Reliability Questions

Questions on reliability come out in most Source Based Questions. Moreover, they are typically worth more marks than inference questions as well as similarity/difference questions. As such, it is important to learn how to answer reliability questions well.

The first thing to note is that reliability questions can come disguised in many forms. The most obvious is "To what extent is Source A reliable...". But there are more, for example:

• Do you believe what the source says...
• Does the source prove that...
• Explain whether the source is credible with respect to...

(Usefulness, however, is a separate concept from reliability)

Tip #1:

One important thing to note is that sources are almost never completely reliable nor completely unreliable. As such, you should write at least one paragraph explaining the reliable aspects, and at least one paragraph explaining the unreliable aspects.

Tip #2:

After you have determined the type of source (photograph/text etc), look at the content of the source. Does your contextual knowledge (i.e. the knowledge you have from your textbook and your teacher) agree with that of the source? For example (this example is made up, as are many subsequent examples in this post), suppose you have a source that says:

Source A:

"We have always been very fair towards the Jews." - Adolf Hitler, before the 1936 Olympics in Berlin

You would immediately start by writing 'This source is to a large extent unreliable', because you know from your studies that the Nazis persecuted the Jews. Furthermore, to get good marks, you should immediately support your claim by giving specific, concrete examples. You could say that Jews were required to resign from all government jobs. You could also say that Jews were sent to concentration camps. You could also cross-reference to other sources (i.e. compare Source A to other sources, and see whether the content from Source A is consistent or inconsistent with the content from other sources. For example, if Source B tells you something different, you could point that out by quoting from it.).

Tip #3: 

Also, comment on the purpose. Source A is a quote of Hitler before the 1936 Olympics. Why might Hitler want to make such a statement? Perhaps Hitler may have wanted to portray a positive image of Germany to foreigners so that they would come to Germany. (Trivia: A major boycott of the 1936 Berlin Olympics nearly succeeded). It's worth writing this down to cast doubt on the reliability of the source.

Tip #4: 

Don't forget who wrote the source! In this case, it's Hitler. It's not really worth commenting for Source A, but for other sources, it might.

For example:

     Source B: Soviet government photograph of 1933 showing tractors on a collective farm

(Photo is taken from BBC)

Suppose the question was "To what extent does Source B prove that the Soviet Union invested a lot in collectivization?"

You might start off by saying something like "It proves to a limited extent, because from the photograph I can see a lot of tractors, which clearly cost a lot of money..."

But thereafter, you should raise some concerns. In particular, you might want to say "However, I have some doubts about its reliability. This photo was a Soviet government photograph, and the Soviet government was well known for producing propaganda in order to make the country more successful than it really was. Therefore, this could have been staged."

Tip #5: 

Comment on typicality. You could also say, "Moreover, Source B is only one photograph. It only shows what happened in one part of the Soviet Union, and may not be representative of the entire country (and the USSR was the largest country in the world)."

However, I would not spend too much time talking about typicality because not a lot of credit is given for it.