Pasadena City College

Writing Center
English 901

RESEARCH LESSON TWO

3.2 Evaluating Sources Using CAPOW
Purpose
This exercise teaches you an easy and useful way to evaluate sources, a method
called CAPOW. CAPOW stands for Currency, Authority, Purpose, Objectivity,
and Writing Style.
Lesson Instructions
1. View the CAPOW video: http://www.youtube.com/v/Ylp9nJpGak4
2. Complete the CAPOW worksheet on the following three articles and one
or more additional articles of your choosing. The three suggested articles
are these:
Gewertz, Catherine. Asian Students Needs Overlooked in NYC,
Advocacy Group Says. Education Week 14 July, 2004: 15.
Gibbs, Nancy. Roaring Tigers, Anxious Choppers. Time 31 Jan. 2011:
68.
Lee, Danielle Moss. Raising the Bar: Welcome to Campus, Class of
2015. Education Digest Feb. 2012: 62-64.
You can easily find these articles by putting in the authors last name and
the article title into the search boxes in EBSCO Host.
3. Complete the CAPOW Questionnaire.

Pasadena City College

Writing Center
English 901

CAPOW Worksheet
Please list below the title for each source you have on this topic. Then evaluate
each source's CURRENCY, AUTHORITY, PURPOSE, OBJECTIVITY and
WRITING STYLE on a 10-point scale (10 is the best score).
You should write notes to yourself about why you scored each source as you did.
If you dont write notes, you will have a much harder time explaining your
rationale for your scores. Bring this ranking sheet with you when you come to
class. When you are done scoring, rank the sources, with #1 being the best
source and the lowest number being the worst.
Example (for illustration--not a real article):
Article Title: Creating Scholastic Success for Immigrant Students.
C:_9__ A:_7__ P: _5__ O: _5__ W: _9__
Total Score: 35/50
Notes: This article was written recently, so its current, but its biased in that it was
written by someone who runs a consulting business that works with magnet
schools to create programs for immigrant students. Still, it makes some good
conclusions about how programs can be adapted for that kind of student.

Rating the Articles

1. Article Title: Roaring Tigers, Anxious Choppers
C:__5__ A:__8__ P: __8__

O: __7__ W: __9__

Total Score: _37_/50

Notes: This article was written a couple years back, the author is very straight
forward and presents her thoughts clearly.

Pasadena City College

Writing Center
English 901

2. Article Title: Asian Students Needs Overlooked in NYC

C:__4__ A:__6__ P: __7__

O: _5___ W: _8___

Total Score: _30_/50

3. Article Title: Raising the Bar: Welcome to Campus, Class of 2015
C:_7___ A:__7__ P: __9__

O: __8__ W: __8__

Total Score: _39_/50

Notes: The article was written three years ago. It is written by a school dean and
her aspirations for the upcoming year so it is biased because she is expressing
only how she feels. However she does have facts and stats and her style of
writing is nice and unique.

Ranked order (Highest to Lowest)

1.___3__ 2. __2___ 3. __1__

Pasadena City College

Writing Center
English 901

CAPOW Questionnaire
1. Looking back at the articles, are you satisfied that your final CAPOW ranking
represents an accurate assessment of their validity and usefulness for use in an
essay? Explain.

2. Do you believe that the best and worst articles are properly identified on your
CAPOW worksheet? Why or why not? What areas are you still not sure of?

3. Have you ever tried an evaluation tool similar to CAPOW to rate sources?
What was it, and how did it work?

4. If you havent used a similar rating tool in the past, what method did you use to
evaluate sources? (Guessing, believe it or not, is a method, though perhaps not
the best one.)

5. What parts of the CAPOW lesson do you think will stick with you as you do
your college research?