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How to Analyse a Website

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How to evaluate a web site

How to review a web site:

Criteria for Evaluation of Sources of information

Relevence: Is the subject discussed on the resource the same subject you are researching? How does it differ from your focus? Are there links to other resources on the subject?
Accuracy: Can you check the accuracy of the information or data somewhere else? Newspaper reporters customarily verify leads with a second source. You should do likewise.
Authority: Does the author of the resource have the education, expertise, or experience to be a trustworthy source or commentator on this subject? Authority can be established by a degree in the discipline, a record of teaching or research in the field, a job in a related area, or significant related experience. Of course many experts don't have formal credentials; they may have developed expertise on their own. And even non-experts (students writing course projects, for example) can be authoritative sources if they base their work on a substantial number of reliable sources.
Author: Some authors will identify themselves and their affiliation on all their web sites. They may also include their home page, where you can examine their professional resume.
Organisational Endorsement: Many useful resources appear as part of organisational web sites and reflect the work of that organization. In the case of a professional organization (such as the American Psychological Association or the National Council of Teachers of English), such endorsement provides powerful authority. Other organizations are primarily advocacy groups (the American Civil Liberties Union, the Republican Party) whose web pages will all reflect the particular positions of the group. Commercial resources exist, of course, in order to sell a product or a service. Material from any group may be useful, so long as you analyse the group's purposes and possible biases.
Purpose: What is the author's (or organization's) purpose in publishing the resource? Who is the resource written for? What is the intended audience supposed to do with the information? Does the purpose lead the author to slant his or her information, interpret data in a particular way, or omit anything? Are there other possible interpretations of the data? Other possible conclusions? Another way to examine purpose is to ask who benefits? What groups, individuals, political interests, or commercial interests stand to gain? Who is harmed?
Bias: Examination of the subject, author, and purpose will lead to uncovering the particular biases of the resource. In spite of claims of academic objectivity, it is, in fact, impossible for authors, researchers, or sponsoring organizations to avoid some kind of bias. At best, the author will attempt to be fair, either by admitting to his or her biases or by acknowledging other possible positions, interpretations, or conclusions. Your use of your resources will be strengthened by your analysis of the possible biases you observe.
Currency: Is the information dated? Has it been revised or updated?. For most print sources, publication within the past five years would be considered "current." Since one of the advantages of the web is its ability to keep up to the minute, however, a five year old web page might well be out of date.