The Internet supplies us with an endless stream of information, but how reliable is it? One way to evaluate reliability is to compare data from several different sources. One way to check for bias (especially with controversial topics) is to compare statements by people who have opposing views.
For people who wish their words to be given attention and taken seriously, balance is of vital importance. Maintaining that balance relies on good research and not allowing your opinion to be mistaken in your mind for fact. There is so much information available for research, and your task is to separate the redundant, excess information from the important data.
For example, many people use the popular online encyclopedia Wikipedia for research. This is not a bad idea; the site is filled with information which is well cross-referenced and constantly updated. In terms of freshness, online encyclopedias such as this cannot be beaten by the traditional, paper-based form of encyclopedia, which in turn are incredibly inconvenient for the purposes of cross-reference. So if there is this much convenience to an online encyclopedia, and so much information therein, we should be looking to use it for all of our research needs, should we not?
Well, in fairness, using an online resource like Wikipedia can be a very good way to do substantial research, but it is important to make sure that any facts and figures you use from a Wikipedia article are cited and backed up by other sources.
You will find the citation reference in square brackets next to the information in the article body. This links to the table of references, which can be used to find the source that, the statistics or other information were drawn from. The more sources you have for information – and the more views you listen to from both sides of a debate – the better for any research that you do. Even if you disagree with the information and opinions given by a certain source, it can after all be used as a jumping-off point for a counter-argument.