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Biological Sciences

Evaluating Sources

CCOW: credentials, claims, objectives, worldview

The CCOW method can be used to evaluate any source for appropriateness. Below is an overview on how to apply the method, see the guide for more detail.

Credentials - Investigate the credentials of whoever created the information with questions like:

  • Do they have experience or expertise in the subject they're discussing? Do they work in a field that qualifies them to talk about the subject?
  • What's their educational background? Do they have an advanced degree in the subject under discussion?
  • Do they have any other experience that might make them a good source of information? For instance, an eyewitness to an earthquake doesn't have to be a seismologist to give good information about what it was like to experience that event.

Claims - What claims are they making? Is the information they're providing accurate? Can we verify its accuracy?

Objectives - What did they hope to accomplish by creating the information?

Worldview - This element is connected to objectives in that it deals with bias and examining potential bias behind a publication and behind your perspective of a topic. Every source will have some degree of bias and that's expected, the questions you're asking here are: How does this source frame the situation? What language are they using that helps me understand their perspective or worldview? How does my perspective influence how I interpret a topic?

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Journal of Immunotoxicology
Scholarly: 909 votes (93.52%)
Popular: 63 votes (6.48%)
Total Votes: 972
National Geographic Kids
Scholarly: 623 votes (44.82%)
Popular: 767 votes (55.18%)
Total Votes: 1390
Discovery Channel
Scholarly: 363 votes (46.42%)
Popular: 419 votes (53.58%)
Total Votes: 782
New York Times
Scholarly: 412 votes (20.95%)
Popular: 1555 votes (79.05%)
Total Votes: 1967