(Mike Caulfield, HAPGOOD)
Stop: Check your emotions. Is this designed to make you feel angry? Outraged? Sad? Are you familiar with the source? Why are you reading this? If you are just generally curious, knowing the source may be enough information and you do not need to go further. However, if you are doing extensive research, you should continue and may need to check each claim. (Caulfield, 2019)
Investigate the source: Who is writing this (and do they have an agenda)? For example, a study on benefits of milk consumption by the dairy industry might be inclined to promote milk consumption. (Caulfield, 2019)
Find better [or other] coverage: "Sometimes you don’t care about the particular article or video that reaches you. You care about the claim the article is making. You want to know if it is true or false. You want to know if it represents a consensus viewpoint, or if it is the subject of much disagreement...[you may need to] find the best source you can on this topic, or, just as importantly, to scan multiple sources and see what the expert consensus seems to be." (Caulfield, 2019)
Trace claims, quotes and media to the original context: Sometimes, what we read has been taken out of context. For example, a video might be clipped and make it appear that one person started an argument when in fact they were responding to someone else. Another example is reports on scientific studies that do not fully explain the limitations or conclusions of the study, e.g. they may cherry-pick select information. (Caulfield, 2019)
SIFT summary adapted from PALNI Information Literacy Modules licensed under a CC-By license Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
In your groups, rank the articles in order of Most Credible to Least Credible. Consider the stages of the SIFT Method.
A) "What is the National Debt?" Fiscaldata.treasury.gov
B) "The Deficit Could Shrink this Year" - Wall Street Journal
C) "The Costly Truth about Government 'Spending'" - Heritage Foundation
D) "National Debt in the United States" - Wikipedia
E) "Why Your Shouldn't Obsess About the National Debt" - New York Times (PDF below if you hit a paywall)
F) "Do Higher Public Debt Levels Reduce Economic Growth?" - Journal of Economic Surveys
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