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Evaluating Information: The CRAAP Test

Critical Thinking

Whether you're buying a car, making medical decisions or casting your vote for a political candidate, you need to be able to discern fact from fiction, choose the most reliable data, and determine whether it's relevant to your needs. Use this guide to help you write your research paper, then take the skills you learn and apply them to your everyday life. 

"Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity." -- Martin Luther King, Jr.

The CRAAP Test

Before you use or rely on information provided by a source, apply the CRAAP Test by asking the following questions:

 

Currency:  How timely is the information? Is it the most recent information or data on the topic?
 
Relevance:  Is the information relevant to my research? Who is the audience?
 
Authority:  What is the source of the information? Is the source an authority or expert on the subject? What are the author's credentials? Is the author affiliated with an organization that might benefit from the research? Is there current contact information for the author?
 
Accuracy:  Is the information reliable and truthful? Is the information supported by other research?
 
Purpose:  Why does the information exist? Is it promoting something such a product, a particular religious, cultural or political view? Is it for entertainment or education?

Evaluating Sources

Special thanks to North Carolina State University Libraries for sharing this tutorial. See more here.

 

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