Arguably, the quickest route these days to obtaining information for a research query is via a search engine such as Google or through an online encyclopedia such as Wikipedia.
This is particularly important for many of us who are business majors and/or are looking for business opportunities abroad. For business information seekers, the internet offers vast content for a fee or for free. A Harvard Business School article briefly outlines some questions to consider when evaluating free content on the web, especially paying particular notice to where the information came from and why it is available for free.
Here are the questions to consider in determining the validity of free internet contents (Jan W. Rivkin & Ann Cullen, “Finding Information for Industry Analysis,” HBS No. 708-481):
1) What type of individual or organization produced the site?
2) Is an author listed? If so, what are the credentials of the author?
3) Is there a bias or a commercial interest?
4) Who is the website’s target audience?
5) How current is the information?
6) Are references, citations, or links to other resources included?
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