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Santa Clara UniversityUniversity Library

COMM 12: Technology and Communication (Han): Home

Ingredients for Evaluating Sources

  • Reputation of the publication / source
  • Credentials of the author
  • Source is a special interest (e.g., nonprofit, company)
  • Author is unbiased
  • Type of source (e.g. newspaper, book)
  • Date of publication
  • Information presented can be verified
  • Lines between facts and opinion is clear
  • Evidence presented supports the conclusion(s)
  • Be skeptical about the source

Types of Sources

Sources for studying elections and social media:

  • Tweets
  • Newspapers
  • News websites
  • Blogs
  • Presidential statements / news conferences
  • News magazine articles (e.g., Time, Newsweek)
  • Scholarly journal articles (e.g., Journal of Communications)
  • Statistics
  • Documentaries / Films
  • Court cases / opinions
  • Dissertations
  • Books