Source Evaluation

Mediation Essay-Source Evaluation The Oxford Companion to World Mythology by David Leeming is a source with reliable authority, accuracy, objectivity, coverage, and currency. The author of the book, David Leeming, is a New York University graduate with a Ph.D in Comparative Literature. He also wrote many other books for Oxford University Press in the field of Mythology. Since Leeming is a respected author in the field of mythology, his work is considered accurate. As for objectivity, the purpose of this book is merely to inform, which is exactly what I need for my citation. In relation to this work’s coverage, I only need this source for an overview of the flood myth, and it gives a relatively simple and serious summary of my topic. It is …show more content…
As a report from the Pew Research Center, which is an internationally respected source, it has authority. In addition, the author of the report, Alan Cooperman, is the director of religious studies at Pew Research Center, a former reporter and editor at The Washington Post, and a highly honored Harvard graduate. Furthermore, all the information in the report that was not discovered by Pew Research Center itself is properly cited to its original sources. The objective of any Pew Research Center report is to inform the public, and this report is no different. Pew Research Center is known to be a reliable, unbiased source. As for coverage, this report gives a broad spectrum of data and specifics of the worldwide Christian population, yet a deep enough explanation of the Christian population distribution in the United States for my purpose. The currency of the report is also ideal for my source since it was written in December of 2011, a mere 4 years ago, a time frame in which the Christian population likely hasn’t changed …show more content…
Barna Group, the publisher of the article, is a for-profit organization that studies behavior and belief patterns in America founded by George Barna. Barna holds a Bachelor’s degree, a doctorate, and two master’s degrees from Boston College, Dallas Baptist University, and Rutgers University, respectively, and he is a respected authority in his field of research. He and David Kinnaman are the general editors of a book titled Churchless, from which the information of the article is derived. All this accredits the source’s authority and accuracy. As for objectivity, the purpose of the entire Barna Group Research company and website is strictly informational; it strives to inform the public of social and behavioral trends. The coverage of this source is relatively simple; the audience is the general public, so a deep coverage would be too hard to comprehend for most of the intended audience. Lastly, the currency of the article is appropriate; it was published in December of 2014, and the statistics have likely not changed too significantly within one