Salt, Sugar, Fat: Source Evaluation

Remember that anyone can publish anything on the Web, so you are responsible for evaluating the quality of the Web pages you use for your papers and assignments. Here are some questions to use to evaluate Web pages.   

1.  URL  Look at the Uniform Resource Locato(r web address)

•  What type of domain is it? (.edu, .com, .gov, org)
• Is it appropriate for the content?

 2.  AUTHORITY   Is it clear who is responsible for the contents of the page?

• Is there a link to a page describing the purpose of the sponsoring organization?   
• Can you determine the author/creator of the information and his/her qualifications? 

 3.  ACCURACY  

• Are the sources for factual information listed at the bottom, in parenthesis or with links?     
• Are the links active? 
• Is the information free of grammatical, spelling, and other typographical errors?   
• If there are charts and/or graphs containing statistical data, are the charts and/or graphs clearly labeled with the sources of data listed?

 4.  OBJECTIVITY  

• Can you determine the purpose of the page? (is there an "About Us"?)   
• Is the information free of advertising?   
• Is the information based on opinions and overly biased?
• Are there links to other viewpoints?

5.  CURRENCY  

• Are there dates on the page to indicate when the page was written and/or updated?
• Are there any other indications that the information is kept current?

BOTTOM LINE: Would you be comfortable citing this page for a research paper?

Using strategies and tips from the guide: “Evaluating Information from Web Pages”,
decide whether the following pages would be good quality sources to use for a college research paper.

Source Examples:

• Fat Food Tax to Pay For Health Care?

• Sugary drink tax​

• Soda Tax, Will It Actually Help Lower Obesity Rates?
   

1. How A Billion Dollars Is Being Wasted In The War On Sugar
2. 8 Countries Taking Action Against Junk Food Marketing
3. A SODA Tax – Will it Change Anything?
4. Welcome to Brazil, Where a Food Revolution Is Changing the Way People Eat​
5. The Case Against Soda Taxes
6. This Study Made Me Change My Mind on Soda Taxes
7. Sugar Wars: Junk Food, Junk Science, or Both?
8. Benefits from Sugar-Drink Taxes are Clear
9. Soda Taxes: Regressive and Unnecessary
10. Junk Food Ads Reach Children Despite Food Industry Self-regulation
11. Debate: Should Junk Food Be Illegal?
12. Junk Food Marketing’s Contribution to Latino Childhood Obesity​

• Outdoor advertising, obesity, and soda consumption: a cross-sectional study

• Taxing Junk Food to Counter Obesity

• Protecting Young People From Junk Food Advertising: Implications of Psychological Research for First Amendment Law​