Source reliability in Psychology [600047]

Source reliability in Psychology

Analiza comportamentului economic si elemente
de teoria jocurilor

Studenta: Prof. coordo nator:
Carcadia Denisa Roxana Prof. Univ. Doctor Eugen Iordanescu
An III
Grupa II

Source reliability in Psychology

Source credibilit y is a term commonly used to imply a communicator's positive
characteristics that affect the receiver's acceptance of a message .
What Is a Source?
A source is the place where you gained information used in your writing. A source can
be a printed document, an online document, a speech, a quote or even a television or radio
program. The best sources are those in which your reader can go back and verify for them selves
the information you utilized.
There are two types of sources: primary and secondary. A primary source is the original
place in which the information can be found, or the first person to make that information
available. A secondary source is a source that simply r elates information that was originally
produced by someone else or somewhere else. In academic writing , it is best to use primary
sources whenever possib le.
Primary Source: A primary source is an original study, document, object, or eyewitness
account. In other words, this is the source where any given information first appeared. For
instance, if a scientific study is performed, the primary source is the initial report that is prepared
by the scientist(s) who performed the research.
Secondary Source: A secondary source is a document that is written about the primary
source. These are often documents that report, analyze, discuss, or interpr et primary sources.

Evaluating Evidence from a Source
In your research, you will find that sources don't always agree. If there is
disagreement around facts, figures, definitions or statistics, you will need to determine
which one is the correct piece of information for yo ur topic. In order to do this, you need to
evaluate the evidence from the sources.

Questions to ask when evaluating any source:
 Who is behind this source? Is the source well known and considered an
expert in the particular field?
 Has the information been reviewed by other professionals in the field?
 Is the source comprehensive? Does it offer a variety of information on the
subject?
 How current is it? Generally, the more current the information, the better
it is.
 Is the source merely presenting information, or is it trying to sell
something? (Is there a financial incentive for providing certai n
information?)
 Is there a bias behind the information? If so, how strong is this bias?
 Is the information written in an objective manner or does it seem more
emotional?
 Are the arguments one -sided, or does the source acknowledge counter
arguments?

Trusted sources:
www.apa.org
Oxford and Cambridge publishing books

References:
www.apa.org
www.wikipedia.org