GED Social Studies
Analyzing Sources & Bias
Source questions ask two things: how close is this account to the event (primary vs secondary), and what slant might its creator have? Neither closeness nor slant makes a source worthless — the skill is naming what each source can and cannot prove.
The words first
- primary source
- created during or by a participant in the event: letters, photos, speeches, records
- secondary source
- created later, about the event: textbooks, biographies, documentaries
- bias
- a leaning that shapes what is included, worded, or left out
- propaganda
- material designed to persuade by emotion more than evidence
- corroboration
- checking a claim against independent sources
The method
PRIMARY OR SECONDARY — one question
Was the creator THERE (or part of it)?
a soldier's diary → primary
a 2015 book about the war → secondary
careful: a 1863 NEWSPAPER piece is primary for 1863;
a 1990 article ABOUT 1863 is secondary
HUNTING FOR SLANT — ask of every source
WHO made it? (a general? a company? a critic?)
WHY? (record, sell, persuade, defend himself?)
WHO was the audience?
what's EMPHASIZED — and what's conveniently missing?
WEIGHING
a biased source still proves things — a factory owner's
letter denying abuses proves at least that accusations existed.
strongest claims stand on multiple INDEPENDENT sources.
Worked all the way through
The problem
Historians studying an 1890s factory have (A) the owner's letter to investors calling conditions "excellent," and (B) an inspector's report listing violations. How should each be used?
- Step 1 — Classify both.Both created at the time by involved parties: both primary.
- Step 2 — Name each creator's interest.The owner is selling confidence to investors — motive to polish. The inspector's job is finding violations — motive to document (or possibly to justify his role).
- Step 3 — Extract what each safely proves.The letter proves what the owner CLAIMED, not conditions. The report carries more weight on conditions but deserves corroboration too.
- Step 4 — State the historian's move.Weigh them together, note the conflict, seek a third source — workers' accounts, injury records.
On the board
both primary
made at the time, by insiders
owner → investors: motive to polish
inspector: paid to find problems
letter proves the CLAIM only
conflict → corroborate with a third source
Answer
Both are primary but interested; the letter shows the owner's claims, the report is stronger on conditions, and a third source should break the tie
A second one, in a different form
A wartime poster shows the enemy as a monster and urges citizens to buy bonds. What is this source, and what is it good evidence OF?
made during the event
primary
designed to stir emotion → propaganda
bad evidence about the enemy
good evidence of the government's messaging
what it wanted citizens to feel
Answer
Primary-source propaganda — reliable evidence of the persuasion effort, not of the enemy
The usual mistake
Assuming a biased source contains no facts. Bias is about selection and framing.
Check yourself
For every source, fill in three blanks before judging: made by ___, at the time of ___ or later, in order to ___. A source is never simply "good" or "bad" — it is good evidence FOR some claims and weak evidence for others.
Practice it
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