Source Types: Sharing, Reporting, and Research Sources
Distinguish who shared a claim, who reported it, who did the original reporting, and who conducted any underlying research. Each source plays a different role, and the depth of checking should fit what you plan to do with the information.
THE IDEA
Different Sources, Different Purposes
A story about birds setting fires illustrates the different sources you may encounter when tracing a claim.
- The sharing source. The person or group who shared the story or forwarded the meme to your social media feed.
- The reporting source, in this case the National Post. The reporting source, when it’s reputable, does some basic verification on the claims.
- The original reporting source. Often when you click into an article, you’ll find the article isn’t doing any original reporting, but rather re-reporting. However, in this instance, the National Post appears to be doing its job and drawing on a variety of sources.
- The research source. Especially when science and health are involved, there’s a research source as well. If you were doing a research paper, you’d want to invoke the T of SIFT and trace these arsonist birds back to the research source: the Journal of Ethnobiology. Is it reputable? Is it peer reviewed? (The source book discusses peer review in chapter 6.)
Why are these distinctions important? Part of the reason we’re OK with quick assessments of the reporting source is because we’re often trying to avoid moderate to really dumb errors. Sure, reporters make mistakes, even at good newspapers. But in a situation like this, a reporter who has spent a day or two getting quotes, calling sources, researching a story, and linking to a scholarly paper is more likely to get a better result than you will by spending a minute poking around Google.
But these techniques are also good starting points for deeper investigations. For a serious research project, you’ll want to grapple with research sources. But when you want a quick take on something that arouses your curiosity, the original reporting source (if reliable) is probably good enough.
When to use it
Quickly assessing the reliability of a news article shared on social media.
Conducting a deeper investigation for a research project by tracing claims back to primary sources.
Teaching students to evaluate information by distinguishing between who shares, reports, and originally researches a claim.
FROM THEORY TO EVERYDAY LIFE
In practice
Evaluating a News Story About Arsonist Birds
When you see a friend share a story about birds setting fires, you can identify the sharing source (your friend), the reporting source (National Post), and trace back to the original research source (Journal of Ethnobiology). This helps determine credibility.
Assessing a Health Claim on Social Media
A Facebook post claims a new study proves a vitamin cures colds. By identifying the sharing source (a friend), the reporting source (a news site), and tracing to the research source (a scientific journal), you can evaluate whether the claim is trustworthy.
A MOMENT TO REFLECT
Put it to work.
When you see a viral story, can you identify the different source types? What is the original research source?
Why might trusting a reporting source be sufficient for a quick assessment but not for a research paper?
How does knowing the sharing source affect your initial judgment of a claim?
CONTINUE THE CONVERSATION
Source texts
- Verified How to Think Straight, Get Duped Less, and Make Better Decisions about What to Believe Online (Mike Caulfield, Sam Wineburg)