Evaluating Specificity and Relevance

Goal: Find sources that specifically address your individual question.

• Does the item relate to your specific question, or is it misfocused?
  Example: An article about racism in South Africa would not be relevant to a research question like Does racism still exist in the 21st century United States?
• Does the item address all or a part of your topic?
  Partial coverage from one source requires coverage from other sources.
  Example: An article about racism in current college admissions MIGHT be helpful for the above topic.
• May require scanning an entire article, as titles aren't always informative.

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