Evidence Research

In this section, you will learn about where to find reliable research, what makes a good researcher versus what makes a bad researcher, what makes research worth your time, and how to properly research authors.

Where do I Find Reliable Research?

Government Agencies:

Government agencies often provide information on a country (or state of a country). They are useful for statistics and provide professionally founded research! Look for .gov in a URL to know if it is a government controlled website.
 

Peer-Reviewed Journals:

A peer-reviewed journal means that a study was conducted by an expert (or multiple experts) and was reviewed by experts. When a study or research is reviewed multiple times by professionals, it is highly likely that the research is valid in its findings.
 

Professional Organizations:

Websites with .org in their URL are generally seen as reliable. A registered organization is reliable because it only allows experts on the organization to edit the website, opposed to other websites that end in .com.
 

Educational Institutions:

Websites with .edu in their URL are reliable because they are an educational institution. We give these websites their credibility because of their high status of representing a university or college.
 

Databases:

Databases are a great place to find all of these reliable sources! A database can hold multiple sources from a variety of platforms (i.e. newspapers, journals, government agencies, encyclopedias) all in one spot!

Good vs. Bad Research Habits

Good Research Habits
Bad Research Habits
Good Research HabitsFinds reliable sources
Bad Research HabitsUses unreliable sources
Good Research HabitsFinds multiple sources that relay the same information
Bad Research HabitsReads the first thing that they see and uses the information
Good Research HabitsUses multiple keywords to find research
Bad Research HabitsUses only one keyword to find information
Good Research HabitsPays attention to any biases
Bad Research HabitsDisregards biases
 
Good Research is:
  • peer reviewed
  • a section in a journal
  • funded by a trustworthy organization
  • recently published (within the last 10 years)
  • includes participants of a variety of age, gender or race
To research an author's credibility, there are a few steps you can take:
  1. On many websites, there is a link embedded to the author’s name. This will usually lead you to the author’s website/about the author page, in which you will be able to read about their expertise in the content area.
  2. The author may list their credibility throughout the writing. They may introduce any background information about them and what organization/research team they are affiliated with.
  3. Try to find other works they might’ve done. This could include speeches, other research projects, or books.
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