HOW TO SEARCH INFORMATION
- Define your topic and consider it from many different aspects
- Try to consider the main keywords and central concept of your idea
- Learn how to use different search services
- Combine your keywords by commands AND, OR & NOT and use capital letters when doing this
EVALUATE AND BE CRITICAL:
- An essential part of any research is to critically evaluate the information that is found
- Focus on these things when searching information:
- Relevance; Is this site relevant for my needs?
- Accuracy; When was the information on the site updated, where can I check the accuracy?
- Perspective; Is this only one side of the issue or are there multiple perspectives provided?
- Reliability; Who created this information, what is his/her expertise?
HOW TO PROCESS INFORMATION FROM DIFFERENT SOURCES:
- Decide what sources you want to use:
- Primary sources:
- Original materials that provide direct information on the subject
- Contemporary sources that were created when the event happened (newspaper articles)
- Primary sources may be published or unpublished
- Secondary sources:
- Interpret and discuss the evidence provided by the primary sources
- Secondary sources are usually second-hand knowledge or observation
- Tertiary sources:
- Books or articles that summarize the information from primary and secondary sources
- Provides background knowledge on the topic
- It is important to evaluate, compare and combine information from different sources so that the sources are suitable for your own work and the topic that you have chosen
- REMEMBER TO MARK THE REFERENCES!
Five tips on how to improve your critical thinking by TED-Ed
