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How can you determine if a statistical source is reliable?
Evaluating the source of compiled statistics is crucial. >Answering these questions will help you to evaluate how
reliable the data is for a particular source. Be sure to review
all sources for:
- Authenticity
- Who is publishing the data?
- Is the authorship easy to establish?
- Who conducted and paid for the study?
- What was the motivation for creating the data?
- Reputability and Bias
- Are the statistics made available by an agency or organization that is reputable?
- Do you know anything about this organization or can you find any information about it?
- Sometimes established sources will produce biased data. For example: a
cigarette company might produce biased data about the number of deaths
caused by smoking. Be critical
- Remember, anyone can publish on the web - just because data is available on the Internet does not automatically ensure that it is reliable.
- Validity
- Is it possible that organizational or personal biases might impact the validity of the data?
- Does the source note how the data was collected?
- Does the methodology used appear to be appropriate?
- Does the data seem plausible? Do the statistics seem to fit with the other data that you have found? If the data seems unlikely, are you able to verify it in another source?
- Accuracy
- Are there typos, poor grammar, or other clues that would you to question the accuracy of the data?
- Is the material included current?
- Is a date given for when the information was collected?
- How frequently is the data updated?
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