Working with evidence, Year 8: more practice

Corroboration

提示It begins with "cor-", meaning "together".

为什么Corroborated details can be trusted more. The word also gives us "corroborate", meaning to support a claim with other evidence.

No — they may differ in viewpoint, knowledge or purpose

提示Think about where each writer was standing.

为什么Witnesses see different parts of an event, and makers have different aims. A clash is a reason to ask more questions, not to pick a side at once.

They cannot just be copying each other

提示Two copies of the same mistake do not add up to two pieces of evidence.

为什么If one writer copied the other, their agreement proves nothing new. Independent accounts that agree are much stronger evidence.

Source A

提示Compare the times each one gives.

为什么Source C corroborates A on the time, which makes it more likely, though not certain. Cross-referencing weighs how many sources agree and how good they are.

Less secure, because nothing else supports it

提示Is there anything to check it against?

为什么One source may be mistaken or biased and nothing can show it. A historian treats a single-source claim carefully and looks for more.

Yes — it can still answer some questions

提示Think of propaganda.

为什么Propaganda is a poor guide to facts but excellent evidence of what a government wanted people to think.

The question being asked

提示A source is useful FOR something.

为什么A diary may be useful for one question and no use for another. Always ask: useful for what?

Useful

提示The other word asks whether you can trust it.

为什么Reliable asks about trustworthiness; useful asks about fit with your question. Separating the two avoids mistakes in source work.

How charities tried to persuade people to donate

提示Think about what the leaflet was trying to do.

为什么The exaggeration makes it unreliable about how bad conditions truly were, but it shows how charities worked and what donors were expected to respond to.

Soldiers held back, and censors cut, bad news

提示Who else read the letter before it was sent?

为什么Soldiers often wrote reassuringly to protect their families, and censors removed anything that might harm morale. The letter is still useful evidence of what soldiers chose to say.