CampusGuides: Recognizing Sources : Activity: Using Sources in Research

Source Type Qualities

Source Type	Purpose	Authors	Evidence	Other
Social Media (Including blogs & aggregator sites like: HuffPost Vox TikTok) EXAMPLE: WaPo Tiktok	To collect & share snapshots of the news & current events To attract new viewers To entertain	Ordinary people Editorial staff Freelance writers “Citizen journalists”	Personal testimony or photographs Little additional evidence Hyperlinks to news sources or scholarly articles	Super-short entries; a handful of characters or paragraphs Published immediately as event occurs Uses more casual & informal language No specific standards in terms of format and content
Newspaper Sources EXAMPLE: The Washington Post	IDEALLY To share initial reporting on current events To provide basic facts & details to a general audience	Journalists, who follow Standards of Practice Freelance writers Editorial staff Undergo more rigorous fact-checking process	Quotations from event participants, witnesses, or subject experts Very little/no references or supporting sources	Shorter articles Published or updated daily Use everyday language for more general audience
Magazines EXAMPLE: Time	To provide more depth/broader scope on an issue To entertain & inform on current events To gain greater interest from audience than just providing facts	Journalists who may have a special focus or area of interest Freelance writers Editorial staff Undergo fact-checking process Depending on type of magazine, can have a slant or perspective	Interviews with event participants, witnesses, or subject experts Summaries of outside research Popularize a more esoteric/academic topic to general audience	Short-to-medium length articles Published weekly or monthly Use everyday language for more general audience
Scholarly Journals EXAMPLE: Sociology of Education	To share new discoveries & analysis with researchers, scholars, and other experts Participate in the scholarly conversation in order to… Contribute to the body of knowledge of an issue/topic/subject Can take an aspect of a topic and go deep	Scholars & experts in a specialized field of study Undergo strict peer- review process that takes months to complete Can be longitudinal study over time Can be original research (primary source)	Citations of earlier/prior research Descriptions of original research methods Statistics & charts document original findings	Lengthy articles Published quarterly or biannually Use highly specialized language Include long reference lists Higher degree of reliability, credibility, and accuracy
Books EXAMPLE Why Dance Matters	To provide a lengthy, thorough examination of a topic NOT all books are the same; nonfiction vs fiction, more academic vs more popular, big press vs self-published, etc.	Often, experts on specialized topics Can undergo extensive research, writing & editing process that can take years to complete	Varies but may include in-depth interviews, analysis of outside research, and/or citations	100+ pages long Published one time following years of work Sometimes scholarly language, sometimes everyday language, depending on the purpose of the book and the intent of the author

ACTIVITY: Identify the Sources

Instructions: Look at the listed sources below. Using the discussion and the grid/matrix above listing the qualities of different source types (newspaper article, magazine article, scholarly journal article, or book/book chapter source), determine what type of source for each example and where each source would appear in the information cycle. Lastly, what kind of evidence is being presented in the source? How would you judge the usefulness of each?