User:Kiarra120/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.


 * Prison Overcrowding: Prison overcrowding
 * Briefly describe why you have chosen this article to evaluate.

I have chosen this article to evaluate because it is a topic of interest. I am aware that mass incarceration has led to prison overcrowding and its many effects. This is a social issue that more individuals need to be educated on and there are ways to solve this issue, as well as alternatives to lessen the impacts. Rather than provide personal opinion or assertions, I plan to state the facts and provide statistics so that the audience could make their own decision as to whether prison overcrowding is a major problem for the nation.

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 begins with the definition of prison overcrowding, and then delves into a paragraph explaining the history of it. I think this is good way of introducing the topic itself. There isn't a brief description of the article's major sections, but the article clearly labels each section so that it's easier to know what will be talked about. The Lead doesn't provide much information, as it immediately delves into the prison history so I think the Lead could use improvement on including relevant information concerning the article in general. However, the contents box outlines the titles of each section in the article which is good.

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?

Content evaluation
The article's content is relevant to the topic. It provides a few recent statistics to support the info given, but the article is somewhat restricted to only the United States. Maybe adding info regarding other countries could be a good way of strengthening the article's content. In addition, the prison history does not allow the reader to smoothly transition into its next section, which concerns prison overcrowding in the U.S. The causes and risks sections are brief and appears to only come from a single source. It seems as if information was just thrown into the article with not much reliability and support.

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
The article was extremely biased previously, before it was edited. It is obvious what the author's agenda was and what side he/she stood on in regards to this topic. Some statements said was an obvious opinion and there was no reliable source to support the assertion. The article doesn't do a good job of being neutral as much. I understand that this topic may create some heavy debates, but there is a way to provide information on all sides of an issue if done correctly.

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?
 * Check a few links. Do they work?

Sources and references evaluation
Most of the articles that were cited were not peer-reviewed journals, nor were they scholarly journals. I saw a few articles that appeared to be opinion-based and others were short articles with large doses of statistics relying heavily on a single source. However, the good thing was that most of the sources were current and the links included in the article 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
I strongly believe that the article as a whole did an okay job in explaining the topic itself, but it seemed a bit restricted and narrow. In regards to the sections I will be focusing on, risks and solutions, I think they could definitely use some improvement and more credible sources for support. I did not detect any grammatical or spelling errors in the article. The article was organized into sections, but each section did not provide enough information for the audience to get a clear sense of the topic.

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 does not include any images.

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 was pretty interesting because there were a couple individuals who provided strong criticism in regards to the tone and content of the article. One person stated that she edited out some of the author's information because it was extremely biased and transformed the article into a debate. Another person said that the article needed to improve on actually describing the topic, rather than only giving explanations. The audience needs to get a broader sense of prison overcrowding and its effects from all sides of the issue. This article is apart of the WikiProject Correction and Detention Facilities, that consists of the effort to improve coverage of prisons and penology on Wikipedia.

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
This article has not received ratings on the quality or importance scale as of yet. I think the article isn't completed and that there's a need for more clear information. If I had no knowledge of prison overcrowding and I read this article, I would really believe that the author only told me some background information that was previously learned in a classroom; rather than giving me actual facts and sources to back up the information. Some work could be done to develop a more neutral tone within the sections, and I think more sections should be added for better understanding.

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: Talk:Prison overcrowding