EVALUATING SOURCESBNDS | Grade 11 Advisory Sessions | 10.13.14

CARS Framework

Credibility Goal: A source that is created by a person or organization who knows the subject and who cares about its quality.

Accuracy Goal: A source with information this is current, complete, and correct.

Reasonableness

Goal: A source that is truthful and unbiased.

Support Goal: A source with verifiable sources of information.

Activity Separate into four groups. Scenario: You’ve been assigned to write a

research paper on the growing problem of childhood obesity. You must incorporate evidence from several reliable sources.

Task: Your group will receive a source related to the topic of obesity. As a group, you must evaluate one criteria (listed on the top), determining if the source is very reliable, somewhat reliable, or not reliable.

Use your CARS Evaluation Summary sheets for guidance.

Group 1: Credibility

Group 1: Credibility This website is not reliable because…

there is no publisher listed. there is no way of proving whether the author—

nyanthony100—is an authority on this subject. the domain is .com, which means it is a

commercial website. In addition, there are advertisements at the top of the page.

Group 2: Accuracy

Group 2: Accuracy This journal article is somewhat reliable because…

it probably agrees with other sources since the article was published in a peer reviewed journal.

the author doesn’t contradict herself. it is NOT up-to-date. Because the journal article was

published in 1928, the information is probably out of date. there are not spelling or grammar errors. Even if this information is correct, you would want to find

a more up-to-date article!

Group 3: Reasonableness

Group 3: Reasonableness This journal article is very reliable

because… the publisher—the National Heart, Lung, and

Blood Institute—is an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services. Although they are primarily concerned with improving health, they rely on research and are not motivated by financial profit.

the purpose of this website is to objectively inform readers about health risks related to obesity.

Group 4: Support

Group 4: Support This infographic is somewhat

reliable because… the creators of this infographic consulted

the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) for these statistics.

this is not the original CDC source. As a result, it would be wise to find these statistics in the original source before citing them in your paper.

Final Note Some sources may score high on some

criteria and lower in others. Use your informed judgment to determine

whether the source is reliable enough. The more reliable the source, the more

persuasive you sound The less reliable the source, the less

persuasive you sound If you don’t cite any of your sources, you

will be plagiarizing!