Finding good information is about sorting through the CRAAP.
You have a question and you need good answers. What’s 12.5 feet in light-nanoseconds? Is cereal soup? Why do squirrels scream? You know…the usual stuff.
Most of the time, we pick up a device and we find the answer. Gone are the days of taking grandpah’s word for it based on the solid evidentiary criterion of “back in my day”. Our access to resources is incredible. I mean, really incredible. In my lifetime things have gone from microfiche, encyclopedias, and your parent’s collection of Reader’s Digest to EVERYTHING RIGHT NOW.
Super cool, but also super overwhelming. So to tell the “fake news” from the facts, you have to get good at going through the CRAAP. It doesn’t matter if you’re looking for the best apple pie recipe or writing a meta-analysis on [insert crazy cool science topic here]. These tools are not just for students.
Current
How current is the information? The acceptable answer to this question is not the same for every type of information. For example, if you’re looking for information on mental disorders, the best resource for that information is the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition (DSM-V). It was published 8 years ago, in 2013. While there are minor revisions and updates, a new edition has yet to be announced. So for now, the DSM-V is considered a current resource regarding mental disorders.
Now let’s say you’re looking for current information on COVID-19***. Current won’t be 8 years ago. Current won’t be 1 year ago, or 6 months ago. Current is yesterday. Better yet, current is for breakfast, with a side of tomorrow’s pre-print. Current depends on context. Use your best judgment on what can reasonably be considered current for the type of information you need.
***If you are a reader from the distant future, we’re in the middle of the COVID-19 global pandemic, and the vaccine is still just a glimmer in some unknown and over-exhausted researcher’s eye.
Relevant
How does the information speak to your needs? Well, if you ask me what an apple is and I give you a recipe for apple pie, it doesn’t really matter how mind-blowing the recipe is, it doesn’t speak to your question. Find things that provide answers or at least some clarification surrounding what it is you want to know.
Authority
This is the “Who done it?” part. For every piece of information, there is a source. It can be an individual author, a group of authors, an organization, the government, the conspiracy-theory-obsessed cat lady from 3 streets over…anyone. The storyteller is always part of the story. So if you want to know about medical things, find a resource with medical expertise. If you want to know about legal matters, find a legal expert. The point is to know who is giving you the information, and why they are qualified to give it.
Accuracy
This stands to reason…you want information that is correct. I hope. But how do you know if the information is correct? You won’t always know for sure, but it helps to look at more than once source. If 100 sources tell you the earth is round, but cat lady tells you it’s flat, I think you know who to trust. Well, most of you.
Another good place to help you evaluate information is reviews. Look for reviews by some other authority on the matter. But make sure to apply the same CRAAP rules to reviews as you do to other literature.
Purpose
Why does this information exist? Does someone get money from it? Does someone benefit politically from it? Is it propaganda in blind support of a cause? Did the cats make her do it?
In some cases, you have to keep an eye on the sponsor. Who paid for the information to be produced? The very act of sponsorship changes that which is being sponsored. As an example; reading about the efficacy of a new cancer treatment in an article by the American Cancer Society is very different from reading an article written by the company that created/produced the treatment. In the latter case, the company has a conflict of interest, and stands to gain if the article reports favorably. That’s why many companies hire a team of independent researchers to evaluate their treatment, which leaves much less risk of bias in the reporting.
In closing…
One of the biggest tools you have in your information-finding toolkit is your common sense. Keep your eyes open for information scammers trying to create hype. Be careful of your own confirmation bias - don’t just look for information that supports your point of view. Research is about finding the truth. False information and less-than-reputable news and data can only be powerful if we aren’t empowered enough to know better.
Good luck with the CRAAP! As usual, questions are most welcome. Just leave them in the comments. Thanks for reading!
Stay safe, y’all.
Dr. OH
