Information Literacy In Real Life (IL IRL)

Reading and Evaluating Reviews

One of the most common ways we do research outside of school is when we decide to purchase something. Regardless of what you are buying, typically, you might look at reviews of a specific product to see whether or not you want to buy it. You'll look at reviews to see whether or not the product will suit your needs, what other people like (or don't like) about a product, and other important details to know before you buy the product.

Just like how you evaluate sources for research projects for credibility, you will also want to evaluate the credibility of reviews in a similar way. Consider the author, publisher, date, evidence, and bias of a review to determine the review's credibility.

Author

• Who is the author of the review?
• Why did they buy the product?
• Who did they buy the product for? Themselves or someone else?

Publisher

• Where was the review published?
• Do you trust reviews published on this website?

Date

• When was the review written?
• Could the product have been updated since?

Evidence

• Does the review give specific examples on what they like or dislike about the product?
  • Example: If the review is about clothing, does the reviewer give detailed examples of how the clothes fit?

Bias

• Does the reviewer mention any biases they might have on the product?
  • Example: If a reviewer mentions they dislike Apple products, they may not be the best source to look at for a review on the newest iPhone.