Beyond Google for your research: Evaluation

Evaluate your results

Check if the results meet your requirements:

  • does it match the type of information you required?
  • does it represent the point of view you need?
  • is it from a primary, secondary or tertiary source?
  • is the information recent enough?

Evaluate your resources

Copyright

You may think you have copyright covered. You are referencing everything and attributing images you are using. However when it comes to making your research 'public' you may need to do a little more. Take a look at the following resources:

Passing the CRAAP test

Is what you have located relevant and reliable? Are you uncertain whether to use the information you have found? Always critically evaluate what you find:

When evaluating information you can use the CRAAP test:

Currency How current does the information need to be? Do you need to use information published in the last five years or are older, seminal works fine to use?
Relevance Does the information found answer your question? Do you understand the content and is it at the right level for your purpose?
Authority What are the author's qualifications? Are they linked to a particular organisation such as a university, research institute or government department?
Accuracy Is evidence given for the research undertaken? Can you verify the information presented by using other sources? Is there a bibliography or references given?
Purpose Is it trying to communicate research, persuade you or sell you something? It is expressing an opinion, or is it balanced and objective?

Refine your results

If you did not find relevant results or need to find more, you should:

  • check your spelling
  • consider using alternative keywords/subjects eg use confectionery as well as chocolate
  • use alternative spellings such as organization OR organisation
  • use truncation symbols or wildcards to capture all forms of your keywords
  • check that you have used connectors correctly
  • search other databases

If you found too many references, you could narrow your search or make it more specific:

  • add another concept and associated keywords
  • restrict your search to specific fields such as abstract (AB)
  • add search limiters to your search such as date range or peer reviewed

After conducting your searches, display the search results and evaluate them to see if they match your topic.