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Finding the Information You Need — Research Tips for Your Family, Business, or Personal Pursuits

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DOING IT THE EASY WAY: BUYING INFORMATION

When you're looking for recipes for a special event, the search may be half the fun. And if you're working on a research paper for school, you have no choice but to do your own research (though you may buy some of the research materials). There are many situations, however, when it makes sense to spend a little money to save a lot of time. There are countless ways to buy information — we'll cover only a few here.

Study Guides

CliffsNotes™, QuickStudy® Guides, and other short study manuals have been popular with students for years. Now similar products are available online. The subjects of these reviews are typically high school or college course material or technology information.

Books, E-Books, and Multimedia

Education has gone beyond books available in print and electronic formats. Companies offer tutorials on audiocassette, CD, and video. You can even sign up for online classes in multimedia formats. The subjects cover just about anything, and the prices vary dramatically.

Expert Answers

While several online sites offer "expert" advice for free, a number of Internet businesses also match experts with people seeking information for a fee. In some cases, there is a set fee; in others, you post a question, and experts bid to answer. Get Expert Help Now!

Online Services

You can find a number of online services that offer research for a fee. Often you can do a basic search for free, then if you need a more complex search, you pay a fee. For example: Search Public Records - FREE Preview Search.

EVALUATING INFORMATION

As you gather data, you may find conflicting information or things that surprise or confuse you. What should you believe? How do you know if the information you find is reliable? Getting answers to a few important questions will help you decide.

Who

Who is the source of the information? On a Web site, look for "About Us" or a similar page. In a book or periodical, check to see who the publisher is and what the credentials of the writer are. In a brochure, look for details about the organization distributing the material. What are the writer's credentials? What is the agenda of the organization?

Be wary if there's no information about who is putting out the information. Usually a legitimate company or individual providing honest information will be forthcoming about who they are — it's in their best interest to do so.

Be skeptical if the source appears to have a vested interest in promoting a particular point of view. For example, the Web site of a distributor for natural alternative medicine with articles about the dangers of chemical drugs requires further investigation — it has a definite bias toward one point of view. Also be wary of any Web site that includes numerous nonscientific articles with no attribution and scare headlines.

What

What is the tone of the material? Certainly information can be presented in an engaging manner — it doesn't have to be dull and dry. But if it's full of flowery language and hype, it's less likely to be credible. Bold headlines warning of dire disasters or the evils of whomever the Web site author considers the enemy are indications that the site is probably not a reliable source of information.

Also, be careful of a site that contains a lot of numbers or other data, especially if there's little or no information about how they were obtained or why they're presented in a certain way. Just because they're numbers, or just because they're presented in an impressive-looking chart or graph, doesn't make them accurate.

Check to see the source of the data, as well as the sample size used to obtain them and the margin(s) of error on any analysis. Numbers can be manipulated in many ways to appear to support a particular point of view. If none of this information is presented, chances are you can't depend on what you've found.

When

How current is the information? Of course, if you're researching medieval history, a book published 20 years ago may be an excellent reference. But if you're trying to find the latest on a recent medical diagnosis or congressional mandate, a Web site that was updated 18 months ago is too old. If the Web site doesn't include a "last updated" notice, look for signs that it's fresh and current. Check for a copyright date, often found at the bottom of the site. If that date isn't the current year, the site might not be updated regularly.

How Many

Look for at least two independent sources to corroborate the information you've found. If there's only one source for a particular item, you can't be sure it's accurate. If you do a thorough search and check lots of sources, you'll probably find several reports of the same data if they are true. Don't quit searching when you find a "fact" — keep looking until you confirm that it is a fact and not just an unsubstantiated opinion.

How Professional

Check the overall appearance of the Web site. Sites that contain numerous typographical and/or grammatical errors, or sites that seem hastily put together, are probably not worth your time and effort. Think of it this way — if the individual or organization that posted the information couldn’t be bothered to get the basic structural components right, can you really trust the accuracy of the content?

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