User:Larsontrainor/Evaluate an Article

Which article are you evaluating?
Identity management theory

Why you have chosen this article to evaluate
I thought this was an interesting theory, and I also thought it would be a good article to evaluate considering its not one of the major communication theories and therefore wouldn't be as buttoned up and official as other articles.

Evaluate the article
{| class="wikitable"

Content
A good Wikipedia article should cover all the important aspects of a topic, without putting too much weight on one part while neglecting another.


 * Is the article's content relevant to the topic?

The content is relevant to the topic, it breaks down what Identity management theory is, how it arose and strategies that are used by people to try and deal with the predicaments outlined by the theory.


 * Is the content up-to-date?

The content is somewhat up to date, but the latest source referenced is from 2014, 8 years ago. I believe there could definitely be more recent information added to the article.


 * Is there content that is missing or content that does not belong?

I don’t believe there's content that doesn’t belong, but I do think it could go more in depth with the content in some areas. For example, in the small paragraph about Identity, it reads “Specific characteristics explain how people feel about themselves as an individual and in a social setting.” What are some of those characteristics? What are the characteristics for an individual versus those for a person in a social setting? These added details would make the article more easily understandable and add a broader context to the discussion.


 * Does the article deal with one of Wikipedia's equity gaps? Does it address topics related to historically underrepresented populations or topics?

The article itself doesn’t reference any underrepresented populations or topics, but the theory itself and its intercultural communication deals with how people from different races, religions and any background communicate and pick up on each other's tendencies. The ways in which minorities may have to compartmentalize and readjust their actions in communication with people from different cultures could be considered an underrepresented topic.

Tone and Balance
Wikipedia articles should be written from a neutral point of view; if there are substantial differences of interpretation or controversies among published, reliable sources, those views should be described as fairly as possible.


 * Is the article neutral?

Yes, the article is posted and edited by neutral sources and the wording in it is not slanted to a specific side or point of view. It presents facts and definitions of keywords in a manner that is matter of fact and to the point, without personal biases.


 * Are there any claims that appear heavily biased toward a particular position?

No, there's not many statements that seem heavily opinionated or slanted, it just presents studies and the findings from them.


 * Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented?

When the topic of intracultural communication comes up, the author simply says there is not a Wikipedia page on the topic and not enough research to correlate it with intercultural communication. Considering I found a few articles posted about it fairly easily and it is a somewhat common topic I believe it should’ve been explored more in the article and explained, especially considering there is an entire paragraph dedicated to the contrast of intercultural and intracultural communication.


 * Are minority or fringe viewpoints accurately described as such?

There are not many fringe or minority viewpoints in the article, but when viewpoints are described the author did make sure to state that they are the beliefs and viewpoints of the writers, such as Goffman, Cupach, and Imahori.


 * Does the article attempt to persuade the reader in favor of one position or away from another?

No, it is straightforward in presenting the theory and its basis, as well as the reasoning for the theory.

Sources and References
A Wikipedia article should be based on the best sources available for the topic at hand. When possible, this means academic and peer-reviewed publications or scholarly books.


 * Are all facts in the article backed up by a reliable secondary source of information?

Yes, all facts are backed up with references and most of the statements in the article are just definitions of concepts. Statements that are presented as theories are listed with the scientist/writer that gave them.


 * Are the sources thorough - i.e. Do they reflect the available literature on the topic?

No, I believe there is a lot more available literature on Identity management theory out there than that of which is listed in the article. A simple google search as well as a search in the UCF Library’s database brought up many studies and articles posted on the subject, compared to this one page article and 5 references listed.


 * Are the sources current?

The sources aren’t very current, as the latest reference is from a 2014 article posted on identity management. Also, there is a notice from Wikipedia stating that the article lacks sufficient inline citations that is from 2009, indicating not much work has been done on it in recent years and few updates of content/sourcing.


 * Are the sources written by a diverse spectrum of authors? Do they include historically marginalized individuals where possible?

No, every source is written by an older white male. There is not a diverse spectrum of authors on the topic and there are only 8 authors to begin with, but not much of an effort was made.


 * Are there better sources available, such as peer-reviewed articles in place of news coverage or random websites? (You may need to do some digging to answer this.)

There are many peer-reviewed articles in academic journals from UCF library’s database that deal with specific issues or concepts involving identity management, like how it affects intercultural friendship or marital issues. There are also articles posted by Alice E. Veksler and Gerriane Merrigan that explore the subject further.


 * Check a few links. Do they work?

Yes, all of the links from the article work. It is somewhat poorly written to me, but it gets its point across. The only image used is a random picture of a tree, its not very visually appealing and there is no caption. Overall, my impression of the article is somewhat underwhelming, mainly due to its lack of detail when talking about intracultural versus intercultural, the lack of diversified sources, and the overall presentation of the article visually like the image of the tree.
 * }