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COMM 101 - Effective Speaking - Gingras-Moore

Rhetorical Triangle

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Rhetorical Triangle

You can use the rhetorical triangle to evaluate information. 

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Author

Look at the competence and expertise of the author in the area they are writing. 

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Audience

Consider who the information is written for and whether you fit into that group.

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Purpose

Use the context of where the information is found as well as the context within which it was written.

SIFT Information Evaluation Habits

Stop

  • Do you know the website?
  • What is its reputation?
  • What is your purpose?
  • How do you feel?
  • Consider cognitive biases.

Investigate the Source

  • What exactly is the source?
  • What can you find out about the website?
  • What about the author?
  • Is it worth your time?

Find Other Coverage

  • Is other coverage similar?
  • Can you find a better source?
  • One more trusted?
  • More in-depth?
  • What do expert sources agree on with coverage?

Trace to the Original Source

  • Can you find the original source?
  • What is the original context?
  • Has it been accurately presented?

SIFT Method for Evaluating Sources

SIFT is a series of steps to take when evaluating the reliability of web sites and their claims. It is based on an approach used by professional fact-checkers, and was developed by Mike Caulfield from Washington State University.

Each letter in SIFT stands for one of the steps:

  • Stop!
  • Investigate the Source
  • Find Better Coverage
  • Trace Claims, Quotes and Media to the Original Source

SIFT

When you see a web site that you are considering using or sharing, stop and ask yourself:

  • Do you know and trust the author or organization that published the web site?
  • What do you know about the reputation of the web site, or about the claims it makes?

Don't use the source until you have found out more about its content, its creator, and its publisher.

Watch the video below, which highlights the importance of verifying your sources, and then proceed to the next step (Investigate).

The quality of your research is determined by the sources you use. Investigate a source by leaving that web page and looking for information about the source elsewhere. Check several different places before deciding if the source is reliable.

Watch the short video [2:44] below to learn about some of the best ways to investigate a source. Proceed to the next step: Find Better Coverage.

Oftentimes the source of information you come across is not important, even if the claim itself is. What that means is, we can try and find the information we're looking at in other sources. This helps to both verify whether the information is true and to find a better, or more trusted, source of coverage.

"Trusted coverage" can mean:

  • A track record of accurate reporting
  • A reputation for minimizing bias in reporting

These can be determined through various online tools, such as the Media Bias Chart or the resources located in the Fact Checking Websites box on the Fake News -- Checking Sources page.

As you work through SIFT more, you can build up a list of trusted sources that can become your "go-to," saving you even more time in searching.

Many times the information we encounter is stripped of its context, which can distort its meaning. It's important to trace claims, quotes, and media back to their original source so that you can understand the context and ensure the information is being presented accurately.

 

SIFT demonstration

Evaluation based on SIFT

  • S (Stop): My first impression is that because this is an .edu site, it's from an established university. While it is a blog post, the bottom of the post does name the author and give her title at the university.
  • I (Investigate): To further investigate the source, I did a Wikipedia search for "UC Davis," which led me to the article about the University of California, Davis; this article included a cross-link to the Wikipedia article on the "UC Davis Medical Center," which is part of the UC Davis Health system. So this is an established university with a medical school and medical system. A Google search for "Cathy Deimeke UC Davis" led me to other posts by Cathy Deimeke on the UC Davis Health "Good Food" blog as well as her LinkedIn profile, which includes information about her experience and education.
  • F (Find Better Coverage): A Google search for "health benefits of dark chocolate" brings up articles from other established universities and university-associated health systems including Johns Hopkins and the Cleveland Clinic. While these articles do cover similar health benefits as the ones discussed in this source, they don't get as deeply into potential health risks (such as the presence of lead and cadmium). For that, I did a separate Google search for "health risks of dark chocolate." This search brought up news coverage from sources including CNN and The New York Times, articles from Harvard Medical School and Tulane University, and the Consumer Reports study that this article mentions and links to. Judging from the information found in these searches, it appears that both the positive and negative claims Cathy Deimeke makes about dark chocolate are valid.
  • T (Trace to the Original Source): Following the hyperlinks in the article, I find myself encountering one of the same sources from my Google search: the Cleveland Clinic. Other sources the article links out include articles from WebMD and Healthline (both of which have been criticized for promoting medication sold by sponsoring advertisers), Medline Plus (a government database of medical information), and other UC Davis Health blog posts.

My verdict: While the expertise of the UC Davis Health system and dietician Cathy Deimeke aren't in question, I do find the sourcing to be a bit on the weak side: most of the positive things about dark chocolate are sourced from the Cleveland Clinic article, and the negatives are entirely sourced from the Consumer Reports article. The Cleveland Clinic article includes links to several scholarly articles, and the Consumer Reports article describes original testing they did in their lab. I don't think I'd use this article in an informative speech or essay, but it does provide a good springboard to some better sources.

More SIFT Resources