Beginners Guide to Evaluating Sources & Critical Thinking
Jan 19, 2015 19:18:24 GMT -6
Allec, incognitiously, and 1 more like this
Post by saintfelicity on Jan 19, 2015 19:18:24 GMT -6
Knowing how to effectively think critically about and evaluate your resources is an invaluable skill for any polytheist, and no matter what the ivory tower of academia wants to fart at you, is a skill anyone can develop with repeated practice.
Don’t start too narrow!
When you’re starting out on a new study interest, it’s a good rule of thumb to get at least a rough base of general knowledge first. Having a basic understanding of your subject will make it much easier to compare and contrast other materials against. Read sources that cast a wide net. If they’re available, get your hands on some primary sources. Primary sources are materials that haven’t been altered; they’re the original. In our context, these will generally be a culture’s religious texts. Of course, many of us are studying cultures that had primarily oral traditions or texts that have been through many translations, so we may have to rely on second- and third-hand recordings. These are still useful!
Sometimes, your primary sources can be tricky to understand if you haven’t read more analytical sources about them yet. Give them a shot to begin with, because it’s okay if you don’t understand on the first go-through; personally, I like to read myths and folklore, read sources about them, and reread them again with new understanding. Approaching it with this kind of pattern can help reinforce your memory. All that said, don’t feel like you need to read every primary source available before you dive in to other material!
How do I find sources?
Finding sources is a beast of its own! We’ll be compiling more details and links for where to look. For now, check out the links to academic search engines on this forum, and check out the board for the religion you’re interested in for lists of recommendations. Google. Visit the library, and take advantage of inter-library loan if your library participates. If there are things you’ve already read, check out their bibliographies and read some of their sources.
Okay, so, I have sources, now what?
Before you get started reading, there are a number of useful questions you can ask yourself before you dig in (which can save you a bit of time and grief).
What do we know about the author?
Does the source have an author in the first place? What institutions or groups have they been affiliated with? What are their credentials, experience, or particular expertise? What else have they written? When were they publishing? Consider the culture of the time and place where the source was written, and think about potential influences.
Additionally, consider biases - biases don’t necessarily make a source unreliable (unless it’s your only source!), but it’s good to recognize if the author has any possible preexisting ones, so that you can read with that understanding. It will also help you to find sources from an opposite bias, so that you have a chance to absorb, compare, and contrast.
Of course, you should also feel free to ask around here if you’re doubtful about an author’s reliability!
Who does the author cite?
Go have a skim through the author’s citations. Depending on the type of work it is, consider the number of citations to begin with. Typically, the longer and more scholarly the work is, the more it should have - maybe an informational blog post just has a few, but you’d want a book or academic article to have quite a few. If the material is not a primary source and is about anything other than personal experience, and the author has no citations (this goes for books, blog posts, anything), just put that down. Or close it. Getouttathere. Whatever.
Then, have a look at the citations themselves - who are the authors of the materials cited? You can ask yourself a lot of the questions we asked above. Also, look at the variety. Is the author citing mostly people working at the same time in history, or from a single small group of institutions or organizations? How old are the materials cited? Does the author cite any primary sources? Though not always, a good variety and the inclusion of primary sources are a sign of a more reliable resource.
Critical Thinkin'
Okay great. You’re reading, you’re taking some notes, you’re learning some new things. How do you know what to keep stowed away in your brain hole? How do you know what to trash? How does this intersect with things you already know, or other information that’s out there?
Especially in a community like ours, this can be difficult to do on your own! So first and foremost, never be afraid to ask about something, even if you’re only a teensy bit unsure about it. Don’t feel like you need to ask a detailed academic question that will begin a deep philosophical debate, either. Throwing thoughts back and forth with one another is a great way to reinforce, draw connections, and look at things through new lenses. Bouncing things around with groups of people from different backgrounds is especially great.
A lot of questions you might have asked yourself about the author beforehand are what you want to ask yourself about the material itself. When was it written? What perspective am I getting it from? What were some popular trains of thought on this material at the time? Was it part of a larger movement? Are there any historical events to consider? Did it seem too favored towards something? Why? Did it seem too general, or dismissive, about something? Why?
Basically, I’m telling you to be a four-year-old here. Question everything. If you don’t understand the answer, question that too. Maybe question it even if you do understand it.
NOTHING CAN ESCAPE YOUR WHY POWER.
(Wikihow has a cute tutorial on evaluating your sources that works as a great cheat sheet! Check it out here.)
Don’t start too narrow!
When you’re starting out on a new study interest, it’s a good rule of thumb to get at least a rough base of general knowledge first. Having a basic understanding of your subject will make it much easier to compare and contrast other materials against. Read sources that cast a wide net. If they’re available, get your hands on some primary sources. Primary sources are materials that haven’t been altered; they’re the original. In our context, these will generally be a culture’s religious texts. Of course, many of us are studying cultures that had primarily oral traditions or texts that have been through many translations, so we may have to rely on second- and third-hand recordings. These are still useful!
Sometimes, your primary sources can be tricky to understand if you haven’t read more analytical sources about them yet. Give them a shot to begin with, because it’s okay if you don’t understand on the first go-through; personally, I like to read myths and folklore, read sources about them, and reread them again with new understanding. Approaching it with this kind of pattern can help reinforce your memory. All that said, don’t feel like you need to read every primary source available before you dive in to other material!
How do I find sources?
Finding sources is a beast of its own! We’ll be compiling more details and links for where to look. For now, check out the links to academic search engines on this forum, and check out the board for the religion you’re interested in for lists of recommendations. Google. Visit the library, and take advantage of inter-library loan if your library participates. If there are things you’ve already read, check out their bibliographies and read some of their sources.
Okay, so, I have sources, now what?
Before you get started reading, there are a number of useful questions you can ask yourself before you dig in (which can save you a bit of time and grief).
What do we know about the author?
Does the source have an author in the first place? What institutions or groups have they been affiliated with? What are their credentials, experience, or particular expertise? What else have they written? When were they publishing? Consider the culture of the time and place where the source was written, and think about potential influences.
Additionally, consider biases - biases don’t necessarily make a source unreliable (unless it’s your only source!), but it’s good to recognize if the author has any possible preexisting ones, so that you can read with that understanding. It will also help you to find sources from an opposite bias, so that you have a chance to absorb, compare, and contrast.
Of course, you should also feel free to ask around here if you’re doubtful about an author’s reliability!
Who does the author cite?
Go have a skim through the author’s citations. Depending on the type of work it is, consider the number of citations to begin with. Typically, the longer and more scholarly the work is, the more it should have - maybe an informational blog post just has a few, but you’d want a book or academic article to have quite a few. If the material is not a primary source and is about anything other than personal experience, and the author has no citations (this goes for books, blog posts, anything), just put that down. Or close it. Getouttathere. Whatever.
Then, have a look at the citations themselves - who are the authors of the materials cited? You can ask yourself a lot of the questions we asked above. Also, look at the variety. Is the author citing mostly people working at the same time in history, or from a single small group of institutions or organizations? How old are the materials cited? Does the author cite any primary sources? Though not always, a good variety and the inclusion of primary sources are a sign of a more reliable resource.
Critical Thinkin'
Okay great. You’re reading, you’re taking some notes, you’re learning some new things. How do you know what to keep stowed away in your brain hole? How do you know what to trash? How does this intersect with things you already know, or other information that’s out there?
Especially in a community like ours, this can be difficult to do on your own! So first and foremost, never be afraid to ask about something, even if you’re only a teensy bit unsure about it. Don’t feel like you need to ask a detailed academic question that will begin a deep philosophical debate, either. Throwing thoughts back and forth with one another is a great way to reinforce, draw connections, and look at things through new lenses. Bouncing things around with groups of people from different backgrounds is especially great.
A lot of questions you might have asked yourself about the author beforehand are what you want to ask yourself about the material itself. When was it written? What perspective am I getting it from? What were some popular trains of thought on this material at the time? Was it part of a larger movement? Are there any historical events to consider? Did it seem too favored towards something? Why? Did it seem too general, or dismissive, about something? Why?
Basically, I’m telling you to be a four-year-old here. Question everything. If you don’t understand the answer, question that too. Maybe question it even if you do understand it.
NOTHING CAN ESCAPE YOUR WHY POWER.
(Wikihow has a cute tutorial on evaluating your sources that works as a great cheat sheet! Check it out here.)
