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  • IB Business Management
    • 01 Business Organization and the Environment >
      • 1.1 Introduction to Business Management
      • 1.2 Types of business organizations
      • 1.3 Organizational objectives
      • 1.4 Stakeholders
      • 1.5 External Environment
      • 1.6 Growth and Evolution
      • 1.7 Organizational planning tools
    • 02 Human Resources >
      • 2.1 Human Resource Planning
      • 2.2 Organizational Structure
      • 2.3 Leadership and Management
      • 2.4 Motivation
      • 2.5 Organizational and corporate cultures
      • 2.6 Employer and employee relations
    • 03 Finance and Accounting >
      • 3.1 Sources of finance
      • 3.2 Costs and revenues
      • 3.3 Break-even analysis
      • 3.4 Financial Accounts
      • 3.5 & 3.6 Ratio Analysis
      • 3.7 Cash flow
      • 3.8 Investment appraisal
      • 3.9 Budgets
    • 04 Marketing >
      • 4.1 The Role Marketing
      • 4.2 Marketing Planning
      • 4.3 Sales Forcasting
      • 4.4 Market Research
      • 4.5 Product >
        • 4.5 Price
        • 4.5 Promotion
        • 4.5 Place
      • 4.7 International Marketing and Globalization
    • The Exam
  • IB Economics
    • 01 Microeconomics >
      • 1. The Foundations of Economics
      • 1.1 Demand and Supply
      • 1.2 Elasticities
      • 1.3 Government Intervention
      • 1.4 Market Failure
    • 02 Macroeconomics >
      • 01 Level of Economic Activity
      • 2.2 Aggregate Demand
      • 2.3 Aggregate Supply
      • 2.4 Macroeconomic Equlibruim
      • 2.5 Unemployment
      • 2.6 Inflation
      • 2.7 Economic Growth
      • 2.8 Equity in the distribution of income
    • 03 International Economics >
      • 3.1 Free Trade
      • 3.2 Protectionism
      • 3.3 Exchange Rates
      • 3.4 Balance of Payments
      • 3.5 Economic Integration
    • 04 Development Economics >
      • 4.1 Economic Development
      • 4.2 Measuring Development
    • 05 Exam Preparation
  • Individuals & Societies 8
    • 01 Belief systems and their influence on culture
    • 02 How are societies governed?
    • 03 Japan 1603 - 1945: Isolation and then expansion
    • 04 What are natural hazards and how do societies respond to them? Case Study: Japan
  • Individuals & Societies 7
    • 01 The Individuals and Societies Toolbox
    • 02 Economic Growth and Development
    • 03 Where are all the people?
    • 04 How has globalization shaped the world?
  • AP World History
    • Free Response Questions
    • 10,000 BCE - 600CE
    • 600 - 1450
    • 1450 - 1750
  • AP Human Geo
    • 01 Geography its nature and perspectives
    • 02 Population and Migration
    • 03 Cultural Geography
    • 04 Political Geography
    • 05 Urban Geography
    • 06 Economic Geography
    • 07 Agricultural Geography
    • Exam Review
  • Previously Taught Courses
    • G12 Economics >
      • Basic Economic Ideas
      • Producing and Consuming
      • Financial Capability
      • Managing the Economy
    • G10 World History >
      • 01 Exploration, Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment
      • 02 The American Revolution
      • 03 France: Absolute Monarchy & Revolution
      • 04 The Industrial Revolution
      • 05 Imperialism and Nationalism
      • 06 WW1
      • 07 Inter-War Period
      • 08 WW2
    • G9 World History >
      • 01 Human beginnings and early civilizations
      • 02 Mediterranean Classical Civilizations (Greece) >
        • Mediterranean Classical Civilizations (Rome)
      • 03 Classical China
      • 04 The Muslim World
      • 05 Interregional Networks and Contacts 500 - 1450
      • 06 The Renaissance and Reformation >
        • Oral Presentations
    • G9 Social Studies >
      • History >
        • Analyzing Sources
      • Geography
    • G7 Social Studies >
      • Introduction to Empowerment
      • Economic Empowerment
      • Political Empowerment
      • Cultural Empowerment
      • National Empowerment
      • 04 Resources and the environment
      • Finance and Accounting >
        • 3.1 Sources of finance
        • 3.2 Investment appraisal
        • 3.3 Working capital
        • 3.4 Budgeting
        • 3.5 Financial Accounts
        • 3.6 Ratio Analysis
  • Extended Essay
    • 01 Getting Started
    • 02 Structuring the EE
  • Writing Skills
  • Critical Reading

Analyzing Political Cartoons

Being able to analyze and understand political cartoons is an essential skill for any historian. Using the "How to" file on the right and the practice paper below have a go at analysing the cartoons. 
How to analyse cartoon sources
File Size: 43 kb
File Type: docx
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Analyzing Written Sources

Picture
Top Tips 
When you are asked to compare to sources and decide on their reliability and/or usefulness make sure you analyse both 
For each source analyse its strengths and weaknesses - what makes it reliable/useful, what detracts from its reliability/utility 
Come to a conclusion! Don't say they are both of the same reliability or usefulness, choose one and state your case clearly 
  
Looking at Bias 
Don't fall into the trap of calling a source biased just because it is written by someone on a particular side of a dispute. Make sure you have grounds for describing a source as biased! 
  
The essential skill is to explain how and why a source is biased and to explain why it matters that a source is biased namely that it affects its reliability and perhaps usefulness 
  
When considering reliability ask these questions 
Does this source distort the facts? 
Does it give one side of the story or is it balanced 
Does it deliberately attempt to mislead? 
Can the views expressed in the source be corroborated? 
  
When thinking about usefulness 
The key trigger here is an understanding of what your line of enquiry is. For instance a biased source might be extremely useful if you are investigating the opinions of a particular group at a particular time, but less useful if you were asked to investigate "the facts" of an event 
  
When sources disagree 
It is an examiner favourite to ask why two or more sources don't agree. 
Don't just describe the sources back to the examiner - this is how they disagree not why. Also take care to remain focussed - you have not been asked about reliability or usefulness here! 
  
To understand why sources disagree requires an understanding of motive - why did the author produce the source? You also need to consider the different accessthat each author would have had to the facts. For instance a British historian might have better access to source material on British history than a Chinese one! 
You also need to take into account the background, nationality, culture, religion etc. of the author and decide whether this may have had some bearing on how things have been interpreted in the source 
  
Use all the sources and your own knowledge 
This type of question often requires you to study a relatively high number of sources and to agree or disagree on a particular statement. These are frequently questions worth many marks! 
  
Consider carefully the statement offered by the examiner e.g. "Hitler was the most significant cause of World War II" 
Do you agree or disagree with it. Often as in the example given it is most sensible to disagree (explain why Hitler was important but explain the importance of others factors that caused World War II) 
  • List your knowledge which supports the statement 
  • List your knowledge which does not support the statement 
  • Look to the sources and add evidence from the sources to both your lists 
  • You will know be in a position to write a balanced answer 
  • Try not to sit on the fence - come to a conclusion!! 
  
Reliability: Factors affecting reliability 
  
Questions to consider for Written Sources 
  • Was the author an eyewitness and if so how long since the events did the writing take place? 
  • Did the author have access to all the relevant facts? 
  • Did the author have access to a variety of different sources? Is there evidence of balance in the source? 
  • Under what circumstances was the author writing - was he/she free to speak his/her mind freely? 
  • Was the author trying to persuade people to share his/her views? 
  • If the source is all opinion is it opinion typical of others at the time? 
  
Questions to consider for pictorial sources 
Drawings and paintings 
  • Was it the artist's intention to give an accurate picture or a factual representation of what occurred? 
  • Or was it created to form opinion? 
  • What was the motive of the artist?  If the picture was intended to be an accurate representation, was the artist an eyewitness? 
  • Was the picture a product of the artist's imagination? 
  
Cartoons 
These are frequently deliberately exaggerated for effect and in many cases simply unreal e.g. Winston Churchill portrayed with the body of a bull dog. In such cases it is clear that that the picture itself is not "reliable" so you will have to consider whether the message of the picture is reliable (did Churchill have bulldog qualities?). Does the message accurately reflect the generally held opinion of the person, event or thing? 
  
Photos 
The camera sometimes lies! However it is very unlikely that "doctored" photos will appear in exam papers. However staged photographs will often appear! Think of the College prospectus with all those happy hardworking students contently working away behind the screens of high specification computers! Ask yourself whether the photograph portrays events which are typical of such a context. Consider also the motive of the person who may have staged the photograph. 
  
Statistics 
Have they been collected accurately? 
Have the numbers been simplified - rounded up or down? 
Has the scale been altered for effect? 


The embedded document below is to be used as a guide as to how to answer three questions that you will be asked to answer this year on your Source Based Exam.  Read through the document carefully and download practice paper below to practice

Written Source Analysis Questions on the Cuban Missile Crisis
CUBA Written Source Analysis
File Size: 14 kb
File Type: docx
Download File