Database Evaluation: Opposing Viewpoints vs. Points of View Katie Keeler and Mary Cummings University of Colorado Denver SCHL 5030 Instructor Large-Swope
Dec 30, 2015
Database Evaluation:
Opposing Viewpoints
vs. Points of View
Katie Keeler and Mary CummingsUniversity of Colorado Denver
SCHL 5030Instructor Large-Swope
Rationale
Many secondary schools that have access to a database for controversial issues have either Opposing Viewpoints or a Points of View subscription.
Our goal was to determine which of the two would be a better subscription to purchase.
We also took into consideration the Common Core Curriculum that emphasizes argument writing. Students will need access to timely articles on relevant issues in order to research and develop their argumentative speeches and papers in the secondary grades.
Audience: Junior High (grades 7, 8, 9)
Purpose: Students research both sides of a controversial topic of their interest in order to make a logical and debatable argument.
Scope: Databases should contain enough material for students to find answers to their questions.
Authority: Databases should provide scholarly articles from diverse viewpoints.
Question to be addressed in this evaluation:Is Gale Opposing Viewpoints in Context or Points of View Reference Center a better tool based on the following criteria?
Audience 1. Do the topics represent the interests of our students?
We surveyed seventh, eighth, and ninth grade students to determine which database, Points of View or Opposing Viewpoints, contains more issues that interest them—enough to research further. Students were asked to tally the number of issues that interested them for each database. Then, they calculated the percentage they found interesting in relationship to how many were offered. Finally, we calculated an overall percentage for each database and grade level to show which generated the most interest.
Seventh Grade Eighth Grade Ninth Grade0%
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Database Preferences
Points of ViewOpposing Viewpoints
Points of View Opposing Viewpoints0%
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Average Interest in Each Database
All Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth Grade Students
Conclusion: Based on the results of the student interest surveys, seventh grade students preferred the issues offered for research in the Opposing Viewpoints database. Eighth and ninth grade students, however, leaned toward the Points of View database. Overall, the Opposing Viewpoints database was the top choice when averaging all the students’ input, albeit by only two percentage points.
Audience2. Does the electronic database appeal to our learners
visually?Opposing Viewpoints
Flash player with images related to current controversial issuesMultiple tabs at top for quick linksSidebars of imagesVery “interactive-looking”
Points of ViewVery simple design with purple background; no imagesBasic search bar on home page“In the Spotlight” link box on home page
(see next slide)
Conclusion: Our students, particularly our visual learners, would find Opposing Viewpoints to be more appealing at first glance. Although Points of View may appear easier to navigate, they would be more inclined to explore the Opposing Viewpoints database because of the images and layout.
Opposing Viewpoints homepage
Points of View homepage
Purpose1. Does the database contain organizational features that
help students search for appropriate articles?Opposing Viewpoints
Easy search bar on home page to search by keyword and material source
Search by category of issue
Simple, clear advanced search option By content level and lexile
Points of View
Easy search bar on homepage page
Search by category or all topics
Satisfactory advanced search option
Conclusion: Both databases offered fairly user-friendly search options. However, for our students reading above or below grade level, Opposing Viewpoints allowed users to narrow results by content level and lexile number, which is of great value to our students and thus the better option here.
(see next slide)
Opposing Viewpoints narrows by content level
and Lexile range
Points of View narrows by similar advanced search, minus text difficulty.
Purpose2. Is the database easy to use and navigate for 7th-9th
graders looking for information?
Opposing ViewpointsEasy search bar plus quick linksResults automatically divided by categoryResults page can be overwhelming at first
Points of ViewEasy search bar plus quick linksResults can be divided by tabs at top which students might missStudents must know to only use full-text articles (no abstracts)
Conclusion: Both databases we would consider easy to navigate for junior high students. However, because the tabs at the top of the Points of View results seem clearer than the overwhelming all-on-one-page results in Opposing Viewpoints, Points of View would be the better of the two.
(see next two slides)
Search for “capital punishment” on Opposing Viewpoints:
Results divided into categories automatically
Search for “capital punishment” on Points of View:Tabs for result options
“Full Text” links
Scope1. How many topics/issues are presented on each
database?
Database Number of topics/issues
Opposing Viewpoints 321
Points of View 517
Conclusion: Points of View has significantly more available issues for research than Opposing Viewpoints. It is clear, then, that Points of View offers more research options for students versus Opposing Viewpoints. If vast options for students is the goal, then Points of View is the ideal database.
Scope2. On average, how many articles are provided for each
topic/issue?
In order to find out how many articles are provided in search results, we looked up three common topics that were listed in the “Browse Issues/Topics” pages of the databases (same-sex marriage, obesity, and animal experimentation) and one state-specific issue (Amendment 64).
Issue Opposing Viewpoints
Points of View
Same-sex marriage 5176 9046
Obesity 4164 9953
Animal Experimentation 582 217
Colorado’s Amendment 64 1 37
TOTALS 9923 19253
Same-sex marriage Obesity Animal experimentation Colorado Amendment 640
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Opposing ViewpointsPoints of View
Conclusion: Points of View database had more than twice the articles that Opposing Viewpoints did on the issues tested. It is relevant to note that on a more local topic currently in the news (Amendment 64), Points of View had 37 results, while Opposing Viewpoints had only one. Therefore, Points of View has a wider scope in terms of amount of articles.
Authority1. Do the points of view articles found on the database
fairly represent both/all sides of an issue?
In looking at a sampling of same-sex marriage, obesity, and animal experimentation points of view articles from both databases, we found the following:
Opposing Viewpoints Offers a cover page of
articles from different sources
For each of the three issues, the cover page did not equally represent both sides by number of articles for each.
Points of View
Offers a fair and balanced representation of both sides of each issue Overview of the issue Point Counterpoint Critical Analysis
* The sampling of articles on three issues (same-sex marriage, obesity, and animal testing) were taken from each database’s issue cover page and evaluated to come to these conclusions.
Conclusion: Points of View database fairly represented each side of the sample issues one hundred percent of the time on its issue cover page. Opposing Viewpoints, on the other hand, showed imbalance in representing each side of the sample issues. While there are certainly more articles than the Points of View ones, these are the cover pages that are shown first when clicking into each issue. In response, Points of View is the better option here.
For Against No action required Action required For AgainstAnimal Experimentation Obesity Same-sex Marriage
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Balance in Representing Each Side of the Issue
Opposing ViewpointsPoints of View
Authority2. Are the articles compiled from reliable, scholarly
sources?
In order to answer this question, we looked at the articles that showed up in the “Featured Viewpoints” section of Opposing Viewpoints and the “Points of View” tab of Points of View for the topics same-sex marriage, obesity, and animal experimentation.
We found that the articles came from sources such as the following:
NewspapersScholarly journalsOpinions from professors and researchersPrimary sourcesGovernment websitesContent-specific magazines
Conclusion: Because all of the articles sampled came from reliable, scholarly sources, both databases are equal in this aspect of authority.
Opposing Viewpoints
Undetermined/Unreliable sourceReliable, scholarly source
Points of View
Undetermined/Unreliable sourceReliable, scholarly source
Recommendation
Audience Purpose Scope Authority
Opposing Viewpoints
Points of View
The results are so close that it is difficult to determine a clear “winner;” however, Points of View had one more positive rating in comparison to Opposing Viewpoints.
Based on our evaluation of two categories within each of the criteria of audience, purpose, scope, and authority,
we recommend the Points of View Reference Center.