NICHCY Connections...
to Weighing Information for Its Worth

Launched February 20, 2004
Updated December 5, 2007
Approx. 5 pages when printed

Author
Dr. Barbara Smith
Research Analyst, NICHCY

NICHCY's Connections pages are designed to put you in quick contact with information that's readily available on the Internet. But if you've travelled the Web searching for information, you've probably already discovered that sometimes it's like being hit by a tidal wave. There's so much information that you don't know where to look first or whether the info you've found is accurate, reliable, and current. Information on one site may conflict with what you find on another site. While it's helpful to consider both sides of an issue when you're making decisions, how do you weigh what you're seeing?

• Research 101
  (What makes for good research?)
  


• Research 102: Adding Up the Evidence
  (How do you combine the findings of multiple research studies?)
  


• Making Sense of Statistics in Research
  (Don't let stats throw you.)
  


• Weighing Info for Its Worth (you're here!)
  (Is this research well done?)
  
  
• Special Education Research: Where to Start?
  (How to begin finding and applying research.)
  
  
• What Works: Can We Say?
  (Where can I find information on evidence-based practices?)
  
  
• Research-Based Resources on Specific Disabilities
  (A starting place for research-based information on disabilities.)

Finding Information

• Where can you find research information?
  www.monroecc.edu/depts/library/resour.htm
  Here's a quick list to jog your thinking, part of Monroe Community College's online guide to help students prepare research papers.
  


• Research guides & bibliographies.
  From the University of Southern California.
  www.usc.edu/isd/doc/library/guides/
  


• Think about biases in point of view--both yours and the info's.
  www.virtualsalt.com/infobias.htm

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Can You Trust Information from that Book or Journal?

• Evaluate information for its authority and appropriateness for your research.
  From the library at UC Berkeley.
  www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Evaluation.html
  


• How to critically analyze information sources.
  From the Cornell University Library.
  www.library.cornell.edu/olinuris/ref/research/skill26.htm
  


• Top ten tips for evaluating the trustworthiness of a research study.
  From the National Association of Child Advocates.
  http://www.voicesforamericaschildren.org/Content/ContentGroups/Publications1/Voices_for_Americas_Children/Advocacy/20024/understandingresearch.pdf
  
• Assessing the methodological quality of published papers.
  http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/315/7103/305
  
  
• Is this a scholarly journal or some other kind of publication?
  From the Cornell University Library.
  www.library.cornell.edu/olinuris/ref/research/skill20.html

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• Find out who owns the site--is it who it seems to be?
  The WHOIS public database displays a domain name holder’s contact information.
  www.networksolutions.com/en_US/whois/index.jhtml
  


• Tips for evaluating the quality and reliability of Internet resources.
  www.virtualsalt.com/evalu8it.htm
  


• More tips--techniques to apply & questions to ask.
  From the library at UC Berkeley.
  www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/Evaluate.html
  


• More tips for being a savvy consumer of Web sites.
  From Schwab Learning.
  www.schwablearning.org/articles.asp?r=429&g=2
  


• Criteria you can use to assess information found on the Internet.
  From the Sheridan Libraries at the Johns Hopkins University.
  www.library.jhu.edu/researchhelp/general/evaluating/
  


• Help with evaluating and selecting resources.
  More from Monroe Community College to guide users of research.
  www.monroecc.edu/depts/library/eval.htm
  

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• Print and use this Web site checklist.
  From the library at UC Berkeley.
  www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/EvalForm.pdf
  


• Glossary of Web site terms.
  From the Ohio State University Libraries.
  http://gateway.lib.ohio-state.edu/tutor/les1/glossary.html

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NICHCY
P.O. Box 1492
Washington, DC 20013
(800) 695-0285 - v/tty
(202) 884-8441 - fax
nichcy@aed.org