User:Geoplatka/Evaluate an Article

Evaluate an article

This is where you will complete your article evaluation. Please use the template below to evaluate your selected article.

• Name of article:

Hypnosis

• Briefly describe why you have chosen this article to evaluate.

Hypnosis is related to Forensic Hypnosis which is an article which I am planning to edit. Learning about how hypnosis works may help me to better understand why evidence acquired through hypnosis may or may not be considered admissible in court.

Lead

Guiding questions

The lead starts with a concise definition for hypnosis which clearly conveys what it means for a person to be in a state of hypnosis. The lead goes on to describe two competing theories about how hypnosis actually works in the human mind without stating whether one or the other is correct. It also notes that hypnosis is primarily used in therapy and stage performances. Finally, the lead mentions that practicing hypnosis is somewhat controversial, and that it may cause people to recall, or moreover form, false memories. This point is particularly important to my topic, Forensic Hypnosis, as this may imply issues with the accuracy of memories acquired through the hypnotic process. While the lead is concise and it provides a clear idea of hypnosis and its uses, it does not provide a description of the article's main sections and its format.

• Does the Lead include an introductory sentence that concisely and clearly describes the article's topic?
• Does the Lead include a brief description of the article's major sections?
• Does the Lead include information that is not present in the article?
• Is the Lead concise or is it overly detailed?

Content

Guiding questions

All of the article's content appears to be relevant to hypnosis or its history. While the article provides information about the use of hypnosis in committing crimes, it doesn't cover the use of collecting evidence with the use of hypnosis, forensic hypnosis. This is convenient for me as it allows me to create a new article which deals specifically with this topic.

• Is the article's content relevant to the topic?
• Is the content up-to-date?
• Is there content that is missing or content that does not belong?
• Does the article deal with one of Wikipedia's equity gaps? Does it address topics related to historically underrepresented populations or topics?

Tone and Balance

Guiding questions

Wikipedia has flagged a section in the article titled Hypnotherapy. I believe that this is primarily because of the disputed usefulness of hypnosis in psychological practices. Additionally, this section of the article doesn't present multiple view points when describing the therapies that hypnosis has been considered to useful in. For example, in the lead it is mentioned that hypnosis may have little usefulness in smoking cessation while as the hypnotherapy section of the article mentions treating smoking as one of the ways that it may be used. This and other issues make the practicality of using hypnotherapy somewhat ambiguous.

• Is the article neutral?
• Are there any claims that appear heavily biased toward a particular position?
• Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented?
• Does the article attempt to persuade the reader in favor of one position or away from another?

Sources and References

Guiding questions

All information presented in the article appears to be sourced and there are links to other Wikipedia articles which have been referenced. I was able to find multiple sources listed for each topic discussed such as for the effectiveness of hypnosis in weight loss which had 4 sources listed. Not many of the sources are current, but they are not unreasonably outdated either.

• Are all facts in the article backed up by a reliable secondary source of information?
• Are the sources thorough - i.e. Do they reflect the available literature on the topic?
• Are the sources current?
• Are the sources written by a diverse spectrum of authors? Do they include historically marginalized individuals where possible?
• Check a few links. Do they work?

Organization

Guiding questions

The article is well organized and doesn't contain grammatical errors. It appears that the sections and information which have been produced have been scrutinized and improved based on the discussion that I saw within the talk.

• Is the article well-written - i.e. Is it concise, clear, and easy to read?
• Does the article have any grammatical or spelling errors?
• Is the article well-organized - i.e. broken down into sections that reflect the major points of the topic?

Images and Media

Guiding questions

The article doesn't have many images and the images are almost all at the top which doesn't make for a very appealing layout. The only images throughout the body of the article are two images for important figures in the history of hypnosis.

• Does the article include images that enhance understanding of the topic?
• Are images well-captioned?
• Do all images adhere to Wikipedia's copyright regulations?
• Are the images laid out in a visually appealing way?

Checking the talk page

Guiding questions

The talk page has a large to-do list for improving the article. There is a lot of conversation about improvements to the article such as the removal of what one perceived to be an irrelevant picture and multiple revisions of the lead. The article is rated as a level 4 article in the C-Class. Additionally, it notes that some content of the article may be controversial and under dispute. The article is in multiple WikiProjects and marked as top-importance and high-importance in the C-Class.

• What kinds of conversations, if any, are going on behind the scenes about how to represent this topic?
• How is the article rated? Is it a part of any WikiProjects?
• How does the way Wikipedia discusses this topic differ from the way we've talked about it in class?

Overall impressions

Guiding questions

It seems that most of the article is strong, but that certain sections such as the one which deals with hypnotherapy are underdeveloped. The hypnotherapy section in particular does not address the complexities of psychology and it is left ambiguous as to whether certain methods of hypnosis are effective therapeutic methods. Additionally, the entire topic of Forensic Hypnosis is not included in the article.

• What is the article's overall status?
• What are the article's strengths?
• How can the article be improved?
• How would you assess the article's completeness - i.e. Is the article well-developed? Is it underdeveloped or poorly developed?