What the page leaves out
A page says, "Our backup tool saves your files in seconds!" It does not say what it costs. It does not say that restoring takes a day.
Everything on the page is true. The page is still not fair.
Key words
| Word | What it means | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Indicator | a sign that points to something | strong praise with no proof is an indicator of bias |
| Partiality | favouring one side and not being fair to others | |
| Prejudice | an unfair opinion formed before looking at the facts | |
| Omission | leaving out facts that matter | |
| Bias | an unfair lean towards one side | |
| Loaded word | a word that pushes your feelings one way | amazing, useless, only |
The cells students fill in are left blank in this preview.
By the end of this lesson
Note
I can find the signs of bias in a source and explain, in a few clear sentences, how the bias came about.
Starter
Have a go
Starter
3 questionsYour answers are marked here and are not kept. A college account keeps every student’s marks.
Three signs of bias
| Sign | What it looks like | Example from a page |
|---|---|---|
| Partiality | Only one side is shown, with strong praise or blame | The best laptop ever made. Everyone else is rubbish. |
| Prejudice | An opinion before the facts, often about a group | Older staff never learn new systems. |
| Omission | Important facts are missing | Price, limits or faults are not mentioned |
The cells students fill in are left blank in this preview.
How bias gets into a source
Ask three questions. Who wrote it, and what do they gain? Which facts did they choose? Which facts are missing?
A source can show bias through its loaded words, its choice of facts, its sample of people or its silence on a weak point.
Worked example: explaining bias
| Part | Example |
|---|---|
| Type | Author bias |
| Sign | The page praises the tool and gives no price or faults (partiality and omission) |
| How it was created | The company wrote the page to sell the tool, so it chose only good facts |
| How to avoid it | Read an independent review and the maker's test results too |
The cells students fill in are left blank in this preview.