So, by now you've found articles, grey literature, and perhaps some web resources. As always, how can you tell whether your resources are suitable for your assessment? In this instance you are specifically required to "critically analyse these policies..."
General evaluation of resources
Grey Literature
Critical Appraisal of journal articles & studies
Use the CRAP test to evaluate any resources you want to use in your assessments.
Criteria | Ask Yourself | Example |
Currency |
|
History of educational theories - older resources may be appropriate vs Social media in education - older resources may not be appropriate |
Reliability |
|
A satirical news website (e.g. Betoota Advocate) vs A not for profit media group sourcing content from academics and researchers (e.g. The Conversation) |
Authority |
|
An article written by a self-appointed expert that appears on a blog vs A peer reviewed article written by a team of university academics |
Purpose |
|
A webpage on diabetes from a pharmacy company that produces drugs to treat diabetes. They may have a vested interest. vs Diabetes information from a government website such as Australian Institute of Health & Welfare (AIHW). They have no vested interest. |
Articles published in peer reviewed or refereed journals have been through a formal approval process. This process is intended to ensure that the article is:
To find peer reviewed articles:
However, as these options are just an indication of peer review status the definitive way to find out if your article has been peer reviewed is to use Ulrichsweb Global Periodicals Directory.
The website domain provides you a hint as to the reliability of the website at which you are looking.
.edu (educational institution) .gov (government) |
These are more likely to be reliable and unbiased. |
.org (non-profit organisation) .asn (non-commercial organisation) |
Sometimes these organisations may show a bias toward one side of a topic. |
.com (commercial site) .net (network) |
Critically evaluate these sites as they may be unreliable.
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