Reliability Evaluation of the ADHD NZ PageAre you too trusting of the internet? The world wide web is a source of endless information but for all the facts you can find there is sadly just as much inaccuracies. 30 million websites are created daily by any person with the initiative to publish one and a considerable amount of these are health related. The site owner’s professionalism and integrity affect its pages reliability and trustworthiness of information. Regarding health websites, only one third of people seeking information have confidence in their abilities to decipher facts from misinformation.
Having the ability to appraise and evaluate a website is key when trying to do so. (Usher & Skinner 2008). A set of criteria can be used to evaluate a website to ensure that it provides creditable, factual, and equitable information. Such evaluations warrant if these sites can be trusted and if it reaches its desired purpose of empowering and educating the reader. An example of an effective web review can be done on the ADHD NZ page using accuracy, authority, and objectivity to check its reliability.
Finding who the author, creator, or publisher and/or the organization who is responsible for the source is impertinent when trying to establish their authority. A list of credentials or affiliations is helpful to gain trust and determine if they are creditable. ADHD NZ was formed in 1977 as a national, community based, non-profit organization that states they are committed to supporting those living with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD NEW ZEALAND, 2019). Their published website offers an about us page listing their vision and values. Pictures of the board members are show all listed by name and title. The copyright is dated 2018 but no publishing information like where and when is available. They have a page showing who they are sponsored by, and how to become one but it does not make links available to these entities. The ADHD NZ recognizes Don McGlashan who is as iconic New Zealand musician as their patron. In a brief write up he says that he is honored to have been chosen and is glad to lend his voice to the important work the Association does (ADHD NEW ZEALAND, 2019). A patron is a person who gives financial or other support to an organization, cause, or activity. The ADHD NZ website is a .org. These sites contain information that is generally considered to be reliable although they do not catalog their credentials or affiliations and a bibliography or reference list is omitted.To determine the reason why the information exists explains the objectivity of web document. When interpreting the site, you must detect weather the writer has biases. Consider the views and opinions given along with the information details and what the goal of the page is. In the case of ADHD NZ, they clearly intend to be educational and offer ADHD information but also want are selling memberships that include information, referrals, a library of books and DVDs, newsletters, helpline counselling, speakers and some local support groups that meet monthly. The membership is thirty dollars and is due annually. The welcome page has an invitation for locals of the Auckland area to join the basketball program. It also has an exclusive offer for New Zealand Pine Park Extract – High Dose Professional Formulation. It is alleged to support healthy energy levels, mental clarity and focus in adults and children (ADHD NEW ZEALAND, 2019). This and the membership are the only things that can be perched on this webpage. It does not have any adds or promotions for anything else. While promoting their ability to help, resources they offer, and explanation of ADHD diagnoses information and symptom management advise, most of the links and helpful tools are member exclusive. The goal of this page is to expand on its member base and provide them with quality support.Accuracy refers to the reliability, truthfulness and correctness of the content. After a website is evaluated for authority and they seem to be qualified and the objective of it satisfies your purpose of using it is imperative to determine if the information given is accurate. This can be done by finding the researched or the provided evidence. The ADHD NZ created their page to be easy to navigate. There is a menu tab at the top and full access to all those options available at the bottom of all the pages on the site. Multiple forms of contact is provided on the contact us page in the menu as well as at the bottom of every page on the site. The main location of information given is located under the What is ADHD tab, How Can We Help tab, and a Resources tab. None of the information typed out is cited. There is not a reference page given. Most of the links they have are to creditable sources. These linked sites do offer resources, sources, and in some cases a copy and paste option of how to cite that page. There seems to be a lot more information for members. Maybe that is where they give more detail as to how they came about the information they share. An example of an effective web review can be done on the ADHD NZ page using authority, objectivity and accuracy to check its reliability. Using research skills to identify a websites authority, objectivity, and accuracy can determine the reliability of websites. When identifying these factors on the ADHD NZ website the conclusion can be that they supply sufficient information relevant to the ADHD disorder but lack source credit. There have been several proposals on how to improve quality of mental disorder websites however, no consensus has been made on a way to accomplish this. Until there is a consistent, universal and well-recognized way of indicating high quality websites (Reavley & Jorm, 2011), users must do a self-evaluation using appropriate criteria. Knowing what questions to answer and strategies to apply will make this process easier when determining if your source is reliable.