Evaluating Information Not every article, book, or website will be accurate, useful, or up to date. Try to assess sources critically by asking questions like:
How do you determine if the article is popular or scholarly? * Loosely defined: A scholarly article:
A popular article:
*From Research Strategy Queen's University Libraries
Obscurantism is a method to hide what is known. For example, one way an insurance claim may be denied is to produce an independent medical opinion of a condition that is not compensable. While the opinion may be correct, it does not mean the claim is improper. What tends to happen is that the actual condition is ignored or subsumed by non-compensable findings. When this happens the assumption is that the claim is denied because it may be due to something else. Therefore the attending doctor should specialize in the diagnosis and treatment of the medical condition. The specialist must also be able to clearly link the condition to the cause and place any other opinions in proper context. If the attending physician is a general practitioner, then in order for the claim to be upheld, a specialist must be consulted to uncover what is being hidden. Obscurantism, planned or not, is most
apparent in popular work. It is used extensively by politicians,
insurers, employers, professionals, and individuals, to hide
or cover-up what interferes with self-interest. Credibility is
the measure of the ability to hide or uncover fact, opinion,
and reason for result, |