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Critical Thinking and the Wider Web
Unit 1
Checking Facts and
Gathering Opinions
What was William Shakespeare’s date of birth?
• Find three websites that provide an answer
• Fill in the boxes on the worksheet for each of them
• Comment on any notable features of the sites or answers you discover
What was William Shakespeare’s date of birth?
• Some sources say 23 April 1564: – Google search for
‘William Shakespeare birth date’– The Shakespeare Country website
Results of Google search for ‘William Shakespeare birth date’
Retrieved 5 June 2008
Results of Google search for ‘William Shakespeare birth date’
Retrieved 5 June 2008
Shakespeare Country website
http://www.shakespeare-country.com/william_shakespeare.htm Retrieved 20 June 2008
Shakespeare Country website
http://www.shakespeare-country.com/william_shakespeare.htm Retrieved 20 June 2008
What was William Shakespeare’s date of birth?
• However, we don’t really know the precise date– He was baptised on 26 April 1564– At the time, babies were usually baptised
within a few days of birth– 23 April is Shakespeare’s death date, and
has also become the traditional date to commemorate his birth
Results of Google search for ‘William Shakespeare birth date’
Retrieved 5 June 2008
Results of Google search for ‘William Shakespeare birth date’
Retrieved 5 June 2008
What was William Shakespeare’s date of birth?
• However, some scholars give reasons to doubt this– Shakespeare Online’s biography
section suggests that if Shakespeare had been born on 23 April, the most probable date for his baptism would be 25 April, as this was a feast day
Shakespeare Online biography page
http://www.shakespeare-online.com/biography/ Retrieved 20 June 2008
Summary - key things to note
• The straightforward answer to a question is not always the most precise
• As information is transmitted, important qualifications are sometimes lost
Why might we find conflicting answers to a question?
• There may be real uncertainty about the answer
• Authorities may disagree
• There may be multiple ways of interpreting a question
Why might we find conflicting answers to a question?
• Some sources may be more up to date than others
• Answers may vary in precision
• Some sources may simply be wrong
Questions to ask when assessing sources
• Who is the author?– An individual or an institution?– What are the author’s credentials?
• Is this a scholarly resource, or a more informal one?
• How up to date is this source?
Questions to ask when assessing sources
• Are there reasons to doubt the reliability of this source?– Does it include information I know to
be false?– Does it contradict itself or use poor
reasoning?– Is it biased towards a particular view?
Questions to ask when assessing sources
• Is the information provided confirmed by other sources?– Are references provided?– Do other websites agree? (A major
advantage of the Web is that many sources can be compared quickly and easily.)
Remember the three Ws
• WHO wrote this site? – Is the author a trustworthy source?
• WHEN was it written? – Is it up to date?
• WHY was it written?– Does the author have an axe to grind?
