Validity, Credibility and Reliability

362 Words2 Pages
Validity, Credibility, and Reliability There are many reasons that information cannot be reliable and lack credibility. The first of these reasons is lack of supporting evidence. When doing research the researcher must have evidence that supports their theory from sources that can back up their ideas. If the information cannot provide corroborating evidence, then they have to find a better source. Another way information is considered incorrect is if there is conflicts with information that is already know by all. For example if you were researching information on lions and it is well known to be a carnivore animal and your research tell you lions only eat grass. You would consider discarding that source or finding more credible source of information to back up the validity of the information. A lot of internet source of information are not valid or credible because the organization or people who post the findings have special interest in the information being presented, thus making the information bias or slanted to favor the opinion that they want readers to have. This is especially true in advertisements of prescription drugs. Many drug companies list all the benefits of the medication, but fail to inform their readers of all the side effects the drugs may have. They know if they do this people may decide not to purchase their drugs. The way a researcher should combat the effects of not creditable or the reliability of the information is to use multiple sources and question the information being presented. When sources you find do not have an author that would be the indication that the information is not credible as most credible sites list the author of the facts. Author of credible sources are willing to stand behind their information and in most case will provide their contact information. Be careful with the domain .org, because .org is usually
Open Document