opposing ViewpointsPoints of View

Conclusion: Points of View database had more than twice the articles that Opposing Viewpoints did on the issues tested. It is relevant to note that on a more local topic currently in the news (Amendment 64), Points of View had 37 results, while Opposing Viewpoints had only one. Therefore, Points of View has a wider scope in terms of amount of articles.

Authority1. Do the points of view articles found on the database

fairly represent both/all sides of an issue?

In looking at a sampling of same-sex marriage, obesity, and animal experimentation points of view articles from both databases, we found the following:

Opposing Viewpoints Offers a cover page of

articles from different sources

For each of the three issues, the cover page did not equally represent both sides by number of articles for each.

Points of View

Offers a fair and balanced representation of both sides of each issue Overview of the issue Point Counterpoint Critical Analysis

* The sampling of articles on three issues (same-sex marriage, obesity, and animal testing) were taken from each database’s issue cover page and evaluated to come to these conclusions.

Conclusion: Points of View database fairly represented each side of the sample issues one hundred percent of the time on its issue cover page. Opposing Viewpoints, on the other hand, showed imbalance in representing each side of the sample issues. While there are certainly more articles than the Points of View ones, these are the cover pages that are shown first when clicking into each issue. In response, Points of View is the better option here.

For Against No action required Action required For AgainstAnimal Experimentation Obesity Same-sex Marriage

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Balance in Representing Each Side of the Issue

Opposing ViewpointsPoints of View

Authority2. Are the articles compiled from reliable, scholarly

sources?

In order to answer this question, we looked at the articles that showed up in the “Featured Viewpoints” section of Opposing Viewpoints and the “Points of View” tab of Points of View for the topics same-sex marriage, obesity, and animal experimentation.

We found that the articles came from sources such as the following:

NewspapersScholarly journalsOpinions from professors and researchersPrimary sourcesGovernment websitesContent-specific magazines

Conclusion: Because all of the articles sampled came from reliable, scholarly sources, both databases are equal in this aspect of authority.

Opposing Viewpoints

Undetermined/Unreliable sourceReliable, scholarly source

Points of View

Undetermined/Unreliable sourceReliable, scholarly source

Recommendation

Audience Purpose Scope Authority

Opposing Viewpoints

Points of View

The results are so close that it is difficult to determine a clear “winner;” however, Points of View had one more positive rating in comparison to Opposing Viewpoints.

Based on our evaluation of two categories within each of the criteria of audience, purpose, scope, and authority,

we recommend the Points of View Reference Center.