Issues of Credibility

Analysing an Article

Considering Bias

Definition:
a strong feeling in favour of, or
against, one group of people or
one side of an argument, often not
based on fair judgement.

RMIT University03/03/15

RMIT International University Vietnam

Considering Bias - cont.

Hint for finding bias:
What does the author have to gain, or lose,
from supporting one group or one particular
argument?
financial gain (or loss)
power gain (or loss)
emotional gain (or loss) eg. pride or 'face'
(consider affiliations)
RMIT University03/03/15

RMIT International University Vietnam

Considering Bias - cont.

Affiliation Definition
connection to a particular group or
organisation

Affiliation Examples

national affiliation, professional affiliation, religious affiliation, family

affiliation, academic affiliation, political affiliation, other affiliations
(related to hobbies, sports teams, interests, brand loyalties Mac, Fender,
Harley Davidson)

Bias Case Analysis 1

Trent: Canada is the most beautiful country
in the World.
Do you think this statement is biased?
What is my affiliation?
National
What do I have to gain or lose?
Emotional (Pride)
Conclusion:
Yes, the speaker is probably biased because he is
Canadian and probably feels proud about his country.

Bias Case Analysis 2

Trent: The only place in Saigon to learn how to
write a good academic essay is at RMIT.
Do you think this statement is biased?
What is my affiliation?
Professional
What do I have to gain or lose?
Financial (If more students come to RMIT, then my job is more secure.)
Conclusion:
Yes, the speaker is probably biased because he works at RMIT and will
benefit from increased enrolment at his university.

Language Use: bias

As a noun

The writer may have a strong bias against Asian people because ...

The author seems to show a strong bias toward English speakers since ...

As an adjective

The writer is probably biased about smoking because she is employed as a

spokesperson for a tobacco company.

Notes:
1. Be sure to give a reason for why you believe the author is biased.
2. It is very difficult to be 100% certain of an author's bias so using language of certainty
is usually required.
3. There is no verb form.

Considering Marginalisation

Definition:
Not considering the situation, opinions
or feelings of a particular group
especially when this action has a
negative impact on those groups.
OR
Not considering an argument or idea.

Considering Marginalisation
Lets consider this more
simply:
Here is a page. What do you call the areas at
the top, bottom and sides?
They are called margins.
Where is the important information?
Usually it would be in the centre.
Therefore, you can see that if something is
moved into the margins, it is considered less
important and would not get full attention of
the reader.
In other words, it has been marginalised.

Marginalisation Case 1
Lets think back to Critical Response # 1 Walker The Streets of
Vietnam
What was Walkers first supporting argument?
He argued that the tax on petrol should be increased to reduce the
number of motorised vehicles on the streets.
Does this argument ignore the situation of a particular group of
people?
(Many students identify this as a problem before even understanding
that it is marginalisation.)
Yes. It ignores how this tax would affect the ability of poor people to
make a living.
Therefore, it marginalises the poor.

Marginalisation Case 2
Lets continue to consider The Streets of Vietnam
What was Walkers second supporting argument?
He argued that there should be strict new traffic laws and strong enforcement
of both old and new laws.
What was suggested in the third sentence of that paragraph?
Walker suggested that people should not be allowed driving licences until they
are 20 years old.

Does this argument ignore the situation of a particular group of

people?
Yes. It ignores how this law would affect young people who are currently
considered capable of getting to their places of work and study on motorbikes.
The problem is not that Walker concludes that the law should make the driving
age 20. The problem is that he does not consider any arguments supporting
the young peoples position.

Therefore, Walker marginalises young people.

Language Use: marginalisation

As an active verb

In his first argument, Walker marginalises the poor because he fails to consider how
this tax increase would affect their living standards.

As a passive verb

The poor are marginalised in Walkers first argument since their ability to make a
living is not considered.

As a noun

Walker is guilty of marginalisation when he does not consider how the tax rise will
affect the poors living standards.

Notes:
1. Be sure to give a reason for why you believe the author has marginalised.
2. Using this as a noun is much more awkward than the other 2 options so I would avoid
it at this level.

Can the Third World Afford Environmental

Protection? Chang
Use this diagram to help analyse the arguments in the
article (15 minutes)
Premise

The author believes

THIS

Supporting Arg. A

Supporting Arg. B

Supporting Arg. C

The author believes THIS

because A

The author believes THIS

because B

The author believes THIS

because C

Evidence

Evidence

Evidence

The author supports A with A1

The author supports A with A2
The author supports A with A3

The author supports B with B1

The author supports B with B2
The author supports B with B3

The author supports C with C1

The author supports C with C2
The author supports C with C3