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FYS101 Research Exercises - 2022/23

This guide contains the 6 research exercises for SNHU's First Year Seminar class, FYS101, for the 2022-23 academic year.

Welcome to FYS Research Exercise #4!


How to do this Research Exercise

To complete Research Exercise #4, you will:

  • Read down this page, following each step
  • Download the assignment for Research Exercise #4 below. Complete it, and submit it to Brightspace

Fake or Real? Misinformation & How to Evaluate it


Green square with "FA" in purple letters left of center and "CT" above "KE" in purple letters right of center.

From Dictionary.com https://www.dictionary.com/e/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/20200512_misInformation_1000x700-790x310.png

When we search for information on the web and get zillions of results, it's very hard to know which might be truthful and which might be altered information. We are confronted daily by misinformation, disinformation, and mal-information. Below is a chart showing the different characteristics of the three types of dubious information.

Blue & gray Venn diagram of Misinformation, Disinformation, and Malinformation

Diagram based on Wardle and Hossein's 2017 Information Disorder report  & definitions from Dr. Nicole A. Cooke 2021 LOEX keynote address.


S.I.F.T. information before you use it!

SIFT is a helpful acronym for a method developed by Mike Caulfield for initially (and quickly) evaluating online source credibility. S.I.F.T. stands for: Stop; Investigate; Find; and Trace. When you find a source on the web, before you use it (in an assignment, or forward it) be sure to:

1. Stop! Check the Source
  • Do you recognize the source as a trustworthy one?
  • Yes? Continue reading and use the source
  • Not sure? Proceed to Step 2.
2. Investigate the Source
  • Look up the name of the source by Googling it, or with a tool like the INTERACTIVE MEDIA BIAS CHART if it is a news source. Type in the title of a news source in the search box to the left of the chart on that webpage to see where it stands on a political bias from extreme left to extreme right, and on a factual reporting bias from original fact reporting to inaccurate/fabricated information.

  Media Bias chart shows graph of logos of news organizations on a left to right spectrum from very liberal to very conservative and a top to bottom spectrum from original fact reporting to fabricated information.

  • Investigate whether the author is legitimate? An expert in the field of the article's content?
    • Google the author's name (and affiliation if provided) to make sure. (Remember the author of the zerohedge.com article in the game was a character from the movie, "Fight Club?")
    • Even if the author is legitimate, take note of possible biases they might hold being from a particular demographic, background, etc. 
  • Explore the formatting, writing and mechanics of the article.
    • Are there typos? (like in the beforeitsnews.com article misspelling "alarming" as "alarmimg" in the game?)
    • Are there run-on sentences? (like the 156 word sentence in the zerohedge.com article?)
    • Are there a lot of flamboyant (exaggerated) adjectives? Most trustworthy articles don't contain these.
3. Find Trusted Coverage

Sometimes it is less important to know about the source and more important to assess their claim/what they are saying. This is where "lateral reading" comes in.

  • LATERAL READING - Look for multiple known credible sources and compare information across them to see whether there is agreement about the claim being made. *For example, when reading about a recent event in the news, compare what other known news outlets such as The New York Times, Washington Post, or National Public Radio are reporting about that same event.
4. Trace Claims, Quotes and Media back to their original context
  • Does the source include quotes from identified sources?
    • Yes?
      • Google the quotes to see if they came from legitimate experts in the field the article is about.  (Remember the article quoting the expert from Stanford University who is actually a military history professor, not a biologist or epidemiologist!)
      • Google the quote to make sure it matches what a legitimate "expert" has said or is likely to say from their experience and previous quotes.
    • No? Many fake articles do not quote specific experts, but rather mention vague government organizations or "independent" groups.
  • Does it mention a study?
    • Yes?
      • Look up the study and check if the conclusions drawn by the researchers match those in the source you are evaluating
    • No?
      • Check any claims or "facts" about events mentioned in the source with other independent sources to see if they "match up"
  • Is there a video clip?
    • Be sure to find the original video in its entirety to make sure the clip isn't taken out of context.
      • Google the content of the clip while limiting to videos in Google Advanced Search (see Google Power Searcher video below). See if there is a longer version of the video available that gives a more complete context.
      • Another strategy is to search directly in YouTube using keywords from the video. OR, if the video is from YouTube, RIGHT CLICK the video and click on Account in the menu. Then go to that account and learn more about who posted the video and whether they represent a credible source.

Play the game: Factitious! (10 minutes)

The phrase "Factitious 2020" in white font on aqua background.

Click on this link: "Factitious" to see how skilled you are at recognizing dubious information, while learning techniques to evaluate news sources on the web. Keep track of strategies you learn as you play. Then use them to determine if the sources you find on the Web for your FYS research are credible.

Up Your Google Search Skills!


So now that we have learned some techniques for evaluating information we find on the web, are there tools we can use when we search the web that might lead us to more trustworthy sources? We all use Google, so why not become a really good Google searcher to save time and find better quality resources! Watch this short video to learn some of the tricks Google provides to improve your searching.

Google Search Tricks

This video demonstrates some specific search tools many of which will also work in library databases:

  • Phrase searching using quotation marks around 2 or more words
  • Using OR between search terms
  • Using a dash in front of a word to exclude that word from search results (in databases, use the word NOT instead of a dash)
  • Limit results to come from certain types of domains by using the command site:gov (or edu, org, net, etc.). Government sites are one of the primary ways to locate data or statistics, as the government is the largest collector of statistics in the United States
  • Use the Google Advanced Search This link opens in a new window. This will open up other specific ways to refine your search results such as: dates of publication, numbers to be included in a search, geographic regions or countries, domains (.org, .edu, .com., .mil, .net, etc.), usage rights (important if you intend to find images to include in your papers, PowerPoints, or websites, for example)
  • More tips are available at Google Help Center's page: How to search on Google This link opens in a new window

Time to Search for Secondary Sources for your FYS Project on the Web!


Now it's time to put together the evaluation and search strategies you learned above to locate TWO credible secondary sources: One that offers you new ideas about your primary source’s connection to your Collection’s hard history theme and ANOTHER other that teaches you about efforts (past or present) to fix that hard history.

Step One: SEARCH

  • Select SEARCH TERMS - Below are four options you might try for search terms about your Primary Source
    • Use suggested search terms from your tertiary source searches 
    • Use the search terms you created in Research Exercise 3 
    • Look at the description of your Primary Source on your Collection Card - and choose key words
    • Look at your unanswered priority questions - Circle important words in each question to try as search terms

Step Two: SELECT RESULTS

  • Read the titles of the results on the first full page of your results list
  • Do these appear to have potential to connect your Primary Source to your Collection's hard history theme OR tell you about efforts (past or present) to fix that hard history?
  • Before you click on a result, look at the website name/URL beneath the result title. STOP: Step One of S.I.F.T. - Do you recognize that source?
    • Is it from a reputable news site (New York Times, Washington Post, etc.)? 
    • Is it from a research organization/think tank (Brookings Institute, Pew Research Center, etc.)?
    • Is it from a museum? Professional organization? Other reliable agency? (Smithsonian - si.edu, Library of Congress - loc.gov, etc.)
  • Having an idea where the information you are about to read comes from, before you spend your precious time reading it is the first step in evaluating information for any use (personal, school, work, etc.)

Step Three: EVALUATE WHAT YOU FIND

Evaluating for credibility
  • Use the S.I.F.T. Method you learned above to evaluate sources you find for credibility, truthfulness, accuracy, etc.
  • If your source passes the S.I.F.T. test, evaluate it for relevance to the two parts of this Research Exercise #4 assignment
Evaluating for relevance
  • Skim the source first - look for headings in the text
    • Do these seem to hint at answers to your assignment's questions?
  • Read the source 
    • If anything you read seems to be too surprising to be true, biased, or dubious, search further on the web for sources about the same claim/idea from reliable venues to verify it
  • Think about your assignment's questions as you read
    • Does the source answer those questions? 
    • If not:
      • Does the source add new information you need about your primary source or its connection to your Collection Card theme?
      • Are you going down a "rabbit hole" of unrelated information? Stop, and try a new source, or a new section of this source

Step Four: Complete & Submit the Assignment for Research Exercise #4

  • After your read/view your article/source, do the steps for Parts One and Two in your Research Exercise #4 document
  • REMEMBER: Help is always available using the "Chat 24/7 with a Librarian" link in the upper right corner of this page