Evaluating Data

The Need for Review (By Oneself, Peers, or Other Trusted Reviewers)

	Mistaken information - Leonard Nimoy is not a vegetarian
	Deceptive information - Bill Gates is not the devil
	Outdated information - Today is not Feb 11, 1997
	The Web and Usenet - "Ask the man who owns one!"

1929 Packard 7 Passenger Dual Windshield Phaeton.
Photo from http://www.classicar.com/museums/pate/pate.htm, accessed 12/25/99

Gresham's Law of Information requires:

Using search tools well - "Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence"

Using what you find - statistical manipulations

Evaluating sources -

HealthWeb: university and federal government sponsorship
	(http://healthweb.org/)
WebMD: major health industry company sponsorship
	(http://www.webmd.com/)
Vista Heights Health Services - Small enterprise sponsorship
	(http://www.islandnet.com/~emorgan/homepage.html)

 

 

Diagram from William M.K. Trochim, Cornell University
http://trochim.human.cornell.edu/webeval/webeval.htm, accessed 12/25/99