Education Short List

The end of the school semester is quickly approaching; and now is the time (other than April and May) that I get the most requests for tutoring support that is related to writing papers and doing research. Even for families and adult students, it isn’t easy to figure out what the best sources are. At least three of my siblings have called asking me for help with finding the right information; and I always make sure to help them without making them pay.

In this digital age, it can become a bit trickier to really know what is a reliable source; especially when everyone has a blog and feels that they are THE expert (don’t think this point is wasted on me) . Add to that, that the majority of people who have the hardest time with understanding sources are middle school and high-school students; and it gets even more complicated. Plus, the way in which to get and gather information has changed – you just don’t go to the encyclopedia to find out everything. And, everyone wants the perfect answer faster without having to do any work to get it.

To know which piece of information is credible and/or reliable takes a bit of finesse. Unfortunately, most instructors and educators don’t have the time to really teach their students the essentials in knowing if their source is one they should use or not. For me, I really learned how to understand sources when I was in graduate school. My professor, Dr. Randy Busse, told me that if I could find an experiment that was duplicated at least twice – I could consider that experiment/statistic/poll reliable. He also went on to explain that you need to read the research about the research – where did those scientists get their information and their funding? This lead to the topic of knowing what is biased data, which I will discuss in greater detail later on. I also had two other graduate professors from Chapman University who helped; but it was really Dr. Busse, whose classes allowed me to become a stronger reliable source in understanding what is a reliable source.

Since this article is a rather important one, so it is going to be broken up into segments; knowing biased information and resources; researching the research, and good strong resources to start with.

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To understand biased information, when doing research, and wanting to know if your source is a reliable one; it can be easiest to look at scientific experiments that are conducted.

For example, I had a student who was writing a persuasive paper on why marijuana should be legalized. Wikipedia had an article with that topic. So, my student read the article without reading the references. When we went over it, three of the ‘sources’ were people’s personal blogs; and these sources had no education to back up their reasoning – just their personal views. Another source was a group that was advocating the legalization of pot. All four of those sources were NOT reliable. They had no actual data, scientific material, or proof as to why their information should be considered reliable. And the advocacy group was purely biased in their presented information. Luckily one of the other sources was material directly taken from California’s medical marijuana laws – and THAT was a reliable source that my student was then able to independently research and utilize in his argument.

Which brings me to the main aspect of biased information. Biased information is when someone, or a group, is trying to push their personal agenda through a non-propaganda format. Just like the above-mentioned example of the pot legalization group, they have an agenda to legalize the use of pot. They will use a variety of forums and communication networks in order to present their personal views as fact. In the same way that if one of David Bowie’s children wrote an article on how great of a musician he is, is biased. They can not present unbiased material. Or, if an Irish writer, for an Irish magazine, wrote why it is a good idea to live in Ireland (although maybe they aren’t saying that right now), you know it is biased. All of these people have a personal view and agenda – whether it’s right or wrong – on their subject; which in the end makes their information biased.

It becomes a bit more confusing when looking at studies and experiments that are performed in the name of research. For example, a drug study done by the company whose drug is being tested is not going to present valid data, since it is in this drug company’s best interest to show that the drug in fact does what it wants it to.

When you are looking at an experiment, you need to ask yourself: who is writing the piece; what their angle is, and who are they writing it for? Are they receiving support from someone? Is their a company, or organization, who has something to gain by the results of this experiment/study/poll? It is also better to find studies that have been replicated and come to the same results; the same can be said of statistics. Statistics, political polls, and experiments are very similar in their ease to be manipulated. A liberal news program is not going to show poll results showing that 90% of the people surveyed do not like the job that President Obama is doing. In the same way that a statistic saying that 90% of participants believe it is essential to wear a hat in the summer time; but then you find out only 10 people are part of that statistic and they all live in Iceland year round. If multiple studies can produce the same result, then there is more validity to those results, and therefore making them less biased.

Once you know what to start looking for, it becomes easier to find the biased information.

Next up: Researching your research.