Researching Biology Web-based Research

Learning objectives In this lesson, you will learn to: evaluate websites for reliability, level and bias reference websites to allow another person to find the same information.

Why carry out literature-based scientific research? To find out what is known and what remains to be discovered about a topic. To stay up to date with research in a particular field. To find information to help develop new ideas and design new experiments.

Finding out what is known about a topic Scientists use a number of communication methods: conference presentations published articles other communications –websites –blogs –manuals –videos, etc Which of these do you think is/are most reliable?

Finding out what is known about a topic Scientists use a number of communication methods: conference presentations published articles other communications –websites –blogs –manuals –videos, etc.

Published articles Scientific articles are often published in: science magazines (eg New Scientist, Current Biology) scientific journals (eg Science, Nature). Scientific journal articles are peer reviewed. Peer-reviewed journals are reliable but expensive. Scientific magazines are more widely available. The most likely source of scientific information in school is the internet.

Internet research The internet is an excellent source of information, but it can be difficult to establish reliability. The world wide web is the fastest growing area of the internet. It is a collection of documents on thousands of computers worldwide. The web is not controlled. Anyone can publish almost anything on it: you must decide if the information you retrieve is reliable and valid.

Evaluating website information When using information from a website, you should consider the following key questions: –Who does the site belong to? –Why was it written? –When was it written and most recently updated?

Who does the site belong to? The domain gives the type of organisation and the country of origin of the website:.gov government body.ac UK educational institution.edu US education institution.org non-profit organisation.co or.comUK or US commercial site.uk United Kingdom.us United States.au Australia

Why was the site written? To inform or explain – purely factual sites, eg government or university. To sell – commercial sites that sell a product (may be disguised). To persuade or indoctrinate – sites designed to convert you to a particular point of view, eg some charities and religious organisations.

Referencing In Higher Biology/Human Biology you must clearly state the source of your information. Make sure you write down the correct web address when referencing a website or highlight the address and use copy/paste. Check the address yourself by typing it into the browser.