Sociology Research Guide: Websites

• Is the purpose of the site clear? Is the purpose appropriate for your research?
• Is the site to inform? Entertain? Educate? Share information? Influence views? Advertise or sell a product? Communicate?
• Express an opinion?
• The purpose will influence the content and help you to determine any bias

Author

• Examine the home page of the website to find information about the author(s)
• Is there sufficient information about the organization or individual?
• Look for links that say "About us," "Background," "Biography," "Staff," etc.
• Can the webmaster be contacted?
• Are the author's credentials and affiliation provided? Can you find information elsewhere?

Sponsor

• Check the URL- what is the domain?
• Is the sponsor of the site appropriate for your research?
• Will there be a bias?
  • org - information about the organization, most likely to have a bias
  • com - about a product
  • gov - government sponsored
  • edu - educational institution
• Is the site hosted by an agency, institution or company?

• Is the material useful, unique or accurate? Derivative, repetitious or doubtful?
• The coverage should reflect the intended audience (see Audience below)
• Is the site comprehensive?
• What information is included? Is the information factual or opinion? Is the information documented?
• Does the site include original information or simply links to other sites?
• How useful are these other sites?
• Does the site focus on a narrow area or does it include related topics?
• What is the level of detail provided about the subject?
• What kind of information is provided? Factual? Opinions? Statistics? Reports?
• Where does the information come from? Can this be easily determined? Are the sources documented?
• Is the information consistent with information found in other sources?

Permanency

• Evaluate the timeliness of the site
• Are dates provided?
• Are the links still active?
• When was the site last updated?
• Check Wayback Machine for revisions

• Is the site designed for scholarly research?
  • Undergraduate, graduate, or faculty?
  • Professionals?
• Is the site targeted towards a popular audience, or age group such as high school students, teenagers or seniors?

• Is the site an online journal, news or magazine (e-zine)?
• Is it an online public access catalogue (OPAC)?
• Blog or other personal website? Social network?
• Is it accessible through the WWW or Internet? Are there costs involved?