User:MrFyerOne/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: Brockton, Massachusetts
 * I chose this article to evaluate because my project will heavily focus on the state of Brockton as we speak. If this article isn't up to date with facts regarding what's been happening in Brockton in 2020, I plan on analyzing the given information.

Lead
Brockton is a city in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States; the population is 95,708 as of 2019. Brockton, along with Plymouth, is one of the two county seats of Plymouth County. Brockton is the seventh largest city in Massachusetts and is sometimes referred to as the "City of Champions", due to the success of native boxers Rocky Marciano and Marvin Hagler, as well as its successful Brockton High School sports programs. Two of the villages within the city are Montello and Campello, both have the distinction of having their own MBTA Commuter Rail Stations and post offices. Campello is the smallest neighborhood in the city, but also the most populous. Brockton hosts a baseball team, the Brockton Rox. Brockton is the second-windiest city in the United States, with an average wind speed of 14.3 mph.


 * 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
I think the Lead could be a bit stronger. The beginning of the Lead is perfect, but I think the part that describes the population of Brockton doesn't have to be included right in the first sentence of the article. It does a good job with briefly describing the article's major section, but it still has some excessive information that can easily be included somewhere else.

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 as a whole is relevant to the topic, where everything mainly focuses on the history of Brockton. However, the content isn't 100% up to date because there's barely information regarding 2020. The latest they recorded for the population of Brockton was back in 2019. It doesn't fail to address the numerous and important topics that are commonly known to people in Brockton, like the history, infrastructure, government, etc.

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 remains entirely neutral and unbiased. There are no viewpoints that are overrepresented or underrepresented, and there is no persuasion from the article towards certain positions.

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
All of the sources and references are reliable. However, there could be more sources that are up to date because most of the sources were created well before 2020. The sources are all diverse and the links that I clicked do in fact 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 very well organized with little to no mistakes. The sections are all relevant towards the major topic of the article.

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 images are very helpful, visually appealing, and go well with the information. The captions could be improved for some of the 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
Most of the conversations are about the edits that people have made on the actual article. Some people talk about facts that they believe should be added or not included, like Rocky Marciano facts. The article is supported by WikiProject Massachusetts, and has been rated as B-Class and has been rated as Low-importance. Wikipedia discusses topics in a more clear and concise way, where it mainly portrays very relevant and reliable information.

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, the article needs more information since most of what was posted on the article date before or during 2019. It's not top quality, but it stresses the most important information that the reader would most likely be looking for. If the article wasn't underdeveloped or if the facts were more up to date, then the article would be more accurate.

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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 * Link to feedback: