Corroborating and Challenging Accuracy of Sources

Overview

In this lesson, you will learn how to corroborate and challenge sources.

Evaluating Sources

While researching, you will encounter a variety of sources. These can be written texts, speeches, or quantitative data presented in charts and graphs.

As a diligent researcher, you need to carefully consider what sources you use and how you use them. You should examine each source for
credibility and accuracy before using them as evidence to support your claims.

Accuracy

Accuracyis whether or not the information presented is true and supported by facts.

Presentation of facts is important. When a text uses facts accurately, it presents all of the known facts in an even-handed way. Also, there should be a close
connection between the evidence and the reasoning…one should support the other!

You can check accuracy by comparing the source to your own background knowledge of the topic, or compare it to other sources.

Accuracy – Example

When examining sources for accuracy, look at the use of evidence, or facts. There is almost always an element of interpretation in writing because authors can
pick and choose the facts they include.

For example, read the section Continental Soldiers Were Always Ragged And H​ungry from John Ferling’s article “Myths of the American Revolution” found at Smithsonian.com.

Ferling debunks historical misconceptions by providing true examples of the “myth” followed by
counter-evidence to explain how the myths are not completely true.

Corroborating and Challenging a Source

The best way to check for accuracy in historical texts is by corroborating or challenging the information against other texts.

Corroborating and challenging is the process of checking a new source against known and established sources. It is a process of comparison and
evaluation.

If the new source’s selection and use of evidence agrees with an established source, the new source is corroborated. If not, the information in the
source is challenged. When a source is challenged, you must look at additional sources to resolve the differences.

Click h​ere to see a poster that presents the main questions to ask when corroborating.

Corroborating – Example

“No More Kings” from Schoolhouse Rock is an example of historical corroboration. Watch the ​video from 1:15 to 3:00. Consider the argument being
made. In what way does this narrative explain economics as a cause of the American Revolution. What evidence, if any, is presented to the viewer? 

Corroborating – Example

The No More
King​s cartoon is fun, and was an educational resource for a generation of children. Its premise is that economics caused the American Revolution, however the video’s
accuracy may be doubtful.

Corroborate this source by comparing it to the section ​The Events
Leading to Independence from the online textbook USHistory.org. Where do these sources agree and where do they differ? Which source should you trust more for credibility and
accuracy?

Use this chart to help guide your thinking:

Corroborating Evidence – Explanation

Most likely you concluded that the textbook is a more reliable source than the cartoon. The information between the two sources do not align with each other, in
other words there is no corroboration. As the chart shows, there are differences in the evidence presented; the more reliable of the two sources presents more data.

Instead of using the evidence from the Schoolhouse Rocks video, you should be looking for information from an alternative source.

Conclusion

In this lesson you learned to evaluate the accuracy of a variety of informational sources by corroborating information.