Political Science 102

One great source of finding interest groups is http://usa.gov, which provides official information and services about the U.S. government.  This site makes it easy for the American public to find federal government information and services on the Web.  You can search for "interest groups" in the search box and even add a word or two to narrow your search, such as "military" or "children".  

Another website to look for interest groups is ask.com.  This page is targeted to Issues, Organizations, and Interest Groups and is well organized by issue.

It's important to evaluate to insure that you use the best information resources possible for your research and study, as well as for making personal decisions.  Information that you find in many different formats may be unreliable, dated, or biased.  Make sure to pick the best!

To evaluate a source that you may want to use for a paper or presentation, use the 5Ws+H questions below to do a quick review for credibility. These questions help you to examine the source itself plus what others say about the source. 

Who is the author or creator?

• An Expert, Scholar, Journalist, Nonprofit, Corporation, Government, Advertiser / Influencer, Unknown?
• Look up the author using a search engine to learn about their background.

When was it published / posted?

• Is it timely for your topic?

Where was it published / posted? 

• Scholarly journal, Magazine, News source, Website, Social media, Other?
• Look up the publication or website on Wikipedia or using a search engine. What did you learn about the source?

Why does the source exist? 

• Inform, Persuade, Politicize, Research, Educate, Entertain, Sell?

What is the main idea?

• How is it relevant to your topic?

How does it incorporate evidence?

• Reference list (cited works), Quotes, Charts / graphs, Methodology, Original research / Data, Anecdote / Personal Experience, Other?

Adapted from: The Source + Beyond the Source Evaluation Framework by DePaul University Library CC:BY:NC