User:Courtney Zettel/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: The Happiness Industry
 * I chose this article because it overviews a book called "The Happiness Industry: How Government and Big Business Sold Us Well-Being," which elaborates on the dangers of consumerism in the modern day and how different governmental and business institutions push the ideology that happiness originates from consumption. In regard to economic inequality, this article can help us to understand why people are so enthralled by 'get-rich-quick' schemes and constantly wanting more financially. The truth is that money does not buy happiness, and it will never buy happiness. The desire of increasingly gaining wealth leaves one disappointed, depressed and empty.

Lead

 * Guiding questions

The introductory sentence provides a clear insight into the article's topic, which is an overview of the book "The Happiness Industry: How Government and Big Business Sold Us Well-Being." However, the entirety of the Lead consists of the introductory sentence, so it does not include a brief description of the article's major sections, but it also does not include information that is not present in the article. I would argue that the Lead is much to concise, given that it is a single sentence.


 * 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?

Content

 * Guiding questions

Yes, the article's content is relevant to the topic of the book itself, and it is up-to-date. I would say that there is no content that does not belong, but there could be more content on additional studies conducted in relation to this subject or concrete evidence of the psychological damage done by governmental and business institutions that pushes the ideology of money buying happiness. No, this article does not directly deal with one of Wikipedia's equity gaps.


 * 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?

Tone and Balance

 * Guiding questions

The article is neutral, and no claims seem to appear heavily biased toward a particular position. I would say that the viewpoints of certain marginalized groups, which would be more affected by the psychological damages that come with toxic consumerism. I don't think this article uses any sort of persuasive language that could push the reader in favor of one position or away from another. One could argue that it persuades the reader to believe that the concept of money buying happiness is fabricated by governmental and business institutions, but there is not much evidence taken from the book itself in the article to back this viewpoint.


 * 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?

Sources and References

 * Guiding questions

Yes, all facts in the article seem to be backed up by a reliable secondary source of information, which is the book "The Happiness Industry: How Government and Big Business Sold Us Well-Being" itself. The sources do not seem very thorough because there aren't many outside perspectives beside for the author. The sources are current in comparison to the date the book the article is referring to was published. I think that there should've been a more diverse spectrum of authors that include historically marginalized individuals where possible. The links work.


 * 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?

Organization

 * Guiding questions

The article is somewhat well-written; it is mostly concise, clear, and easy to read. From what I can see, there are no grammatical or spelling errors in this article. I don't this article is well-organized. There are not clear, broken-down sections that reflect the major points of the topic.


 * 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?

Images and Media

 * Guiding questions

The single image used in the article is a picture of the book's cover, which does not necessarily enhance understanding of the topic at all. Since there are no other images, it is not applicable to answer if the images are well-captioned, if the images adhere to Wikipedia's copyright regulations, or if the images are laid out in a visually appealing way.


 * 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?

Checking the talk page

 * Guiding questions

There are no conversations going on behind the scenes about how to represent this topic. The article is part of two WikiProjects: "WikiProject Books" and "WikiProject Philosophy." By WikiProject Books, the article has been rated Start-Class on the project's quality scale. By WikiProject Philosophy, the article has also been rated Start-Class on the project's quality scale and has been rated as low-importance on the project's importance scale. Being that we have not really discussed this topic in class, I cannot answer the final guiding question.


 * 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?

Overall impressions

 * Guiding questions

The article's overall status is low, and the only strengths it has are that it offers a very short, concise summary of the novel "The Happiness Industry: How Government and Big Business Sold Us Well-Being." The article could be improved by clearly listing the sources along with fixing the insufficient inline citations. In regard to the article's completeness, I think it is underdeveloped, or poorly developed, and it failed to meet the potential that was expected.


 * 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?

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

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