Table 3.
Analysis of Students’ Justifications for their Evaluations of Author Benevolence
| Quality of justification | Mother's blog | Newspaper's website | Company website | Research center's website |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Level 3: Elaborated, relevant justification (3 points) |
"The author does not get any benefits from delivering this particular information. The author has own children, so she probably feels obligated to deliver information that she thinks is useful" (Student 24X) | "As the author is a journalist, he wants to stick to the truth because delivering false information would have negative consequences for his reputation. In addition, there are no commercials on the page, so he does not have a commercial motive to do a click article" (Student 2V5) | "The author wants to increase the sales, so he does not talk negatively about sugar effects, even if it has negative effects. Of course, if the information is false, the company might be in trouble. Thus, the author tries to avoid that" (Student 1MY) | "The author has no reason to tell inaccurate information because her job is based on delivering objective information and analysis. The article does not mention any brands, so the benefits are out of the question" (Student 24X) |
|
Level 2: Relevant justification (2 points) |
"She wants to warn/instruct other parents" (Student 39H) | "He wants to refute the false belief about the sugar is causing hyperactivity" (Student 1RI) | "The author just wants to have more customers" (Student 2PY) | "The text aims at delivering information about the health issues to the citizens" (Student 1PW) |
|
Level 1: Tangential or vague justification (1 point) |
"The text is more an opinion than factual knowledge" (Student 3PL) | "He has included research-based information in his article and interviewed the knowledgeable pediatrician" (Student 2N2) | "The author benefits from his writings" (Student 23I) | "Because she tells about different perspectives" (Student 3AR) |
| Level 0: Inadequate justification (0 points) | "Because not all information is correct" (Student 3AR) | "The author has ended up writing an article" (Student 3FP) | "The author writes in an encouraging way and honestly about facts without any special claims" (Student 3TZ) | "It seems that she does not have a reason to lie" (Student 1FS) |