Bias & Reliability: What is Bias?
LEARNING OUTCOME
To explain what is meant by bias and consider the implications of bias when exploring different historical sources.
WHAT YOU NEED
STUDENT SHEET
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
WHAT TO DO
Give students a copy of the Student Sheet, or display this for all to see, and allow 5 minutes for them to read the quotations and discuss what is being said or suggested in each. Bring the class back together and share ideas. Write up key words that are used by students, such as truth, prejudice or bias.
Explain that most historical sources, both primary and secondary, have an element of bias. Ask if, where and when they have heard this term. Explain what is meant by the term bias and that we all have different biases, whether we know or mean to or not. This might be because of our age or our gender, for example. Different parts of our identity go towards forming how we see the world and other people, as well as forming the opinions others make of us. Ask learners to suggest things which make up our identity and may affect the way we view things (life experiences, where we live, family set-up, religion, beliefs, ethnicity, race…).
Tell students that the creators of historical sources will also have biases based on their experiences and the things that made up their identity. Explain the acronym COPS which can be used when identifying bias in a historical source. Read through the source on the second page of the student sheet, completing the activity below to identify bias in the source.
PLENARY
Bring the class together and share responses to the COPS analysis of the source. Focus on the persuasive, biased language used in the article. Might the source have been different if there had been more female reporters at this time in history? Explain to students that there were there were men that supported women’s suffrage and there were many women who opposed it. The suffragette movement was not only about overthrowing a patriarchal system where men place themselves in a position of power over women at all levels (political, structural, institutional and interpersonal). It was also about a class struggle, which affected men too. The vote was only granted to those earning above a certain threshold and who owned property above a certain value.
Ask students what these multiple perspectives and importance of wider context mean for them as historians when they explore different sources of evidence.