GEB 4891

RADAR Framework 

The RADAR Framework can help you remember what kinds of questions you should be asking about an information source as you evaluate it for quality and usefulness in your research.

Relevance 

• How is the information you have found relevant to your assignment?
• Does the information answer our research question? 

​​Authority 

• Who is the author/ publisher/ source? 
• What are the author's credentials? 
• Is the author affiliated to an academic institution or reputable organization?

​Date 

• When was the information published? 
• Has the information be revised or updated? 
• Is the publication date important to you? 
• Does your research requite timely sources? 

Accuracy

• Where does the information come from?
• Is the information supported by evidence or peer reviews? 
• Is the information presented in a professional or academic manner? Free of spelling or grammatical errors? 
• Does it have citations and references? 

​Rationale 

• Why did the author publish the information? 
• What is the purpose of the information? to inform? teach? sell? entertain? persuade?
• Is there obvious bias or prejudice? 

It is possible to gather quite a bit of information from a company's own website. Look for the following:

• An "Investor Relations," "Company Information," or "About Us" page. There you'll find:
  • The company's annual report, which will discuss its vision, its decision making, and its plans for the future. Information to use in a SWOT analysis can generally be found in the annual report.
  • Official company press releases, which let you know what is currently happening with the company. (Remember, the company will NOT report bad news about itself!)
  • Product releases and new markets, also fodder for your SWOT analysis.
• Remember! The company is biased toward itself! You will have to use other sources, such as articles from the library databases, to discover any problems the company may be having.