Check for Bias

Sometimes it is obvious that a source is not good. Sometimes it is not.

Bias and Quality practice task

• What is Bias?
  • e.g. research funded by a company making money from the thing researched
  • e.g. research done by a researcher making money from the thing researched.
  • e.g. a journal that only publishes papers which say climate change doesn’t exist

Here are five sources (journal, newspaper)

• Look at the Wikipedia article on fair trade
• Choose some random articles from the bottom.
• Grade them as follows:

Bias	Quality
Unbiased = 5	High Quality = A
Maybe a bit biased = 3	Medium Quality = B
Totally Biased = 1	Low Quality = C

Satire and April Fools: getting “onioned”

When you do not read critically enough, sometimes you even believe things that are written to be funny.

• For example, some people shared this article with their friends thinking it was real: http://www.theonion.com/article/emergency-crews-attempt-to-rescue-olympic-figure-s-35313
• Even real newspaper sometimes unthinkingly reprint articles that were meant as jokes:
  • Example 1: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8237558.stm
  • Example 2: http://www.npr.org/2012/12/01/166293306/the-onion-so-funny-it-makes-us-cry
• Your turn. Of these articles, some are jokes and some are real. Can you tell the difference? How?
  • A: http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/features/why-is-fruit-so-expensive-in-japan-9605105.html
  • B: http://www.therisingwasabi.com/sadistic-heian-aristocrat-responsible-for-kanji-with-sixteen-readings/
  • C: https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/airbnb-academia-plan-inject-pro-market-ethos-sector
  • D: https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/chinese-private-school-company-buys-us-university-campus
  • E: http://www.standard.co.uk/goingout/attractions/indoor-ski-slope-opens-in-chelsea-a3140331.html
  • F: http://www.falmouthpacket.co.uk/news/14396386.Gyllyngvase_Beach__Falmouth_to_have_under_sand_heating_to_make_it_an_all_year_round_holiday_destination/
  • F: https://atap.google.com/soli/
  • G: https://www.google.co.jp/ime/furikku/

Solution: Checking the source

Some sources are usually reliable. Some are usually not.

• Is it a joke site?
• Is it a type of source known for being unreliable (e.g. a tabloid newspaper)
• Is it likely to be very biased?

However, even reliable sources sometimes print things that are not true (either deliberately on April Fools, or by accident), so…

Solution: Triangulate

• Check AT LEAST TWO other DIFFERENT sources, to see if it is also reported there.
  • If it is about a country, read the papers from other countries
  • If it is political, read papers biased to more than one side
  • If it is a new science article, check for replication or similar research. Many new findings are not reliable until the experiment has been repeated a few times. Wait, or report carefully