How to Tell the Difference Fact and Opinion How to Tell the Difference

Facts Facts are statements that can be proven. Facts may be true or false. But facts can be proven. Examples 1. Statistically, women live longer than men. Most buses weigh more than most cars. There are ten inches in a foot (false).

Opinions Opinions can be argued. Opinions may be supported with facts. Opinions are statements that cannot be proven. Opinions can be argued. Opinions may be supported with facts. Opinions cannot be proven. Examples Golf is boring. Pizza is delicious. Math is the hardest subject.

Fact or Opinion? According to sales records, strawberry ice-cream is the worst selling of all flavors. Therefore, we can conclude that strawberry is the least popular major ice-cream flavor. This is because strawberry ice-cream does not taste as good as vanilla and chocolate.

Practice Write down whether each example is fact or opinion. Explain your answer.

1 The Family Guy is not appropriate to watch during school.

2 There are fewer panda bears in the world than grizzly bears.

3 Drinking orange juice right after brushing your teeth tastes bad.

4 Justin Bieber deserved to win the Grammy for best new artist.

5 Chicken that has not been properly prepared and cooked may cause salmonella.

6 Cheating on your boyfriend or girlfriend is wrong.

7 The Xbox came out before the Wii.

8 Super Mario is one of the greatest video game characters of all time.

9 Chocolate milk tastes better than regular milk.

10 Charter school students are scheduled to attend school more often than students who attend neighborhood schools.

Answers Opinion Fact

Understanding & Identifying Bias

Definition of Bias Bias: (Noun) a prejudice or strong opinion about something [slanted view] To be biased: influencing others with your opinions Can be intentional (on purpose) or unintentional (not on purpose, not aware of) Everyone is biased at some time

Possible Sources of Bias The writer(‘s)… is relying on incomplete information is trying to deceive the reader wants to believe what he or she is saying past experience is influencing his or her thinking is trying to persuade the reader

Bias Rating When reading information, think about what possible bias might be distorting the facts. You might use a scale such as the following: 1 almost totally unbiased; highly objective; accurate 2 mostly unbiased; fairly reliable 3 somewhat biased; accuracy is questionable 4 fairly biased; distorted; probably unreliable 5 totally biased; highly subjective; inaccurate

Suppose that while researching nutrition, you run across the following: “Vitamin A is an important nutrient. It is used to make rhodopsin, a pigment in our eyes. Thus, Vitamin A is necessary for healthy vision. People can develop night blindness if they do not get enough of it. Carrots are an excellent source of vitamin A. Carrots should be a part of your daily diet.”

Turn & Talk At first, this paragraph seems to offer good information. Would you be more skeptical if you learned that it was written by people who grow carrots commercially? How would your opinion change?

Example: “Eating tomatoes is one of the best things you can do. These beautiful, red fruit not only thrill your taste buds and brighten your plate. they help fight disease. Studies show that people who eat tomatoes, and lots of them, lower their risk of cancer because tomatoes contain lycopene, a powerful antioxidant.” - Tomato Farmers of America

Think Think Think... Was the example text biased? What made you think so? Now look at the example again and pretend it was written by Dr. Joe Medicine instead….. Does that change your opinion on the text being bias?

Example: “Eating tomatoes is one of the best things you can do. These beautiful, red fruit not only thrill your taste buds and brighten your plate. they help fight disease. Studies show that people who eat tomatoes, and lots of them, lower their risk of cancer because tomatoes contain lycopene, a powerful antioxidant.” - Dr. Joe Medicine