Credibility Criteria.

   For the subject Thinking Skills, we've learned about critical thinking and how to assess the credibility of sources. Here is a summary of unit number one of the book Critical Thinking for OCR AS Level by Michael Haralambos and Rob Jones.

    Critical thinking is required to evaluate arguments. These consist of a reason(s) which support(s) a conclusion. Meanwhile, evidence refers to the information used to support the reasons and conclusion contained in an argument. Evidence can have different levels of credibility –credible means believable–, which we are going to read about below. It always comes frome somewhere; it has a source. These can be either a magazine´s article, a TV programme, an eye-witness, a photograph, and so forth. It is important to take into account the credibility of the source.

   There are certain techniques which can help to evaluate the credibility of the sources. These are known as the credibility criteria. 

   The most reliable type of source is a neutral one; it is impartial and does not take sides. On the contrary, when there is a vested interest the credibility is reduced. When someone has something to gain for having a certain point of view, there might be lies, distortion and evidence withholding involved. However, having a vested interest is not always something bad or immoral; sometimes even telling the truth is one’s interest. 
    A vested interest can lead to bias, which means having a preference for something. A biased argument is no different than an opinion and, therefore, unreliable. Nevertheless, just because people are biased it does not mean that they would be influenced at the moment of providing evidence. 

   Expertise, on the other hand, is evidence given by a specialist. Their knowledge and skills make them credible sources –even though they can sometimes either be wrong or not reach expertise standards. Reputation is also important as it refers to a person’s character or an organization´s standing. Even so, sometimes people may tell a false story out of fear (in a totalitarian regime, for example). 

   Another credibility criterion is selectivity and representativeness. The evidence selected has to be relevant and representative of all sides in order to be trustworthy. Sometimes the selected information represents bias, which is a negative point as it reduces credibility. Last but not least, context is used to assess the effect of the context on the evidence´s trustworthiness. Context refers to the situation in which the evidence is produced; if an eye-witness sees something at night, their argument might lose objectiveness.

   Finally, we have to take into account that sometimes highly-convicting evidence can be wrong; evidence does not have to be true in order to be credible.