Transcript Fact versus Opinion Objective verses Subjective

Fact v.s Opinion
Objective v.s. Subjective
Understanding the Difference
What is Reliability & Validity?
 Reliability – is the text dependable?
 Validity – Is it correct?
On the Test…
 On the FCAT, you will be asked questions
about the validity and reliability of an
author’s claims in a passage.
 For instance, what makes a particular
author qualified to write about a subject?
Or what does the author use to support the
main points of the essay? (For example,
does the author use personal opinions,
common knowledge, or expert opinions?)
 To answer these questions, it is best to
understand where the source of information
is coming from.
Primary Sources
 Primary sources are written by people who
witnessed or participated in an event
 Memoirs
 Interviews
 Letters
 Diaries
 Autobiographies
Secondary Sources
 Secondary sources are one step removed from the
actual event - the information is second hand
knowledge. The author has read primary sources
and evaluates or analyzes the event.
 Text books
 Histories
 Articles
 Encyclopedias
 Biographies
Fact versus Opinion
 Fact: something known to be true;
something that can be shown to be
true, to have existed, or to have
happened.
 Opinion: a view or judgment formed
in the mind about a particular issue
Identify whether each of the following
statements are facts or opinions.
1. Lexington is a boring city.
2. People with blonde hair and blue eyes
are the most beautiful people in the
world.
3. Racism is a problem in America.
4. Young people are less experienced and
knowledgeable than older people.
5. Hip-hop videos are insulting to women.
Let’s Practice!!
 Let’s create a two column Fact and Opinion Column
Note chart to identify the differences between
facts & opinions.
 Take a sheet of paper and fold it in half “hot dog”
style – long way
 In the column on the left write Facts and in the
column on the right write Opinions. Your chart
should look like the model on the board.
Objective verses Subjective
 Objective: a point of view that is not
influenced by personal feelings or
prejudice; based on facts; unbiased
 Subjective: a point of view that is
based on a person’s own moods,
attitudes, and opinions
 Bias: a point of view or interpretation
that is slated or inspired with
prejudice and personal feelings.
How do you know if a statement
is objective?
Objective is...
 Observable
 Factual
 Describable
 Countable
 Truthful
Examples:
 There are 32
desks in this
room.
 The forecast
says there is a
30% chance of
snow.
 Hitler was a
German leader.
How do you know if a statement
is subjective.?
 Subjective is...
 Opinion
 Judgment
 Assumption
 Belief
 Rumor
 Suspicion
Some SUBJECTIVE WORDS TO
LOOK FOR:
 famous, notable, great, etc;
 any reference to size: large,
small, tall, short, etc;
 or distance: near, far, etc;
 character traits: beautiful,
evil, friendly, greedy,
honest, intelligent, old,
popular, ugly, young, etc
Subjectivity implies polarity and may
emphasize one extreme or the other (good
or bad, best or worst)
Key Words
Some SUBJECTIVE WORDS TO LOOK FOR:
 famous, notable, great, etc;
 any reference to size: large, small, tall,
short, etc;
 or distance: near, far, etc;
 character trait: beautiful, evil, friendly,
greedy, honest, intelligent, old, popular,
ugly, young, etc
Look for the 3 “R’s”
 Reliable – Have you heard of the author? Has your
teacher mentioned the author? What are the
author’s credentials? Is the author biased or
objective?
 Recent – When was the book/article published? Has
it been updated or revised? Current events need to
be up to date. Periodicals usually provide the most
recent information.
 Relevant – Does the book have material you can
use? Does it support your research? Is it related to
your topic or is it just interesting data?
Now you know. Now what?
 Once you have identified the facts and opinions
and the objective and subjective statements, what
do you do now?
 You practice a very important skill: identify the
reliability and validity of an argument presented
to you by the author.
 In the piece we’re going to read, you should locate
objective and subjective statements made by the
author (the writer of the article).