Tuesday, we discussed
-
primary and secondary sources
-
we divided up your sources into
these categories
We introduced four further ways for
evaluating sources
Authenticity
Bias
Currency
Dependency
Friday, we continued:
Authenticity:
Is it what it seems or is claimed to be?
We talked about different ways to evaluate or
test a source
-
Scientific tests of different
sorts – for example:
o chemical (composition of materials)
o geological
o radiation
o evidence of tampering – inconsistencies
-
Comparison
o of physical characteristics of objects
o hand writing
o symbols
o syntax, language
o art styles and techniques
And, of
course, with written documents there is the question of whether there are other
sources that share the same content. Other accounts that record the same
information.
-
Verification of various sorts
o was this person present at the event?
o did this person have the ability to produce this piece of
evidence?
o could this object end up where found?
Bias
biased
adjective
a biased view of
the situation: prejudiced, partial, partisan, one-sided, blinkered;
bigoted, intolerant, discriminatory; distorted, warped, twisted, skewed.
We identified different reasons that could introduce bias into a source
-
personal gain
o monetary
o status
o reputation
o career
o evasion of prosecution, fine, imprisonment / freedom
-
other personal motives
o protect privacy (often connects to issues listed above)
-
political agenda
o further career
o further political party/leadership
o influence laws, court cases
-
personal (social) prejudice based
on
o ethnicity
o nationality
o religion
o gender
How can we correct for bias?
-
Compare with other sources.
-
Explore and offer different
possible interpretations.
-
Review the person’s life in other
areas.
And here's the link to the radio program I played you snippets from. It was the Oct. 18, 2016, episode of Fresh Air with Terry Gross, who was interviewing Beth Macy about her book Truevine.
No comments:
Post a Comment