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Evaluating Resources on the Web
Tip #8: Is the information BIASED?
Questions to ask:
- Does the language of the document tend to be extreme or include words that seem out of place?
- Does the argument appeal more to emotions than to reason?
- Does the argument over-simplify or over-generalize?
- Does the author present a limited or one-sided perspective on the topic?
Why ?
Opinions are part of life and so is bias. People tend to promote different views in what they do and say. When one side of an idea is favored, but not the others, that is bias. In fact, it's hard not to be biased.
When does bias become a critical issue? There are bound to be a variety of opinions about this as well.
Bias is a clue that the author may have a deeper purpose than what is first apparent. Information may be missing by design, facts may be one-sided. Strong words may be used place of a reasonable explanation.
Disguised bias -- Information mainly intended to change the reader's mind or actions. While this can be malicious, typical tactics include misrepresenting facts, fraud, making something sound too good to be true or just presenting one side of a story. These often have to do with money, politics, religion, and personal lifestyles.
How?
There may be no substitute for reading carefully. Pay attention to unexpected WORDS and TONE. If you come across words that seem to be out of place, opinionated, too strong for the content or used in such a way that it makes you react or feel uncomfortable, ask, "what is the author trying to do here?" Be on the alert when you sense something "is too good to be true." You may also try the FIND feature in your browser to look for key words, facts, or other words to see how the author uses them in different contexts in the document.
Example:
While each person has to decide this for one's self, here is a blatant use of bias found on the Internet:
Malicious bias -- Information mainly intended to destroy a person's or an organization's reputation. Martin Luther King Jr: A true historical examination provides an example of this. Note the use of words like "illicit" on the home page.
A glossary of Internet frauds: Lookstoogoodtbetrue.com Whenever a site tries hard to seel you something, suspect bias.