Validity Of The Web Pages example essay topic

The Internet references I used to research my first essay topic, Intelligence is what Intelligence Tests Measure, are as follows: Anonymous, (1999). Controversy follows psychological testing. APA Monitor Online, 30 (11) [on-line]. web Accessed 4 November 2001., Garrigan, K & Plunker, J. (2001) Intelligence Theory and Testing - Hot Topics [on-line]. web Accessed 4 November 2001., ANDYekovich, Frank R. (1994). Current Issues in Research on Intelligence [on-line]. web Digests / ed 385605. html. Accessed 4 November 2001...

I used the search engines Google, Yahoo, and Hotbot to find these web pages. I also found many other web pages on other search engines pertaining to my essay subject, but only used the three pages shown above. I tried to use a wide variety of search engines to get a wide variety of search responses. I found that most search engines reproduce many of the same pages. Out of the search engines used, I found that Google was the easiest and had the most responses. Not all of these responses were valid, hence the reason for using more then one search engine.

To determine the validity of the web pages used in my essay I researched the validity of the organization that posted the web page and the authors or journals the authors were writing for. The first page listed in the reference section above was from the American Psychological Association. Since the American Psychological Association is a recognized organization, I assumed all information given here was accurate and trustworthy. The second page listed in the reference section above was from Indiana University's web page. The course instructors posted the page for their own psychology students.

Because the information on this page is for psychology students at a credible university, I could assume that this web page was reliable. The information provided on this web site is similar with information I have read on other sites and corresponds with information given to us in our lectures. I felt that these were two more factors that proved the reliability of this web page. The third and final page listed in the references above was from a credible digest and it was located on an". ed. gov" web page.

Because it was on an". ed. gov" page, this means it was created as an education site by the government. Based on that fact and the fact that the digest is a reliable digest I concluded it was a reliable and trustworthy resource to use in my essay. I learned many new things from the Internet research of my essay that I would not have found in the library. On the Internet, I could find a wider variety of opinions in a shorter amount of time. I found opinions and information that would have been hard or impossible to find in a general library.

Before doing my research, I had no idea as to the depth of knowledge and interest in my essay topic on intelligence tests and what they measure. When doing research for essays in the future I will continue to use the Internet for my research. With an understanding of the Internet and knowledge of what to look for in a valid web site, I feel that my research on the Internet is very productive and successful.