Behavior change project step 2: sources and CRAAP guide
Four sources, four APA citations and four summaries — and the instruction that decides the grade is to be intentional rather than to take the first four results.
Editorial process
Last reviewed · August 10, 2026
What does step 2 of the behaviour change project require?
The objective line tells you what this step is for: finding credible sources that directly support your behaviour change project. The topic here is buying more organic foods, and that specificity matters more than it appears, because the sources you need are not sources about organic food in general. They are sources that help you make the change. The brief says so twice, and its strongest instruction is the one in bold type — be intentional about your research, determine what types of information will help you make your change, and then go and find those types, rather than taking the first four things a search returns. That instruction is doing double duty: it is the graded skill and it is also the difference between a step 3 you can write and one you cannot.
So start by deciding what you actually need to know. For a purchasing behaviour, the useful categories are roughly: what the evidence says about the benefit you are pursuing, what the barriers to this specific behaviour are, what strategies have been shown to work for changing a purchasing habit, and what practical information you need locally — cost, availability, seasonality. Four sources mapped onto four different information needs will produce a far stronger step 3 than four sources that all say organic food is popular. Say what your four categories are in the document; it costs two sentences and it demonstrates the intentionality the brief is asking for. The brief's own worked example is instructive — it describes a source that would give someone clear strategies for planning an exercise programme, which is a strategy source rather than a benefit source, and that is the type most students under-collect.
A warning about the evidence itself, because this topic is one where the popular and the scientific literatures diverge sharply. Claims about organic food's health benefits are contested, and a paper that assembles four sources all asserting a large benefit has selected rather than searched. The honest and higher-scoring approach is to find what the research actually supports, note where it is weak or mixed, and then be clear about which of your reasons for the change are evidence-based and which are personal preference. There is nothing wrong with a preference; there is something wrong with dressing one up as a finding. Environmental, pesticide-residue and cost arguments each have their own literatures with different levels of support, and separating them is more useful than treating organic as a single proposition to be defended or attacked.
The CRAAP criteria are the assessed part of each summary and they should be applied rather than listed. Currency, relevance, authority, accuracy and purpose each ask a different question, and the interesting ones for this topic are authority and purpose. Who published this, and what do they gain if you believe it? A trade association for organic producers, a supermarket's own content marketing, a government agency and a peer-reviewed journal are four different kinds of source with four different reasons to exist, and saying so about your own sources is exactly the judgement the exercise is training. A summary that concludes every source is credible has not applied the criteria; it has recited them. If one of your four is weaker than the others but still worth keeping, say why you are keeping it — that judgement is more impressive than four clean verdicts.
Each entry needs two things under its citation: a summary of what the source says, and the credibility explanation. Write the summary for your future self, since the brief tells you plainly that you will integrate this material into step 3 — record the specific numbers, recommendations and strategies you will actually use, not a general impression of the article. A summary that says "this article discusses the benefits of organic food" will be useless in two weeks; one that records a figure, a mechanism or a named strategy will not. Write down the page or section too, since finding a specific claim again in a long article is the single most avoidable delay in the next step.
On mechanics: four APA citations, each followed by its summary and credibility explanation, prepared in a Word document. Use the library guide the brief links rather than a general search engine, because the guide is what distinguishes books, periodical articles and web sources for you — and the assignment is partly a test of whether you can use it. Check each citation against a current APA reference rather than trusting a generator's output, since citation tools routinely mis-format the source types you are most likely to be using here. Government reports and web pages in particular are the two the generators handle worst, and both are likely to appear among your four.
Likely learning objectives
Inferred from the brief — check these against your own rubric.
- 01Derive search targets from an information need rather than from a topic name.
- 02Apply appraisal criteria so that they can produce a negative verdict.
- 03Separate evidence-based reasons from personal preference.
- 04Write summaries that remain usable at the next stage of a project.
Read the full question
Review every instruction before using the planning guidance that follows.
Course-wide instructions that accompany this question
Important information for writing discussion questions and participation Hi Class, Please read through the following information on writing a Discussion question response and participation posts. Contact me if you have any questions. Important information on Writing a Discussion Question Your response needs to be a minimum of 150 words (not including your list of references) There needs to be at least TWO references with ONE being a peer reviewed professional journal article. Include in-text citations in your response Do not include quotes—instead summarize and paraphrase the information Follow APA-7th edition Points will be deducted if the above is not followed Participation –replies to your classmates or instructor A minimum of 6 responses per week, on at least 3 days of the week. Each response needs at least ONE reference with citations—best if it is a peer reviewed journal article Each response needs to be at least 75 words in length (does not include your list of references) Responses need to be substantive by bringing information to the discussion or further enhance the discussion. Responses of “I agree” or “great post” does not count for the word count. Follow APA 7th edition Points will be deducted if the above is not followed Remember to use and follow APA-7th edition for all weekly assignments, discussion questions, and participation points. Here are some helpful links Student paper example Citing Sources The Writing Center is a great resource Welcome to class Hello class and welcome to the class and I will be your instructor for this course. This is a -week course and requires a lot of time commitment, organization, and a high level of dedication. Please use the class syllabus to guide you through all the assignments required for the course. I have also attached the classroom policies to this announcement to know your expectations for this course. Please review this document carefully and ask me any questions if you do. You could email me at any time or send me a message via the “message” icon in halo if you need to contact me. I check my email regularly, so you should get a response within 24 hours. If you have not heard from me within 24 hours and need to contact me urgently, please send a follow up text to. I strongly encourage that you do not wait until the very last minute to complete your assignments. Your assignments in weeks 4 and 5 require early planning as you would need to present a teaching plan and interview a community health provider. I advise you look at the requirements for these assignments at the beginning of the course and plan accordingly. I have posted the YouTube link that explains all the class assignments in detail. It is required that you watch this 32-minute video as the assignments from week 3 through 5 require that you follow the instructions to the letter to succeed. Failure to complete these assignments according to instructions might lead to a zero. After watching the video, please schedule a one-on-one with me to discuss your topic for your project by the second week of class. Use this link to schedule a 15-minute session. Please, call me at the time of your appointment on my number. Please note that I will NOT call you. Please, be advised I do NOT accept any assignments by email. If you are having technical issues with uploading an assignment, contact the technical department and inform me of the issue. If you have any issues that would prevent you from getting your assignments to me by the deadline, please inform me to request a possible extension. Note that working fulltime or overtime is no excuse for late assignments. There is a 5%-point deduction for every day your assignment is late. This only applies to approved extensions. Late assignments will not be accepted. If you think you would be needing accommodations due to any reasons, please contact the appropriate department to request accommodations. Plagiarism is highly prohibited. Please ensure you are citing your sources correctly using APA 7th edition. All assignments including discussion posts should be formatted in APA with the appropriate spacing, font, margin, and indents. Any papers not well formatted would be returned back to you, hence, I advise you review APA formatting style. I have attached a sample paper in APA format and will also post sample discussion responses in subsequent announcements. Your initial discussion post should be a minimum of 200 words and response posts should be a minimum of 150 words. Be advised that I grade based on quality and not necessarily the number of words you post. A minimum of TWO references should be used for your initial post. For your response post, you do not need references as personal experiences would count as response posts. If you however cite anything from the literature for your response post, it is required that you cite your reference. You should include a minimum of THREE references for papers in this course. Please note that references should be no more than 5 years old except recommended as a resource for the class. Furthermore, for each discussion board question, you need ONE initial substantive response and TWO substantive responses to either your classmates or your instructor for a total of THREE responses. There are TWO discussion questions each week, hence, you need a total minimum of SIX discussion posts for each week. I usually post a discussion question each week. You could also respond to these as it would count towards your required SIX discussion posts for the week. I understand this is a lot of information to cover in 5 weeks, however, the Bible says in Philippians 4:13 that we can do all things through Christ that strengthens us. Even in times like this, we are encouraged by God’s word that we have that ability in us to succeed with His strength. I pray that each and every one of you receives strength for this course and life generally as we navigate through this pandemic that is shaking our world today. Relax and enjoy the course!
Four citations, four summaries, four appraisals
- 01Located and read science-based research relating to your behaviour change, using the library guide.
- 02Four sources narrowed from the wider search.
- 03An APA citation for each of the four sources.
- 04A summary of the information provided in each article.
- 05An explanation of why each source is credible, using the CRAAP criteria.
- 06The citations and summaries prepared in a Word document.
Deciding what to look for before searching
The information you need
State the four categories of information the behaviour change requires before naming any source.
The four citations
Present four APA citations for sources answering those four needs.
Summaries
Record what each source actually says, in enough detail to be reused in the next step.
Credibility appraisal
Apply currency, relevance, authority, accuracy and purpose to each source, including where a source is weaker.
Using the library guide rather than a search engine
Recommended databases
- The library guide linked in the assignment
- PubMed Central
- USDA and other government agency resources
- Peer-reviewed nutrition and consumer behaviour journals
Search sequence
- 1.Write your four information needs first, then search once for each; searching by topic returns everything and decides nothing.
- 2.Use the library guide as instructed, since it separates books, periodical articles and web sources and the assignment is partly assessing that skill.
- 3.Search barriers or determinants of the purchasing behaviour, not only the benefits of the product; the barrier literature is what makes step 3 actionable.
- 4.Check each candidate source's publisher and funding before summarising it, so the purpose criterion has something to work with.
Sources on appraisal and behaviour change
These are authoritative starting points, not a ready-made bibliography. A qualified reviewer must confirm that each source fits the assignment and supports the claim beside which it is cited.
Nothing here is cleared for citation until you have read it.
- 01
Improving Students' Learning With Effective Learning Techniques: Promising Directions From Cognitive and Educational Psychology
Psychological Science in the Public Interest, via PubMed · 2013
Rates study and self-management techniques by evidence strength. Relevant if one of your four information needs concerns how to make a new habit stick, since the same distinction between high and low utility techniques applies.
- 02
Barriers and Facilitators of Medication Adherence in Hypertension Patients: A Meta-Integration of Qualitative Research
Journal of Patient Experience · 2024
A model of what a barriers-and-facilitators source looks like, and why that kind of source is more useful for changing a behaviour than one describing the benefit. Read it for the shape of the evidence rather than for its subject.
- 03
Leading Health Indicators - Healthy People 2030
Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services · 2024
A government source with a stated purpose and transparent methodology — useful both as a possible source on dietary objectives and as a worked example of high authority and neutral purpose under the CRAAP criteria.
- 04
The Implementation and Evaluation of Health Promotion Services and Programs to Improve Cultural Competency: A Systematic Scoping Review
Frontiers in Public Health · 2017
An example of a review that reports positive results alongside weak study quality. Useful as a model for writing a summary that records what a source found and how confident it was, which is what a reusable summary needs.
Before you submit
Common mistakes
- Choosing the first four results, which the brief explicitly warns against.
- Selecting four sources that all answer the same question.
- Assembling only sources that support the change, when the evidence on this topic is genuinely mixed.
- Listing the CRAAP criteria rather than applying them to the source in hand.
- Concluding that every source is credible, which shows the criteria were not used as a test.
- Ignoring the purpose criterion, which is where commercial and advocacy sources reveal themselves.
- Writing summaries too general to be reused in step 3.
- Trusting a citation generator's output without checking it against APA rules.
Submission checklist
- The four information needs are stated before the sources.
- The four sources answer four different questions.
- At least one source addresses barriers or strategies rather than benefits.
- Each citation follows APA format and has been checked by hand.
- Each summary records specific figures, mechanisms or strategies.
- Each credibility explanation applies all five CRAAP criteria to that source.
- At least one source's purpose or authority is discussed critically.
- Evidence-based reasons are distinguished from personal preference.
- The document is prepared and submitted in Word.
Use this guide to plan and review your own work. Follow your institution's rules and read our academic-integrity policy.
Written by
Aaron Bishop
MA, Education
assignment interpretation and research-methods coaching across disciplines
Aaron leads the EssayCrackers editorial desk. He works on how assignment briefs are read — what a rubric is actually asking for, and where students most often answer a different question than the one set.
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Dr. Nathan Cole
PhD, Rhetoric & Composition
Argumentation and thesis development
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