User:Maticl29/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: Economy of Ivory Coast
 * Briefly describe why you have chosen this article to evaluate.

I have chosen to evaluate this article because it was rated as Top-importance and as Start-class. I am also very interested in the economic development of the nation and am most likely going to be focusing my project around the Ivory Coast's economy.

Lead

 * Guiding questions


 * Does the Lead include an introductory sentence that concisely and clearly describes the article's topic?

No, in its current state, the introductory sentence mentions the effect of the recent political instability in the region on the economy; however, this is not further explained in the article.


 * Does the Lead include a brief description of the article's major sections?

The Lead includes somewhat of a brief introduction to a few of the major sections within the article. However, it fails to cover all of the major sections (e.g. Infrastructure) and also discusses some information which is not explained in the rest of the article.


 * Does the Lead include information that is not present in the article?

Yes, the Lead includes mentions of the recent political unrest in the Ivory Coast, but fails to explain the instability and its effect on the economy. It also includes a discussion on the volatility of the currency of the Ivory Coast, which is not explained any further.


 * Is the Lead concise or is it overly detailed?

The Lead is somewhat a combination of the two. For example, it is overly detailed in its discussion of the currency due to the lack of any further discussion in the rest of the article, but is too concise in other areas such as providing an introduction to the Infrastructure section.

Lead evaluation
In its current state, the Lead provides some useful information about the contents of the article. However, it fails to mention some of the important sections of the article and mentions some factors which are not further discussed.

Content

 * Guiding questions


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

Yes, the articles content is relevant to the topic.


 * Is the content up-to-date?

The content is relatively up to date; however, some sections could use some more updated statistics.


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

There are several sections which can be improved upon or added to the article in order to improve its overall quality. Factors such as public health, insurance markets, and land security could all be added so that the article is a more complete representation of the economy of the Ivory Coast.

Content evaluation
The articles content is seriously lacking. There are many different factors and markets that are not explored and it causes the article to seem very short and incomplete. The information which is present could use some updating and proper citations.

Tone and Balance

 * Guiding questions


 * Is the article neutral?

Yes, the article is neutral.


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

No


 * Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented?

No


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

No

Tone and balance evaluation
Due to the topic of the article, there is not much room for presenting biased information. The article as a whole is neutral and lacks any bias towards a particular group or organization.

Sources and References

 * Guiding questions


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

No, much of the information in the article lacks proper reliable sourcing.


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

No, most of the sources provided are solely statistical based and most of the information presented in the article, aside from the statistics, remains uncited.


 * Are the sources current?

Yes, the sources are current.


 * Check a few links. Do they work?

Yes, the links are currently working.

Sources and references evaluation
Overall, much of the information presented in the article remains uncited, apart from the statistical data presented. Many new sources must be added in order to validate the assumptions made in the content section of the article.

Organization

 * Guiding questions


 * Is the article well-written - i.e. Is it concise, clear, and easy to read?

Yes, the current sections of the article are well-written; however, some sections such as that on Animal husbandry are quite lengthy. The section on Animal husbandry provides many figures as to the headcount of livestock, but fails to provide any context significance to the economy.


 * Does the article have any grammatical or spelling errors?

No, the article does not seem to contain spelling or grammatical errors.


 * Is the article well-organized - i.e. broken down into sections that reflect the major points of the topic?

Yes, the article is broken down into sections which provide a background of the economy.

Organization evaluation
Overall, the article provides a well-written introduction to the economy of the Ivory Coast, but there are many sections which need to be reworked to provide context.

Images and Media

 * Guiding questions


 * Does the article include images that enhance understanding of the topic?

There are a few images in the article. Two of the images provide a view of the landscape of Abidjan, the economic capital of the country. The other image provides a map of Ivorian exports in 2006.


 * Are images well-captioned?

Yes, the images contain captions that effectively describe them.


 * Do all images adhere to Wikipedia's copyright regulations?

Yes


 * Are the images laid out in a visually appealing way?

No, the image of a hotel in Abidjan, which is contained in the tourism section of the article, overlaps and stretches into the External trade and investment section.

Images and media evaluation
The images in the article, apart from the Ivorian exports image, provide little information relevant to the economy of the Ivory Coast.

Checking the talk page

 * Guiding questions


 * What kinds of conversations, if any, are going on behind the scenes about how to represent this topic?

There is not any large conversations happening. One person has mentioned that the article is outdated and does not provide information on the political unrest that occurred in the 1990s and its effect on the economy.


 * How is the article rated? Is it a part of any WikiProjects?

This article is rated as Top-importance and Start-Class as part of WikiProject Africa. It is also rated as Mid-importance and Start-Class as part of Wikiproject Economics.


 * How does the way Wikipedia discusses this topic differ from the way we've talked about it in class?

The way Wikipedia discusses the topic and the way we discussed the topic in class are quite similar. We have discussed the importance of the colonization efforts on the economic outcomes of the Ivory Coast. While the Wikipedia article does not explore the effects of colonization directly it mentions the initial success and later political unrest of the Ivory Coast, which is a result of colonialism.

Talk page evaluation
The talk page has little discourse happening. There are some users who have explained there edits and one who has expressed that the information needs updating.

Overall impressions

 * Guiding questions


 * What is the article's overall status?

I believe the article corresponds to the Start-Class ranking it has received. While there is some valuable information in the article, a lot of it is lacking citations and there are a lot of unexplored sectors and influences on the economy.


 * What are the article's strengths?

The article is able to adequately convey the overall statistics relating to the economy of the Ivory Coast very well.


 * How can the article be improved?

The actual content of the article can be greatly improved through the addition of more information and providing sources for the current information. One particular important factor to the performance of the economy which is not explored is the recent political instability.


 * How would you assess the article's completeness - i.e. Is the article well-developed? Is it underdeveloped or poorly developed?

The article is poorly developed and lacks a lot of beneficial information needed to understand the basics of the economy of the Ivory Coast.

Overall evaluation
The article provides a good attempt at a start of exploring the economy of the Ivory Coast; however, fails to explore many sectors and influences that are crucial to gaining a basic understanding. The article needs significantly more citations and needs to further explain what is discussed in the Lead.

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: