Source Analysis Quiz

What makes a source reliable?

• If it is a primary source

• If the source includes personal opinions and emotions

• If it is a secondary source

• If it comes from a trusted author with credible evidence

• If the source is direct and only supports one perspective

Which of the following would offer the most neutral account of segregation in the U.S.?

• A government report that compiles statistics on segregation laws and their impact

• A memoir of someone who lived through segregation who shares their experience

• An academic article that presents data from multiple perspectives.

• A news segment with interviews with people who had both positive and negative experiences with segregation

What makes a source useful?

• If the source is relevant to the topic or research question being investigated

• If the source provides data, evidence, or examples that support its claims

• The source contains current information that reflects the latest information

• If the source is well-organized and easy to understand

• If it came from a government website

Which of the following would be the most reliable for understanding U.S. civil rights movements

• A letter written by Lyndon B Johnson to Martin Luther King

• A diary entry by Rosa Parks

• A documentary with emotive interviews from people who took part in the Freedom Rides

• A peer-reviewed journal article from a trusted historian about the topic

Which of the following contribute to how useful this source is to historians studying segregation in the U.S.?

• It is a primary source therefore it is useful

• The source is a state document that contains official government perspectives on segregation

• The source provides firsthand accounts of segregation laws in Louisiana

• It is a source from the time period

Which of the following would be the most useful for understanding perceptions of segregation in the U.S.

• Newspaper articles from the time period that report on segregation laws and related events

• A cartoon from the time period about the segregation of buses

• Interviews with individuals who lived through segregation and share their personal experiences.

• Martin Luther King's autobiography

• A state tourism brochure from the 1960s that mentions segregation practices

Which would be most useful to students studying the U.S. civil rights movement?

• A textbook on the history of the United States

• Political cartoons from the era that comment on civil rights issues

• A diary entry from a passenger of the 1961 Freedom Rides

• Documentary that incorporates primary sources that depict key events and figures from the civil rights movement

Which of the following statements are correct?

• Secondary sources are always less reliable than primary sources because they are based on interpretation.

• Primary sources provide firsthand accounts and are created during the time being studied.

• Primary sources never need to be corroborated by other evidence to ensure their accuracy.

• Primary sources include textbooks and research articles that analyse historical events.

Why is a photograph useful for historians?

What type of source is this? e.g. written/non-written, speech, letter etc.