Determining Bias

Both primary sources and secondary sources can be biased.

When a document/source is trying to influence you into thinking in a certain way the document can be classed as being biased.  Many countries, in the not so distant past, produced History textbooks that were written and contained content that was intended to deliberately make people think in a way the government wanted you to think.

So how can we determine if a source is biased or not?

Look at the words or images that are used.  The following piece of writing is biased because of the words that have been used. Some of the words that make this source biased have been underlined.

“Louis XVI lost his life on Monday at half past ten in the morning,        

and to the very last he maintained the greatest possible courage.

He wished to speak to the people from the scaffold, but

was seized by the executioners, who were following their orders,

and who pushed him straight under the fatal blade. He was able to

speak only these words: ‘I forgive my enemies; I trust that my

death will be for the happiness of my people, but I grieve for

France and I fear that she may suffer the anger of the Lord.’

The King took of his coat himself at the foot of the

scaffold, and when someone sought to help him he said cheerfully,

‘I do not need any help.’ He also refused help to climb onto the

scaffold, and went up with a firm, brisk step.

The above is an account of what happened to Louis XVI by a friend of his. It has been written in such a way that we feel sorry for the king. The author has therefore tried to influence us.  The source is biased.

When a writer or artist shows only one point of view their account will then be biased. If writers and artists give different points of view their work is then neutral and not biased.