How useful is this source? Answering it properly
'Useful' is not the same as 'reliable', and a biased source can be extremely useful. The question is always: useful for finding out what?
Lesson overview
What you'll learn in this lesson
Understand the methods of historical enquiry, including how evidence is used rigorously to make historical claims
Key learning points
- • Read the caption first
- • Bias is evidence, not a fault
- • Tie utility to the enquiry
- • Building the answer
This lesson at a glance
- 30 minutes
- 25 parts to scroll through
- 4 quick checks
- Marked quiz at the end
- Gentle pace: short sittings with pauses
Words to know
Scroll down — the lesson carries on below
Watch & discover
Part 1 of 25
Watch first
How useful is this source? Answering it properly
One source, two enquiries — and two very different judgements on usefulness.
In a nutshell
Understand the methods of historical enquiry, including how evidence is used rigorously to make historical claims
What you already know
Part 2 of 25
Before we start
What you already know
You should already know the difference between a primary and a secondary source and that sources have authors with purposes.
Key words
Part 3 of 25
Key words
Words you'll need today
- Provenance
- Who made a source, when, where and why.
- Utility
- How useful a source is for a specific enquiry.
- Nature
- What kind of source it is: diary, poster, official report.
- Purpose
- What the author wanted the source to achieve.
- Corroboration
- Checking a claim against other evidence.
Reset break
Part 4 of 25
Pause
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Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.
Learning cycle
Part 5 of 25
Learning cycle 1 of 2
Provenance before content
A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.
Explore the idea
Part 6 of 25
Learn
Read the caption first
Nature, origin, purpose and date shape everything. A recruitment poster from 1915 tells you little about how many men wanted to fight, but a great deal about how the government wished the war to be seen. Weak answers describe the picture; strong ones start with who made it and why.
Explore the idea
Part 7 of 25
Learn
Bias is evidence, not a fault
A source distorted by its author's interests is still evidence of those interests. A mill owner's account of factory conditions is unreliable about hours and injuries, and highly useful about how owners justified themselves. Never dismiss a source simply because it is one-sided.
Reset break
Part 8 of 25
Pause
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Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.
Quick check
Part 9 of 25
Quick check
Part 10 of 25
Learning cycle
Part 11 of 25
Learning cycle 2 of 2
Judging utility for a stated enquiry
A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.
Reset break
Part 12 of 25
Pause
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Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.
Explore the idea
Part 13 of 25
Learn
Tie utility to the enquiry
The same source shifts value depending on the question. A soldier's censored letter home is limited evidence about battlefield tactics but strong evidence about what soldiers were permitted to say. Always name the enquiry before judging usefulness.
Explore the idea
Part 14 of 25
Learn
Building the answer
Use a repeatable shape: what the source shows, what its provenance adds, what own knowledge confirms or challenges, then a judgement on utility for the stated enquiry, including limitations. Two developed points beat five undeveloped ones.
Quick check
Part 15 of 25
Reset break
Part 16 of 25
Pause
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Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.
Quick check
Part 17 of 25
Common mix-ups
Part 18 of 25
Common mix-ups
Things people often get wrong
- Reliable and useful are different judgements — biased sources can be very useful.
- A source being old, or primary, does not make it more useful by itself.
- Describing the content is not analysis; the marks come from provenance and enquiry.
Challenge round
Part 19 of 25
Game · Sort it
Which of these are true?
Drag each card into the right column. Tap a card first if dragging is fiddly.
True
Not true
Reset break
Part 20 of 25
Pause
That's sitting 5 of 6 done
Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.
Challenge round
Part 21 of 25
Game · Fill the gaps
Finish the sentences
Choose the word that belongs in each gap.
A source distorted by its author's interests is still ____ of those interests.
Always name the ____ before judging usefulness.
Challenge round
Part 22 of 25
Game · Recall cards
'Useful' should always be judged...
Card 1 of 4
Exit quiz
Part 23 of 25
Exit quiz
Show what you've learned
6 questions, marked together at the end. Nothing is timed.
1. Nature of a source means...
2. Corroboration means...
3. A censored letter is strong evidence about...
4. Own knowledge is used to...
5. Which weakens an answer most?
6. A primary source is automatically...
Mastery quiz
Part 24 of 25
Marked quiz
End of lesson quiz: How useful is this source? Answering it properly
4 questions, marked with the reasoning shown. No timer.
1. 'Useful' should always be judged...
2. Provenance means...
3. A biased propaganda poster is useful evidence of...
4. The strongest source answers include...
Lesson round-up
Part 25 of 25
Lesson round-up
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