Web writers know the importance of conducting thorough research for their subjects, particularly when they are in unfamiliar territory writing about a subject they have little knowledge of or interest in. While most of us are sure we know all there is to know about research—after all, we have been doing it probably for years—the truth is there is probably something we could all learn about researching our articles. First of all you will need to assess the basic purpose of your research.
While this may seem like a no-brainer, ask yourself if you are looking for only objective facts or if the subject lends itself to subjective opinions and descriptions. The answer to these questions will determine whether a personal home page could be appropriate for your research or if you need a more factual source. Decide where the most credible information for your particular purposes will come from, remembering governmental and university sites tend to offer more factual source material if you are looking for simple facts or statistics.
Don’t Quote Unreliable Sources
How do you determine whether a website is reliable? Even if you are unable to articulate the answer to that question you likely have learned to be fairly discerning when researching articles. One simple way is to look at the URL for a hint about the overall reliability of a given website. The last three letters tell you whether the site you are looking at is a commercial site (.com) a government site (.gov), an organization (.org) or an educational site (.edu). While there are plenty of .com sites which offer factual and reliable sources, it can be difficult sometimes to tell which ones do and which ones don’t. And while an .edu site seems a pretty safe bet, in some instances these sites have the work of students posted which may compromise the overall reliability of the information.
If you notice a personal name within the URL you should definitely look a bit closer to determine its trustworthiness. If you are unable to determine the publisher of the web content, try to find a link to the “About” page to see who is behind the website. This can be important if you were writing an article about the negative effects of genetically modified foods and landed on a Monsanto page. You never want to use information that is obviously biased as a basis for your article. If you find content you believe will be useful in writing your article, determine whether the content is quoting from another source. If so, go to the original source to verify the information since there is nothing to keep people from changing facts to suit themselves.
Final Thoughts on Research
Look for a “last updated” date on the pages you are considering using to ensure the material is current. If you can’t find when it was updated, search diligently for a date of some sort. Many times you may be shocked to find facts which sound relevant and true but were actually written seven, eight, ten or even fifteen years back. Research can be one of the most important parts of writing a successful article which offers quality and value to the reader however to avoid being stuck in research forever you must learn to conduct your research quickly, using an outline to find out what you really need to know. If you write often about a particular subject, it’s a good idea to keep a file on your research material. This can save you untold amounts of time because you don’t have to start from scratch or try to remember complicated statistics every time you revisit the subject. Finally, remember that while the Internet is an invaluable resource, in some cases you should use it sparingly
Tags: Lawyer Website Content
