This guide is to help you with your Wicked Problem case study.

You will need to gather a wide variety of information on both (or more) sides of a topic.

You will need to gather basic overview sources, as well as sources concerning your local community.

You will need to keep your personal biases in check to make sure you retrieve all the relevant sources.

We'll be using the "IF I APPLY" method to help you identify your biases.

Often we seek information that confirms our own thoughts and feelings towards a topic. This is not research. Research and learning comes from finding sources that speak to the truth of a topic, no matter how much it hurts, or does not fit with your current ideas and beliefs.

Only by keeping personal biases in check can you begin to vet information for credibility. These steps will help you find sources that are credible and reliable in your research process. 

IF I APPLY is a method for identifying bias, both personal and external, and then using this as a baseline for determining the credibility of a resource. Information is neither good nor bad. Resources, and information, have a time and place when they will be useful for a specific topic or need.  

IF I APPLY is not meant to be used as a checklist, but rather as a tool to facilitate and guide critical thinking.