The process of identifying the origin, purpose and context of particular sources needs to be supported with evidence

Some questions for students to consider when identifying the origin of a source are:

• authorship?
• date?
• primary/secondary, official/unofficial source?
  • relating existing ideas or generating new ideas?

Some questions for students to consider when identifying the purpose of a source are:

• who is the audience?
• what is the point of view?
• are there differing and/or conflicting views in the source?
• what values and beliefs are expressed?
• how does this information compare with other sources?
• is the information free of bias? Is it objective or subjective?
• are there gaps (information left out)?
• is the  information general or specific?
• is it trying to comfort, convince, convert or condemn?
• are assumptions being made (without substantiating evidence)?
• is the argument tentative or decisive?
• does it draw conclusions?

Some aspects to consider when identifying the context of a source are:

• historical context?
• religious context?
• political context?
• social/cultural context? Etc.

Analyse: to 'break down' or 'pull apart' into component parts - to tease out the different ideas within a source and the ways they are connected.

Interpret: to make meaning out of- to explain - to understand in a particular way

Synthesise: to put things together to make a connected whole

Academic argument: is purposeful, is objective, supported by argument and/or evidence, defends or develops a position.

To develop and sustain an academic argument requires access to source material from which to take quotations or statistical information. This information is then interpreted and used to support a position held. The source material is inserted in the explanation to make a logical and convincing case.

interpretation: the way something is understood or explained. For instance, a statistician interprets statistical data to draw conclusions from it.

point-of-view: very similar to ' interpretation' - an attitude or standpoint, - how one sees or thinks of something. For instance, a cartoonist may hold the point of view that a public figure is incompetent and so makes an unflattering or ridiculous caricature of them.

The value of a source for making informed judgements relies on:

reliability: the degree to which a source accurate ly expresses the views it claims to represent. Questions to ask include:

who is the author of the source? ls it authoritative? is it consistent or contradictory?

usefulness: the degree of relevance or the degree to which the source serves the intended purpose. Questions to ask include :

who is intended audience? is it informative?

does it arrive at any conclusions?

does it contribute anything to the course content?

contestable nature : the degree to which the source stands up to scrutiny. Questions to ask include :

Does it critically question a held position? Is there obvious bias or gaps?

Is there a diversity of views on the subject? Is it overly sympathetic or hostile?

When reviewing the reliability of survey data, the following should be considered :

• did the sample represent the population?
• were the questions fair or were they leading, ambiguous, presumptuous, potentially embarrassing, relying on opinion or on possibly faulty memory?
• did the data adequately reflect the views of the population?
• is the data provided consistent ?
• was the report free of bias and did it acknowledge any limitations?