Source-based Analysis Skills

Social Studies and History
Secondary 3 Express
SBQ Skill 3: Reliability Testing

Reliability

1.     Reliability is about how much we can trust or not trust a piece of information.

2.     When we can trust the information less, we say that the source is less reliable while if we can trust a source’s information a great deal we say that the source is more reliable.

We often hear of claims from

E.g.         Can you believe what Source A says about...issue…?

                How far do you believe...issue…?

Can you trust what Source B says about...issue…?

Does the source prove...issue…?

Does the source accurately portray...issue…?

How far would you be concerned over …issue…?

Are you surprised by...issue…?

Ways to answer reliability question: 

Step One:              Answer the question first (according to issue*)

Always answer the question first:

For example: Are you surprised by...issue…?
Answer question first: I am not surprised by……..

For example: Can you trust what Source B says about….the issue…?
Answer question first: Yes, I can trust what source B says because………

Step Two:              Use any of these techniques to answer the question, if possible. Inference about this source according to issue with evidence

Technique 1
Inference of content à Thus reliable or not reliable.
Question: How far is source A reliable in letting us know that the Singapore healthcare system is working well? Explain your answer.
Answer:  Source A is reliable in telling us that the Singapore healthcare system is working well because the system appears to be helping patients pay for their healthcare.  Source A states that, “With Subsidies, Medisave and Medishield, most of my hospital bills were covered!” This means that the healthcare system has methods of financial support for patients to help them afford healthcare.

Technique 2
Cross Referencing with Evidence from another source à  Thus reliable or not reliable.

Question: How far is source A reliable in letting us know that the Singapore healthcare system is working well? Explain your answer. 
Answer:  Source A is unreliable in telling us that the Singapore healthcare system is working well Source A is refuted by Source B. Source A states that the healthcare system appears to be helping patients pay for their healthcare.  Source A says that, “With Subsidies, Medisave and Medishield, most of my hospital bills were covered!” This means that the healthcare system has methods of financial support for patients to help them afford healthcare. However, Source A is refuted by Source B. Source B states that the healthcare cost is rising and people are facing difficulties in paying for their medical bills. Source B says, “My savings have been wiped out by my treatment for my illness.” This means that healthcare cost must be very high such that one’s savings is entirely used up. Since both Source A is refuted by Source B on whether the Singapore healthcare system is working well, Source A is less reliable.

Note: Cross referencing is like must be linked to the issue in the question = Whether the Singapore healthcare system is working well.

Technique 4
Hidden motive à If we can prove that the creator of the Source stands to benefit from influencing the audience with the message à we can prove that the source is unreliable.

The acronym to remember is [CAMO-BHW]  à C= Creator; A = Audience; M = Message; B = Benefit; H = How; W = Why.
Examine content in relation to provenance and who is the audience

Example:

Technique 5 : Tone.
A source is biased and therefore unreliable if through the words and phrases used or in the depiction of the pictorial source e.g. in exaggerations or through symbolism and how the characters act, react and interact with one another.

Tone: Examples: Critical, Celebratory, Happy, Warm, Approving, Informal, Righteous, Just, Official/ Formal, Sympathetic, Threatening/ Hostile, Tense, Cold/ Unfeeling, Angry/ Harsh, Vindictive, Authoritative, Arrogant, Disapproving, Derogatory, Sarcastic

E.g. Source C is not reliable as the source is being extremely sarcastic, extreme and critical about the Singapore healthcare system’s quality. The phrases in Source C states that, “ it is better to die in Singapore than be sick.” indicates his view that the healthcare system is too costly for people to afford treatment and so it is better to die than be sick. However, the exaggeration and extremist viewpoint of considering death being a more sensible option is very extreme and hence is not balanced enough to be considered neutral and thus we can say that the source is less reliable.

Writing frames to guide you:          

Accepting content at face-value ( Inference) Up to 3 marks	Source A is reliability in telling us about[Adjust this statement accordingly to answer the question asked]….[Issue – taken from question]….as Source A states that………[Inference on source A]…..I say so because source A says that….[Evidence from source A]…..This means that……..[Explanation of evidence from source A] Hence, Source A is useful in telling us about/proves that…...[Issue – taken from question]
Cross-referencing Up to 5 marks	Cross reference support Source A is more reliable……[Adjust this statement accordingly to answer the question asked] as Source A is supported by Source B. Source A states that………[Inference on source A]…..I say so because source A says that….[Evidence from source A]…..This means that……..[Explanation of evidence from source A] Similarly, Source B states that ………[Inference on source B]…..I say so because source B says that….[Evidence from source B]…..This means that……..[Explanation of evidence from source B] Hence, Source B supports Source A and so source A is more reliable. Cross-reference refute Source A is less reliable as Source A is refuted by Source C. Source A states that………[Inference on source A]…..I say so because source A says that….[Evidence from source A]…..This means that……..[Explanation of evidence from source A] However, Source C states that ……… [Inference on source C]…..I say so because source C says that…. [Evidence from source C]…..This means that…….. [Explanation of evidence from source C] Hence, Source A is refuted by Source C and hence source A is less reliable.
Questioning biasness/hidden of source Up to 6 or 7 marks	Source A is less reliable in helping us understand [Adjust this statement accordingly to answer the question asked]………….[Issue – taken from question] as the source is biased and has a hidden motive. The cartoonist/writer is……[ who?] and he wants to influence [audience?] to believe that……[Message]……..so that the [audience-who?] will……[ Outcome = behaviour/action of the audience after seeing the source message]…..When the audience believes what has been said/drawn…..the writer/cartoonist will……[benefit or gain to the creator of the source if the audience acts in the way as stated in the outcome]….because….[explanation of how and why the creator will benefit from influencing his audience to act in that way/outcome]. Hence, this is why I say that the source has a motive and purpose/is biased and hence it is less reliable in helping us understand….[Issue-taken from question].