6.7: What is Purpose?
- Page ID
- 324700
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\(\newcommand{\avec}{\mathbf a}\) \(\newcommand{\bvec}{\mathbf b}\) \(\newcommand{\cvec}{\mathbf c}\) \(\newcommand{\dvec}{\mathbf d}\) \(\newcommand{\dtil}{\widetilde{\mathbf d}}\) \(\newcommand{\evec}{\mathbf e}\) \(\newcommand{\fvec}{\mathbf f}\) \(\newcommand{\nvec}{\mathbf n}\) \(\newcommand{\pvec}{\mathbf p}\) \(\newcommand{\qvec}{\mathbf q}\) \(\newcommand{\svec}{\mathbf s}\) \(\newcommand{\tvec}{\mathbf t}\) \(\newcommand{\uvec}{\mathbf u}\) \(\newcommand{\vvec}{\mathbf v}\) \(\newcommand{\wvec}{\mathbf w}\) \(\newcommand{\xvec}{\mathbf x}\) \(\newcommand{\yvec}{\mathbf y}\) \(\newcommand{\zvec}{\mathbf z}\) \(\newcommand{\rvec}{\mathbf r}\) \(\newcommand{\mvec}{\mathbf m}\) \(\newcommand{\zerovec}{\mathbf 0}\) \(\newcommand{\onevec}{\mathbf 1}\) \(\newcommand{\real}{\mathbb R}\) \(\newcommand{\twovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\ctwovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\threevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cthreevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\mattwo}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{rr}#1 \amp #2 \\ #3 \amp #4 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\laspan}[1]{\text{Span}\{#1\}}\) \(\newcommand{\bcal}{\cal B}\) \(\newcommand{\ccal}{\cal C}\) \(\newcommand{\scal}{\cal S}\) \(\newcommand{\wcal}{\cal W}\) \(\newcommand{\ecal}{\cal E}\) \(\newcommand{\coords}[2]{\left\{#1\right\}_{#2}}\) \(\newcommand{\gray}[1]{\color{gray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\lgray}[1]{\color{lightgray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\rank}{\operatorname{rank}}\) \(\newcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\col}{\text{Col}}\) \(\renewcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\nul}{\text{Nul}}\) \(\newcommand{\var}{\text{Var}}\) \(\newcommand{\corr}{\text{corr}}\) \(\newcommand{\len}[1]{\left|#1\right|}\) \(\newcommand{\bbar}{\overline{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bhat}{\widehat{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bperp}{\bvec^\perp}\) \(\newcommand{\xhat}{\widehat{\xvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\vhat}{\widehat{\vvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\uhat}{\widehat{\uvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\what}{\widehat{\wvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\Sighat}{\widehat{\Sigma}}\) \(\newcommand{\lt}{<}\) \(\newcommand{\gt}{>}\) \(\newcommand{\amp}{&}\) \(\definecolor{fillinmathshade}{gray}{0.9}\)The reason that a creator or author published a work.
Every type of information is created with a purpose in mind. From websites to books, each is created with a purpose and an audience. Understanding the purpose of a source is an important step in evaluating its usefulness to your research. Sources can be created with any of the following purposes:
- To inform you
- To persuade you
- To deceive you
- To sell something to you
- To profit off of you
[Purpose Chart by Daniel Wilson, licensed CC BY NC 4.0]
Consider for a moment how each of these purposes might shape a website differently. If someone wanted to inform you, their website might stick to facts and provide evidence supporting their information. If someone wanted to persuade you, perhaps on a politician topic, they might provide significant facts and evidence but they also might skew information in a way that is biased to their point of view. If the goal of a website were to make money, it might be focused on getting you in to view and click ads; with much less concern about the information that's provided.
Identifying the purpose of a source is important for three key reasons:
- Identifying Bias: Knowing why a source was created will help you to identify any potential bias. For example, knowing that a blog reviewing insurance companies was sponsored by one of the insurance companies would certainly make you question its honesty.
- Understanding Context: Understanding a source's purpose can help you understand the context in which it was created. If a newspaper article is an opinion piece intended to share personal views and persuade readers about a topic, you know that it is not necessarily well researched.
- Judging Relevance: Identifying the purpose of a source can help you decide how relevant it is to your information need. If you are working on a project where you need good academic sources, you'll want to avoid sources created solely for profit.
Identifying bias, understanding context, and judging relevance help you to evaluate the credibility of the source. If you aren't sure that you can trust it, it isn't usually a good research source!
Identifying Purpose
Identifying the purpose of a source involves some detective work, but it doesn't have to be too complicated. Most often, you will have to read or at least skim through the source to identify any potential bias or conflicts of interest. However, there are a number of clues that you can look for as well.
Purpose Clues
- Ads: If a source has ads, its main purpose is likely to make a profit or to sell you something
- Sponsorships: If the source or its publishing website has any information about sponsors or owners then you should consider if they are related to the information you're reviewing.
- Author affiliation: If the author(s) is connected to a business or organization related to the topic, they may have a biased view on it.
- Evidence: If the source provides citations or references to show where their data or claims came from, that is a good sign that its purpose is to inform.
- Bear in mind that not all evidence is of the same quality. Just as you have to use your critical thinking skills to select academic sources, so too should other authors.
- About Us or Mission Statements: If your source is a website, they may have an About Us or Mission Statement page that gives you important information about them and their goals.
In order to identify the source's purpose you can check for ads, look up information about the publisher (journal, website, etc.), and look up information about the author. You'll also need to consider the purpose as you read through the source. Look carefully at its writing and at the references provided for their own information sources. Is their writing supported by evidence or largely opinion-based? Does the writing sound objective and unbiased?
The format or medium of the information will give you clues as well. For instance, journal articles are almost always informational while websites can be many things!
Examine the Sources' Neighborhood
The "neighborhood" of an information source refers to its relationships with other sources and its location within the broader network of information. This can help give you insights into its credibility, relevance, and purpose. This often involves looking at the format/medium of the information source. For example, consider a source that is a book. A book could be part of a carefully selected academic library collection, a public library collection that includes many fiction works, or a bookstore collection intended for sale. Each of these neighborhoods have different purposes and so too do the works found within them!
The Center for News Literacy divides information neighborhoods into five specific categories: journalism, entertainment, publicity, propaganda, and raw information. This explains this concept more from the standpoint of news and journalism. 
[News Neighborhood Chart by Daniel Wilson, licensed CC BY NC 4.0]
For a website things can be a little more complicated, as there aren't readily available groupings. But you can look at a few things to identify its neighborhood.
- Format: Is it a website article, a blog, a wiki, or a social media website?
- Author: Do you know anything about the author, their affiliations, or their credentials?
- Ad placements: The location of a lot of ads tells you about the type of website it is.
Ultimately, the "neighborhood" is about identifying the type of information source that it is and comparing it to what you know about similar types of sources.