HHPF 559: Applied Research Methods

The CRAAP method guides you in evaluating your sources according to 5 different criteria: CURRENCY, RELEVANCY, AUTHORITY, ACCURACY, and PURPOSE. Outlined below are the criteria; these can guide you in writing the annotations for your annotated bibliography.

Currency

• When was the information published or posted?
• Has the information been revised or updated?
• Is the information current or out-of-date for your topic?

Relevance

• Does the information relate to your topic or answer your question?
• Who is the intended audience?
• Is the information at an appropriate level (i.e. not too elementary or advanced for your needs)?
• Have you looked at a variety of sources before determining this is one you will use? 
• Would you be comfortable using this source within your research?

Authority

• Who is the author/publisher/sponsor?
• Are the author's credentials or organizational affiliations given?
  • What are those credentials or affiliations?
• What are the author's qualifications to write on the topic?
• Is there contact information, such as a publisher or email address?

Accuracy

• Where does the information come from?
• Is the information supported by evidence?
• Has the information been reviewed or refereed?
• Can you verify any of the information in another source or from personal knowledge?
• Does the language or tone seem unbiased and free of emotion?

Purpose

• What is the purpose of the information? to inform? teach? sell? entertain? persuade?
• Do the authors/sponsors make their intentions or purpose clear?
• Is the information fact? opinion? propaganda?
• Does the point of view appear objective and impartial?
• Are there political, ideological, cultural, religious, institutional, or personal biases?

Also called a scholarly article, a peer reviewed article is an article written by an expert in a given field that has then been evaluated by other experts in the field; these reviewers evaluate the methodologies, procedures, content, and overall quality of the article. 

How can I identify a peer-reviewed, scholarly article? (link)

The best way to locate peer-reviewed articles is to use the databases available to your through your university.

Utilizing different types of sources could be beneficial to your research. What are some types of sources to consider?

• PRIMARY ARTICLES: also called original research or empirical articles, these report on research based on actual observation or experiment conducted by the authors. They may use either quantitative or qualitative research methods.
• SECONDARY ARTICLES: also called review articles, these report on research that has been conducted by others, summarizing their findings. They typically take the form of literature reviews or systematic reviews. These articles can be useful in giving you the overview of the primary research done on a given topic and point you towards specific research studies.