There is a ton of information just being tossed around the internet. In this day and age, we have to be able to tell what is true and what is not. As a society, we need to work on our ability of checking for reliability.

Probability

With the bombardment of information today, we have to ask the right questions before we dive into the “believer pool”. I will give you a few to start off.

First, we must ask the question, “Is that really probable?”

Remember, many things are possible, so asking “Is it possible?” doesn’t help us to determine what is fact and what is fiction. We have to ask if something is probable or not.

Source

Second, “Where is this information coming from?”

Check to see if information given is biased. Did the company that sponsored this study have something to gain from the results that were found?

Next, “How was the information gathered?”

We know that a survey needs to be done at random in order for it to be accurate. Surveys also need to be conducted in a wide variety of areas, with groups of people from all walks of life. Otherwise, we end up with a biased test, and the results are faulty and unreliable.

This leads me to the last question: “How do I know if I can trust this information?”

I can find studies online, even on Wikipedia. And Wikipedia is well-documented with many sources. I often go to the sources for more reliable information, but often I look at “peer-reviewed” study journals.

This is very handy! I just learned about peer-reviewed articles in class this week, and I wanted to share. “Peer-reviewed” means it was reviewed by other experts. It means the study was examined by many other people, and that it went through a rough process before being published. Getting through the peer-reviewing process for a study journal is a hard feat. And if the information is not well backed up, the study journal will be rejected.

You can use this to look up a variety of facts. Try it out sometime. Google Scholar is one source to use, if you check the “peer-reviewed” box in the advanced searching parameters.

Sure, you could probably find the answer on Wikipedia. But instead, look at the more reliable sources to reach a more substantial conclusion.

Never stop learning!

Have a wonderful week!

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