Evaluating Resources
In order to evaluate and decide the viability of information either obtained from IT or paper-based sources, three different articles have been provided. Through those media, five criteria will be used at assessing the information gathered and consider their value: First of all, what the authors’ purposes are, as to define what the articles are aiming at. Secondly, the evidence being used to support the arguments : how good is the evidence? Are all the points supported?
Thirdly, as a logical continuity and as a means to compare and contrast the argumentations, any unsupported points will be verified to determine their accuracy: are they well known facts or generally accepted opinions?
Then, the focus will be on assessing how the structure and style is useful to the reader so as to define whether it influences our reading and understanding of a text regarding of its presentation; and finally, what conclusions are being drawn from the samples, in the purpose of understanding the authors critical points of views.
As a start, the purposes of the authors will be defined.
The authors of the Agcas (2001) article conducted a survey as to determine the time students were devoting to part-time job during term-time and consequently expose the importance of the impact this had on their studies. Sue Tangney and Rhiannon Pugh were both examining two different universities, respectively the University of Wales Institute Cardiff, and the University of Glamorgan, both located in Cardiff. Through their own “designed questionnaires”, they elaborated statements based on valuable statistics, in order to prove the reader the validity of their demonstrations. They wanted to point out the fact that unfortunately, a majority of students were not working part-time as a way to improve their “transferable skills” but were mostly animated by the mere goal of earning money. One of the co-author of the research, Sue Tangney (2001) says that:
“Students were...