Website_Evaluation_Tutorial_Relibability

=Reliability= media type="file" key="reliability.mp3" //**What is reliability?**//

Reliability means being able to depend on or **trust** someone or something. When evaluating a website, you need to be able to tell if the information is reliable. It is reliable if we can be sure it is **unbiased**.

People generally create website for one of three reasons:
 * **sell** you a product
 * **influence** what you think about an opinion on an issue
 * give you **information** about a topic

All three types of sites could be have some bias, but the first two are most likely to have a strong **point of view** or **purpose**.

For example, a site providing information about a disease might be sponsored by a drug company that sells a product that treats the disease. They might cite a research study that says their medicine is 85% effective in treating the disease. They won't tell you that their competitor's product works 98% of the time. In other words, they are leaving out information to get you to buy their product.

Sites that advocate for one side of a social issue--animal rights, for example--might use **strong language** to influence your emotions. They also might discuss the opposite point of view, but **simplify** it or **distort** the information.

You can detect bias in a site by paying to attention to:
 * **strong/emotional** language
 * **missing** information
 * **misrepresenting** other points of view

Try It! Detecting Bias

Look at these three sites about beef. What is the purpose of each?
 * Is the purpose to sell, persuade or inform?**

Site #1 Site #2 Site #3