RI Y5 SBCS Part (b) – Approaches & Examples 2023

Approaches to part (b) question

A step by step guide to part (b) 1. Read the title of the SBQ first 2. Read the question/hypothesis 3. A quick scan of the sources and group them into support/challenge sources. (Highlight impt evidence that shows support/challenge) 4. Critically evaluate the sources as a set. *Note that there may be sources that are balanced – has evidence that both supports and challenges the hypothesis OR sources that are neutral, neither explicit supports nor challenges the hypothesis (these may be data tables/graphs). A lot of students forget this and go straight to the sources reading it blind, without relating back to the question.

How to group sources “as a set”  Most obvious way is by looking at the support/challenge of the hypothesis  Next look for sources that have similar arguments or sources that have completely opposing arguments.  Look out for sources that have the same provenance (i.e. same country) but are saying different things at different timeframes. These have to be reconciled as well.

How to critically evaluate sources What does it mean to critically evaluate – it is to assess a source holistically to ascertain its overall credibility in relation to the hypothesis. Some tools: Reliability, Credibility, Utility  Assessing reliability of sources: Reliability is essentially testing accuracy of what is being said. Two methods of testing: 1. Cross referencing to contextual knowledge 2. Cross referencing to another source that says the same thing or another source that says something completely opposite (provided this source has already been evaluated).  Assessing credibility of sources: essentially referring to trustworthiness of the source. Look at provenance for this. Depending on Speaker, Audience, Date, is this trustworthy? Are there vested interests? Usually this enhances your evaluation of reliability of the source content. *Note that a shady provenance may sometimes be saying something reliable and a trustworthy source may not always be saying something reliable.

How to critically evaluate sources  Assessing utility (usefulness) of sources to the hypothesis: A very reliable and credible source need not be very useful to the hypothesis. For e.g. it may have a very limited timeframe compared to the question. Similarly, a biased source nonetheless may be very useful in highlighting a particular context or issue. In sum, you need to evaluate sources holistically, weighing their strengths and limitations in answering the hypothesis. *Do you need to use all 3 tools? Not necessary but some sources may lend itself nicely to all 3 tools.

An L6 conclusion  CHOOSE ONE SET OVER THE OTHER: Reflects the relative merits of the sources as evidence for or against the assertion. Evaluates the set of sources as a whole i.e. collective evaluation on the usefulness of sources. OR  MODIFICATION OF HYPOTHESIS  This method aims to reflect what the sources are saying more acc