Critical Questions: What? Who? Why? How?
So how do we begin the process of investigating sources and identifying trusted coverage? While there is no simple formula for this and it depends a lot on context, it’s helpful to start by asking questions like what, who, why, and how:
What is this source generally about? What do I already know about that topic/issue? More specific What questions might include:
- What is at stake with this topic/issue? What/who are the stakeholders?
- What differing perspectives or concerns are there on this topic/issue?
Who is behind the source (individual/group/organization)? More specific Who questions might include:
- Who created this site?
- Is the creator affiliated with a larger organization or entity?
- Are specific individuals affiliated with the site?
- What are the expertise and the motives of those affiliated with the site?
Why might the creator/s have produced or distributed this information? More specific Why questions might include:
- Why would the creator/s care about the topic/issue?
- What might their purpose or motivation be?
How was this source created and distributed? More specific How questions might include:
- Were certain review or editorial processes used that influence the accuracy or perspective reflected in the source (e.g., fact-checking, editorial or peer review)?
- Is this the original place in which the information was published, or is the information drawn from another source?
Remember the last part of SIFT - Trace claims, quotes, and media back to the original context. If the information that you actually need to evaluate is being reported on from a secondary source, you may need to go back to the original source.
- Does the source’s use of evidence and supporting information offer insight into its process for creating content or making claims?
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Mike Caulfield discusses how to trace back to an original source if information has been taken out of its original context. Video: Skill: Click Through and Find with Mike Caulfield (5:02) |
Next we’ll apply what, who, why, and how to evaluate a specific source.
Image credits: "Question" by autowitch is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
CC-BY-NC-SA
This guide was created by Andrea Baer and Dan Kipnis at Rowan University and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC-BY-NC-SA).
Next: Remember Click Restraint