Interpreting and evaluating the information provided

Overview

The difference between working out what a resource shows and judging how far it can be trusted, what to do when two resources disagree, and why weighting a biased source beats discarding it.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   Distinguish between interpreting information and evaluating it.

   Model answer

   Interpreting is working out what a resource means - what the pattern shows, what the trend implies, what the report is claiming. Evaluating is judging how much that meaning can be trusted and how much weight it should carry, given who produced it, when, how, and what it leaves out. Strong answers do both: they say what the evidence shows and then say how confidently it can be said.

2. 2

   A resource only partly supports the conclusion you want to draw. What do you do with it?

   Model answer

   Use the part that does support you, state precisely what it shows, and then say openly what it does not establish - the survey supports the claim that traffic has grown but covers only the summer months, so it cannot show the year-round position. Then look for another resource to fill the gap, and if none exists, qualify the conclusion. Overclaiming from a partial source is easy for a reader to spot and undermines the rest of your case.

3. 3

   Two resources in the booklet disagree. What do you actually do, and how does it shape your recommendation?

   Model answer

   First establish whether the disagreement is real or definitional - different dates, boundaries, units or criteria often explain it. If it is real, compare the two on provenance, method, date and independence, say which you find more dependable and why, and use the more reliable one while acknowledging the other. Then build the uncertainty into the recommendation, by preferring the option that performs acceptably under both figures, or by attaching a condition such as further survey before commitment.

4. 4

   What makes a source in a decision-making exercise less reliable, and how should that change the weight you put on it?

   Model answer

   Signs of lower reliability include an author with a direct interest in the outcome, an unstated or unrepresentative sample, an old date on a fast-changing situation, unclear or absent methodology, boundaries that do not match the area in question, and assertion in place of measurement. Such a source should carry less weight against a better one on the same point, but it can still be used - for what a group believes, or as an indication needing corroboration.

5. 5

   Why is discarding a source because it is biased usually a weaker move than weighting it?

   Model answer

   Because almost every source in a decision-making booklet has a position, so discarding on that basis would empty the evidence base, and because a partisan source is still reliable evidence of what that group values and fears - which you need in order to examine the conflict. The disciplined response is to say what the source can be trusted for, what it cannot, and how heavily it counts against the independent evidence.

6. 6

   What questions make up a quick provenance check on any resource?

   Model answer

   Who produced it, for whom, and why; when; how the information was gathered; what area and what population it covers; and what has been left out. Four of those - author, purpose, date and method - can usually be answered from the heading and source line alone, and answering them takes seconds while transforming how precisely you can weigh the material.

Other ways to work this

The same content, four other ways.

What is inside Levo

Six ways to work the same material.