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RELIABILITY (part one)

I. Degrees of reliability
When we talk of reliability we are concerned about the degree in which a source is reliable. It is rare
to find a source that is entirely reliable or entirely unreliable in Social Studies. In this module we
are going to learn and do a checklist for reliability and how to conclude the degree of reliability of a
given source.
2. Usefulness vs Reliability
Usefulness and reliability are closely linked but they are not exactly the same. An unreliable source
can still be useful. For example an anti!"A" speech will not give you reliable information about the
"A" but it is useful for understanding what the writer of the speech thought of the political party.
3. Two Types of reliability
In this module you will be exposed to two types of
reliability #uestion.
$he first type is reliability #uestion is with respect
to the source. $his refers to sources which have
some %flaws& in them. $hese flaws are caused by 1)
Omission 2) Purpose 3) Bias 4) Tone. $he second
type of reliability #uestion refers to reliability that
have rather sound sources but they are affected by
the type of #uestion asked. $his will be convered in
detail in part two of the handouts.
The following reports appeared on BBC TV news programmes on 3 Jan !"# at $ pm
and ! pm%
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Two types of
Reliability
Relaibility is
affected by
question asked
Reliability is
affected by 1)
Omission 2)
Purpose 3) Bias
4) Tone
The Prime Minister in a major speeh tonight
on the eonomy appeale! to management
an! unions in the ar in!ustry to ut !own
what he alle! manifestly "learly# avoi!able
stoppages "stri$es#
The Prime Minister has appealed to workers in
the car industry to cut down on avoidable
stoppages (strikes).
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Look at the two sources on page 1.
If you were trying to find out about the cases of the %avoidable stoppages& in the car industry what
would your answer be(
Which source do you think is more reliable( Why(
1 DETECTING BIAS
)ost sources show bias *one!sidedness+ to varying degrees and for different reasons. When a source
is biased it usually means that it favours one side or gives one particular view of an event. We need
to be aware of bias and take this into account when analysing sources.
A. Intentional bias
,ne of the most obvious forms of bias to recognise is where the source has been deliberately
distorted or falsified. $his could be achieved through telling lies missing out important facts or
using extreme language
Source A. A -ussian secondary school textbook written in './0.
The contemptible enemy of the people, the fascist agent Trotsky, and his contemptible
friends Rykov and Bukharin, organised in the USSR gang of murderers, wreckers and
spies. They foully murdered that ardent Bolshevik, S. Kirov. They plotted to murder
other leaders of proletariat too. The fascist scoundrels, the Trotskyites and Rykovites,
caused train collisions in the USSR, blew up and set fire to mines and factories and
wrecked machines, poisoned workers and did all the damage they possibly could. These
enemies of the people had a definite programme, which was to restore the yoke of the
capitalists and landlords in the UUS and to promote the defeat of the USST in the of
war. These traitors were caught and punished, as they deserved.
'+ In what way does Source A appear to be one!sided(
1+ 2iver three examples of strong language in Source A which help to get across the one!
sided view. *strong language can be considered as tone+.
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RELIABILITY
BIAS
Omission
PURPOS
E
Purpose TONE
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/+ Is there a clear purpose in this source( *3ou need a little bit of history knowledge. Ask
your teacher+.
4+ ,n what grounds would you say that this source is unreliable(
Can a iase! source e use"u#$
35S. 6ont immediately assume that a biased source is false and of no use because you could
be cutting yourself off from some important evidence.
B. Beliefs or feelings of the producer of the source
"eople sometimes report things in a way which is not totally accurate not because they are
deliberately lying but because their beliefs or feelings blind them from a reasoned and ob7ective
view. $his can often be caused by pre7udice against a particular race *e.g. the 8ews+ nation *e.g. the
Soviet Union+ or group in society *e.g. gypsies+.
)uch evidence from Irish history suffers from this difficulty because of the great suspicion and
hostility between the 9atholics and "rotestants.
SO%&C' ( A statement by a "rotestant )inister of Agriculture './/!
$hinking of the #uestion carefully . . . I recommend those people who are loyalists
not to employ -oman 9atholics ninety!nine per cent of whom are disloyal . . . 3ou
people who are employers have the ball at your feet. If you don:t act properly now
before we know where we are we shall find ourselves in the minority instead of the
ma7ority.
Sir ;asil ;rooke. './4
2. !ISSIN
A source may be based on only part of the evidence available on a topic or may be produced before
the full nature of a sub7ect has become clear. $his could result in a rather one!sided account.
In '.1< Winston 9hurchill visited -ome and was pleased to find an apparently strong government
which had overcome the 9ommunist threat. Source ; is what he was reported to have said about the
Fascist leader )ussolini against whom ;ritain was later to fight in World War II.
SOURCE B
f were an talian would don the !ascist blackshirt. could not help being char"
med, like so many other people have been, by Signor #ussolini$s gentle and simple
bearing and by his calm and detached pose in spite of so many burdens and dangers.
%nyone could see that he thought of nothing but the lasting good, as he understood
it, of the talian people, and that no lesser interest was of the slightest conse&uence
to him ... if had been an talian would have been with you from the start ...
What clues are there in Source ; to suggest why 9hurchill admired )ussolini(
6o you think a visiting foreign politician is in a good position to comment on how well
)ussolini is running his country(
What else would you like to know before you accept 9hurchill:s opinion of )ussolini(
Also true =ee >uan 3ew&s view of the benefits of Singapore&s merger with )alaya in '.?' may be
very different than his thoughts of merger in '.?/.
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"# The particular $%&$SE behind a source
"eople do not often create records for the benefit of historians. $hey produce them for other
reasons. $hese reasons can cause the source to be biased.
SO%&C' C
=et the truth speak out . . . $he fact is. true. $housands of our fellow creature
@childrenA and fellow!sub7ects both male and female the miserable inhabitants of a
3orkshire town . . . are this very moment existing in a state of slavery more horrid
than are the victims of that hellish system Bcolonial slavery: . . . $he very streets
which receive the dropping of an :Anti!slavery Society: are every morning wet by the
tears of innocent victims . . . who are compelled *not by the cart!whip of the negro
slave!driver+C but by the dread of the e#ually appalling thong or strap of the
overlooker ...
A #etter written to a newspaper ) a !etermine! "actor) re"ormer in 1*th+centur)
Britain
Duestions on Source 9
What methods does ,astler use in Source 9 to put his point of view as strongly as
possible(
Would this letter be a useful source to show how all children were treated in '.th!
century factories( 5xplain your answer.
Would this letter be a useful source to show what one person thought about children
working in factories and the methods he used to promote his ideas( 5xplain your
answer.
What opinion given in this source would need to be checked carefully(
In what way might this source be very useful(
'# TNE
$he language of a source affects the reliability of the source too. 9onsider these three statements
about "eter who tried his best to complete his homework the day before the deadline. Ee worked
form 'F pm to 1./F am.
a+ "eter did his homework for about four and the half hours last night
b+ "eter was extremely hardworking. Ee worked till very late in the night
c+ "eter was doing his homework last night
9an you see how the tone in a b c affects the reliability of each source. Always be on the
lookout for ad7ectives like very extremely. $hey may signify that the author may want to
sensationalise the event. Some examples of tone include (optimistic / pessimistic),
(supportive / against), (formal / informal), (neutral / onesided), (offensive /
defensive), (sad / happy), (sensationali!ing / downplaying)
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5G5-9IS5 ' SO%&C' (
Eere is part of a newspaper report about an FA 9up match in the '.04!H season.
DA( 1)*+') ,I-- NE.E& /&GET
(or0 Cit1 1* Arsenal )
;y ;arry Foster
In the best tradition of the game:s most glamorous tournament little homely 3ork 9ity toppled star!
studded Arsenal out of the FA 9up with a penalty in the last gasp of their fourth round tie at ;ootham
9rescent.
;ut while 3ork had several players who stood out on the snow!sprinkled turf Arsenal looked a
grey lot on the day. Arsenal had no one in their attack to match the power of Walwyn even though the
big coloured striker played under the handicap of an Achilles tendon strainC no one with the attacking
imagination of the '0!year!old ;utler nor Eouchen and no one prepared to run as hard as Senior to
support both defence and attack.
,uestions
6o you think that Source 6 comes from *a+ =ondon 5vening Standard or *b+ $he 3orkshire "ost(
5xplain your answer.
$o spot bias in a sports report you must ask some #uestionsI
a+ Who wrote it( Which team is the sports reporter likely to support
b+ For whom was the report written( Which team are the readers likely to support(
c+ Is it balanced( 6oes it say as much about Arsenal as it does about 3ork 9ity( If not how
might this show bias(
d+ Is it fair( 6o the words used show bias( If so how(
e+ Is the sports report biased(
f+ If so is it very biased or only slightly(
g+ Which bits of the article would you trust( 5xplain your choice.
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h+ ,nly part of the report has been included here. 6oes that matter if you are trying to spot
bias( 5xplain your answer.
i+ Eow do you think a report of this match by a =ondon 7ournalist would differ from
Source 6( 5xplain your answer
C2EC3-IST
;ias in sources can often be spotted by asking the #uestions below.
=anguageI does the choice of words make things sound good or bad without directly saying
so(
Selection of factsI are certain facts on one side of the argument used or left out(
;ackgroundI has the person creating the source any reason to be onesided(
Is the writer seeking to please or to influence a particular group of people(
Are all possible viewpoints fairly covered in the source(
otes prepared by
"amaludin #
wingmaker
$%ome to the edge. &e cant we are afraid.
%ome to the edge. &e cant we will fall.
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'nd they come to the edge
'nd he pushed them
'nd they flew(
)uillaumme 'ppolinaire
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