WHAT IS RESEARCH AND

REFERENCE?

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS
How can we determine if information is valid and
reliable?
How can we determine if information is fact or
opinion?
How can we identify information as a primary or
secondary source?

KEY VOCABULARY
Validity The degree that information that is correct,
factual and sound.
Reliability The degree that information that can be
researched or is from a source whose credentials are
trustworthy.
Fact - A statement that can be proven to be either
true or false.
Opinion A statement that expresses beliefs,
feelings, and judgments.
Primary Source First hand or original information
that comes from a reliable source.
Secondary Source Information that has been
gathered and interpreted by more than one source.

WHAT IS REFERENCE AND

RESEARCH?
1. Reference/Research Locating and Interpreting
Information
2. Reference/Research Analyzing Multiple Sources
3. Validity and Reliability
4. Fact vs. opinion
5. Primary vs.. Secondary Sources

1.REFERENCE AND
RESEARCH BENCHMARKS
High School Students
Students locate, gather, evaluate, analyze
written information.
Students analyze validity and reliability of
information.
Students synthesize information from multiple
sources to draw conclusions and formulate a
written response to a writing prompt.

2. REFERENCE AND RESEARCH LOCATING AND INTERPRETING

INFORMATION

Students must be able to:

Interpret the information gathered for a
variety of purposes ( class writing
assignments, discussion and assessments,
collaborative decision-making,
standardized assessment.)

3. REFERENCE AND RESEARCH

A N A L Y Z I N G M U LT I P L E S O U R C E S

Students must be able to:

determine the reliability and validity of
information.
distinguish between fact and opinion.
Identify primary and secondary sources.

4 . VA L I D I T Y A N D R E L I A B I L I T Y
These two Reference and Research skills require the student
to analyze the correctness (validity) and source (reliability)
of information.
In order to do this, the student needs to determine if the
information is

Fact or opinion
primary or secondary source

5. FACT OR OPINION
FACT- A statement that can be proven to
be either true or false using a valid source.

A fact answers specific questions such

as:
What happened?
Who did it?
When and where did it happen?
Why did it happen?

5. FACT VS. OPINION

Opinion A statement that expresses
beliefs, feelings, and judgments.
- Phrases begin with I believe, I think,
probably, it seems to me, or in my opinion.
- Statements often contain words such as
might, could, should and ought.
- Judgment words such as good, bad, poor, and
satisfactory indicate an opinion.

6. PRIMARY VS SECONDARY
SOURCES
Primary Source First hand or original
information that comes from a reliable source.
Examples include eyewitness accounts, personal
interviews, autobiographies, letters, diaries,
scientific journals.
Secondary Source Information that has been
gathered and interpreted by more than one
source. Examples include textbooks,
encyclopedias, magazine articles, biographies,
movie reviews.