Evaluating Research Sources When writing a Master’s Dissertation
Today, in the age of mass production there is an abundant amount of information, ranging widely in accuracy, reliability and value, available in both print and electronic forms. Thus it is advisable to check the authenticity of the material when using it for academic writing like writing a dissertation or a thesis, that requires valid research data.
Evaluation of acquired literature is a mode of sifting your research resources from plagiarized, inaccurate or unreliable data that has been cited without any prior research. Citing unevaluated resources in your master’s dissertation may lead to cases of plagiarism, be it unintentional. All researches and students therefore must assess the quality of any work scrupulously before considering it for use in dissertation writing.
Evaluating Print Sources:
Evaluating a print source is relatively easier than evaluating a source from the internet. A print source will have all the information on its book cover which must be noted for citation and reference purposes.When evaluating a print material for writing a master’s dissertation look for the following aspects:
1. Author: Make sure that the author or the co-authors of the document is stated. Also, look for the author’s credentials like biographical information mentioned on the paperback. You may also look for the book review or how books of the particular author has been received by the experts from the field of study.
2. Text and editions: When consulting a work by an author whose books have many versions, make sure you use a reliable edition that as historically authoritative as possible.
3.Publisher: The of publisher and and the ISBN number should be clearly indicated on the book.
Evaluating Internet Sources:
Internet is the storehouse of information that can be accessed with much ease. It offers simple search engines searches, related to authors, subject, key titles, making the task of researching much easier than it had ever been. But with it has come many hazards that must be taken care of. Researching the internet is a skill which should be learned with practise before attempting to bring it to any use in dissertation writing. Since publication over the internet is not moderated, as is done in traditional media sources, evaluating the resources derived from there becomes an utmost necessity.
Here are a few ways to evaluate sources derived from the internet.
1. Author of the work: Since the material on the world wide web can be accessed with the required keywords, make sure you visit the complete website or web page to find out the author of the article being consulted. Often the name of the author is mentioned in the beginning of the article, while only a section of it may appear in the search results.
2. The webpage or website: Websites can be personally hosted by individuals who might publish material that needs to be authenticated. To make Sure of the reliability of the material being taken from a website, always look for the organization sponsoring or maintaining the website. The last part of the domain name can be used to determine the sources of the website.
However if you find difficulty in finding research material or establishing authority of a work, and have a limited time for dissertation submission, you may ask for dissertation help or buy dissertation which are custom written and plagiarizirism free.
