User:Allie partridge/Evaluate an Article

Evaluate an article
This is where you will complete your article evaluation. Please use the template below to evaluate your selected article.


 * Name of article: Capital punishment in Massachusetts
 * Briefly describe why you have chosen this article to evaluate: I have chosen this article, because I am from Massachusetts and have an interest in crime/punishment (specifically the death penalty).

Lead

 * Guiding questions


 * Does the Lead include an introductory sentence that concisely and clearly describes the article's topic?
 * Does the Lead include a brief description of the article's major sections?
 * Does the Lead include information that is not present in the article?
 * Is the Lead concise or is it overly detailed?

Lead evaluation
The lead of this article does not include as introductory sentence that explains the article's topic. It instead starts but listing the years when capital punishment was legal in the state. The article does not have a descriptions of the major sections, because the article is not divided into sections. Technically this article's lead is only one sentence, however there are no headings to divide it from the rest of the article.

Content

 * Guiding questions


 * Is the article's content relevant to the topic?
 * Is the content up-to-date?
 * Is there content that is missing or content that does not belong?
 * Does the article deal with one of Wikipedia's equity gaps? Does it address topics related to historically underrepresented populations or topics?

Content evaluation
The content in the article is all relevant to the topic and up to date. The article is missing a lot of content, specifically about the abolishment of capital punishment in the state. This article does not relate to historically underrepresented populations/topics.

Tone and Balance

 * Guiding questions


 * Is the article neutral?
 * Are there any claims that appear heavily biased toward a particular position?
 * Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented?
 * Does the article attempt to persuade the reader in favor of one position or away from another?

Tone and balance evaluation
This article is neutral and it does not appear to be biased. This article lacks a sufficient amount of information, so it does not have an unbalanced opinion on anything. It does not persuade the reader in any direction.

Sources and References

 * Guiding questions


 * Are all facts in the article backed up by a reliable secondary source of information?
 * Are the sources thorough - i.e. Do they reflect the available literature on the topic?
 * Are the sources current?
 * Are the sources written by a diverse spectrum of authors? Do they include historically marginalized individuals where possible?
 * Check a few links. Do they work?

Sources and references evaluation
The article is missing sources for many facts discussed. The sources are not thorough. The only cited sources are newspaper articles on current cases with capital punishment. There are no academic sources. The sources are not diverse, because they are all from newspapers. All the links work.

Organization

 * Guiding questions


 * Is the article well-written - i.e. Is it concise, clear, and easy to read?
 * Does the article have any grammatical or spelling errors?
 * Is the article well-organized - i.e. broken down into sections that reflect the major points of the topic?

Organization evaluation
The article is not well written, because it is written as a series of unrelated sentences. There aren't any grammatical errors. The article is not well organized, because it does not have headings or more than two consecutive sentences that relate.

Images and Media

 * Guiding questions


 * Does the article include images that enhance understanding of the topic?
 * Are images well-captioned?
 * Do all images adhere to Wikipedia's copyright regulations?
 * Are the images laid out in a visually appealing way?

Images and media evaluation
The article only includes one photo (which does not relate to the subject). The image is well-captioned, however that is irrelevant considering it does not relate to the topic. The image adheres to the copyright regulations. The image is not laid out in an appealing way.

Checking the talk page

 * Guiding questions


 * What kinds of conversations, if any, are going on behind the scenes about how to represent this topic?
 * How is the article rated? Is it a part of any WikiProjects?
 * How does the way Wikipedia discusses this topic differ from the way we've talked about it in class?

Talk page evaluation
The talk page only included a few conversations are were about very specific cases. The most important conversation on the page was someone questioning how capital punishment was ending in MA. The question was left unanswered. The article is part of two WikiProjects (listed below).


 * WikiProject Massachusetts articles
 * WikiProject United States articles

Overall impressions

 * Guiding questions


 * What is the article's overall status?
 * What are the article's strengths?
 * How can the article be improved?
 * How would you assess the article's completeness - i.e. Is the article well-developed? Is it underdeveloped or poorly developed?

Overall evaluation
Overall, this article is in the beginning stages. It has the start of many headings, but none of them are complete. One of the article's strengths is that it is easy to read, as it does not have any spelling/grammatical errors. The article can be improved by adding information, adding headings/organization, and finding citations for missing sources. This article is poorly developed.

Optional activity

 * Choose at least 1 question relevant to the article you're evaluating and leave your evaluation on the article's Talk page. Be sure to sign your feedback

with four tildes — ~


 * Link to feedback: