I have chosen the website:
http://www.who.int/genomics/publications/en/index.html
The World Health organisation WHO is the directing and coordinating authority for health within the United Nations system. It is responsible for providing leadership on global health matters, shaping the health research agenda, setting norms and standards, articulating evidence-based policy options, providing technical support to countries and monitoring and assessing health trends.
It is a respected body and medical practitioners, pharmacists and university professors often refer to WHO and discuss its guidelines.
This is because of the reliability and validity of its data and recommendations.
So what is reliability?
Reliability is "Yielding the same or compatible results in different clinical experiments or statistical trials".
For example, Margaret Shepherd is reliable as she is at every tutorial, ready to give her students insight into the world of biology.
Joanne is a reliable friend in so many ways I can't begin to count.
Silvana is a reliable source of snacks in tutorial.
Over many weeks, the same results are yielded.
And what is validity?
Well, according to Gerry McCloughan from the Department of Education, validity refers to whether the measurements you are taking are caused by the phenomena you are interested in. The relationship between reliability and validity can be confusing because measurements can be reliable without being valid. However, they cannot be valid unless they are reliable.
Surfing the WHO website is easy. The information is clear and if it's not reliable , it is not published.
It is also valid. Processes are in place and material is scrutinised before it is published. I believe we should always question information at hand, but also appreciate good sources of material like WHO.int
Gerry McCloghman also suggested the following questions to assess validity and reliability from secondary sources.
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Some good questions to ask:
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first-hand
information and data
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secondary
information and data
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reliability
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Have I tested with repetition?
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How consistent is the information with information from other
reputable sources?
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validity
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Does my procedure experiment actually test the hypothesis that I
want it to? What variables have I identified and controlled?
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How was the information gathered? Do the findings relate to the
hypothesis or problem?
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The following is interesting information from the department of Education:
References to validity and reliability in Stage 6
syllabuses
- Skills content
11.2: Plan first-hand investigations to:
(c) design investigations that allow valid and reliable data and information to be collected. - Outcome P12:
Discusses the validity and reliability of data gathered from first-hand
investigations and secondary sources.
- Outcome H12:
Evaluates ways in which accuracy and reliability could be improved in
investigations.
- Skills content
12.4: Process information to:
(e) assess the reliability of first-hand and secondary information and data by considering information from various sources. - Outcome H14:
Assesses the validity of conclusions from gathered data and information.
In relation to 9.3 and 9.5 of the biology syllabus, there is a lot of reliable and valid information about the Human Genome Project.
I would recommend WHO.int to all my biology students, and encourage them to navigate this great website. One can get lost for hours reading about mutations and diseases, and initiatives to change the world. It helps students in biology and helps shape their morals and ethics as they may read about diseases in third world countries.
It is an international website with translations into many languages.
The campaigns by WHO are global.
WHO’s Constitution came into force on 7 April 1948 – a date we now celebrate every year as World Health Day.
And then there is Facebook as a potential biology website!!
Reliability? Validity?
I would need another two thousand words and a couple of hours of reading!
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