SOURCE BASED SKILLS:

INFERENCE AND
RELIABILITY
TODAYS LESSON
z Re-cap Inference skills.
z How to draw inferences.
z Answering inference questions
z Re-cap Evaluation of Reliability skills.
z How to evaluate reliability.
z Answer evaluation of reliability skills.
z Practice Source-Based Questions.
ACTIVITY
z She took the knife and walked towards him.
There were no words to express how she felt.
He had subjected her to a life of misery and
now he was going to pay.

z What did she intend to do to him?

z How do you know?
DRAWING INFERENCE
z Step 1: Identify what the question requires
you to draw inferences about:
z For example:
z What does Source A tell you about the early history of
Singapore?
DRAW INFERENCE
z Step 2: Examine Source:
z What information is provided by the source?
z What can I infer from the source?
PRACTICE
Source A: A picture of Chinese coolies in Singapore, taken during the late
1800s to early 1900s.

REMEMBER:
For all questions about
inference, you need to
make 2 inferences:
- Linked to the context of
the source.
- Supported by evidence
from the source.

Study Source A:
What does Source A tell you about the life of Chinese coolies in
colonial Singapore?
PRACTICE
Source A: A picture of Chinese coolies in Singapore, taken during the late
1800s to early 1900s.
Draft your answer:
z Answer the question: start
with the topic statement.
z 2 paragraphs Each
containing the following:
Point: Make your
inference
Evidence: Utilise
relevant evidence from
the source.
Explanation: Explain
how the evidence is
linked to your inference.

Study Source A:
What does Source A tell you about the life of Chinese coolies in
colonial Singapore?
LORMS FOR INFERENCE
z L1/1 Based on provenance or source type (1
mark) - description

L2/2 Inference w/o support (2 marks)

L3/3-4 Inference with support (3-4 marks)

3 marks for 1 inference and 4 marks for 2
inferences.
DRAFT YOUR
ANSWER!
EVALUATION OF
RELIABILITY
TYPES OF RELIABILITY
QUESTIONS
z Do you believe.
z Does this source prove that.
z How far is this source reliable in proving
that
 Question
PROVENANCE

CROSS-REFER Checklist Question

to other sources for CONTENT
reliability

Question Question
PURPOSE TYPICALITY
PROVENANCE
z Provenance:
z Who is the speaker/writer?
z What is the occasion?
z When ?
z Where ?
z Who is the audience?
 CONTENT n c e
r efere
z What is being said? ros s
C
z Fact or opinion?
z Is there a gap in information?
z What do the other sources say about the same issue?
z How it is being said?
NE
z Is the view one sided or balanced? TO
z Any exaggeration? Any over generalizations?
z What are the emotive words?
CROSS REFERENCE
z Process of checking the reliability of a
specific part of the source by comparing:
z The part of the source against what another
source says;
z Cross refer to the relevant source!
CROSS REFERENCE
z How to cross reference?
z What is being checked? E.g. Source claims that
Farquhar was the founder of Singapore.
z Indication of confirmation/doubt. E.g:
But I am not sure that is true
This confirms what the source is saying
z What are you cross-referencing against:
because Source A says that Singapore was not a great
trading port while in Source B it says that
z All of the above must be present in any cross-
reference.
CROSS REFERENCE
z When cross-referencing, do not generalise:
z Source X is true because Source Y supports it
z Source X is reliable because it agrees with my
knowledge.
z I can believe Source X because this is the kind of
thing that was going on.
PURPOSE
z Why was the source created?
z Why does the speaker want to say this at
that time/place ?
z What does the speaker expect by saying
this?
PURPOSE
z Remember:
z Purpose is the impact that the author wanted to
have on his/her audience.
z Hence, any answer on purpose must include the
author, the intended audience and the expected
outcome.
SOURCE
Source A: An editorial from the Straits Times on Singapore in the
1850s by Robert Woods, a British Editor.
Poverty was stalking the streets where the haunts of vice and disease
are unobserved by the European part of the community. Many are
dying daily for the lack of labour and food.

Source B: The Padang in

Singapore, 1851, a painting by
John Turnbull Thomson, a British
artist

How far is Source B a reliable portrayal of life in colonial Singapore?

LORMS FOR RELIABILITY
z Level of analysis
L1/1 Provenance or details only
L2/2 Uncritical acceptance of content
L3/3 Unsupported assertion of bias
L4/4 Reliability affected by date of the source
L5/5 Cross-reference to other sources/specific contextual
knowledge
[1. Identify content 2. Identify supporting or contradictory content
from other sources 3. Draw your conclusion]
L6/6 Evaluation of source content using
provenance/purpose/audience etc. [Content + who, where, when
> purpose + motive > audience and how (tone)]