Some people do not see the need to spend the effort in questioning multiple people to gather information and opinions, but it is a crucial step in research. They see it as only an extra step that can be skipped over without thought, but in reality, only seeking information from one person leads to incorrect, biased information. Though it takes time, seeking advice from multiple sources allows for more information and different viewpoints, leading to a better outcome.

Different people have different viewpoints and opinions. If you only seek advice from one person, you only see one side of what could happen, rather when you ask multiple sources, you're given a greater sense of what to do and how to go about it. According to the New York Research Center for Populations and Society, on a societal level, nothing but basic morals are agreed on and considered to be universally accepted. What is accepted in the United States may not be considered normal in India, or the other way around. On a smaller scale, this may be less evident, but the research still applies to a great extent. If only one source is questioned, what they see as okay may not be seen the same way by another source. For this reason, it is hard for most people to switch societal views and morals. A study conducted by Generic_Name shows that when people are shown a different viewpoint, they tend to stick with it after being presented a new one later. When you do not get more than one perspective on a matter, you have the tendency to use whatever you were taught to make choices, and not accept changing to a more reliable choice.

Another key reason to gather information from multiple sources is that you do not know the accuracy of the information gathered when only from one person. They may have learned the information incorrectly, which can lead to bad advice. As an example, lets say a new mother was seeking advice on how to raise their child safely. According to the Family and Consumer Science program, 68% of people under the age of 25 do not have antiquate information on how to perform childcare duties. If that mother were to ask one of her unqualified friends, she could be presented with false information. That friend may of thought they were qualified to give information. A second study performed by Generic_Name shows the less qualified people are, to more they tend to think they are qualified. That could mean you are getting advice from an unreliable source, and most likely your course of action will be worse.

A similar reason to seek advice from multiple people is bias. Bias can be hard to detect in many cases, especially when the thing biased to is smaller and less prevalent. Research done by the California Critical Thinking and Development Organization, 72% of people were unable to identify bias in articles. For what seems like such a simple skill, it is surprising in the amount of people who are unable to preform it. Taking to multiple sources makes bias easier to identify, because more conflict will occur in the information. One source may leave out information to angle the evidence, while the other states all the evidence. Even in cases where bias in unavoidable, taking to multiple sources may provide better results. As Generic_Name, a researcher for the University of Oklahoma states, "Researching biased topics may prove challenging, but combining evidence together to rid the bias is a helpful strategy in reducing the nonfactual information."

As all evidence suggests, taking advice from multiple people is the right course of action to receive the best information. When people only take advice from one person, they allow for many mistakes and mishaps. Next time you are trying to make a decision that will have the best outcome, rather than only asking for advice from one person, take advice from multiple and gather as much information about the topic as possible. The more information you have, the more likely you are to make the correct choice.