REVIEWING AMERICAN GOVERNMENT

1. REVIEWINGAMERICAN GOVERNMENT MODULE 1A. CIVIC PARTICIPATION AND SKILLS

2. LEARNING TARGET 3 Prepare a collection of documents pertaining to a civic issue that contains examples from at least two distinct information types (e.g., public records, surveys, research data, and policy positions of advocacy groups); explain how each source is relevant; describe the perspective or position of each source and evaluate the credibility of each source. Researching a civic issue involves three steps: determining which sources of information are relevant to the task identifying the perspective or position of each source evaluating the credibility of the sources

3. TYPES OF SOURCES Public records — documents that are not considered confidential and generally pertain to the conduct of government county tax records (local) a report issued by a state executive agency (state) Congressional Record (national) Surveys of public opinion e.g. Gallup Poll, Quinnipiac University, Pew Research Center Surveys also could consist of data collections relating to a public issue. e.g. survey of waterway contamination resulting from the runoff of snow removal chemicals

4. TYPES OF SOURCES Research data —many forms; may originate with organizations ranging from universities to research institutes. Advocacy groups (interest groups) — produce literature to outline their positions on public policy issues e.g. brochures, magazines, websites and social media engage in lobbying — process of influencing legislation or policy information from advocacy groups reflects a particular perspective on an issue based on the group’s goals

5. CREDIBILITY OF SOURCES Credibility—whether or not sources are trustworthy and believable. How do you know if a source is credible? depends to a great extent on who wrote it and how it was written Qualifications/reputation of the writer and/or organization if the author or the organization is a recognized expert on the topic a recognized authority will be cited by other writers in the same field

6. CREDIBILITY OF SOURCES Circumstances in which the source material was generated consider author’s purpose and motivation academic article will have a much different goal than a political website Internal consistency and agreement with other credible sources present information that can be verified by checking other sources Internal consistency — no contradictory claims, information, or data within the source

7. CREDIBILITY OF SOURCES Use of supporting evidence and logical conclusions Claims are supported with evidence, such as facts, examples, and statistical data Evidence connected to the claims with sound reasoning Evidence of bias or unstated assumptions contain more opinions than facts present arguments in support of one position and ignore arguments that might support a different position stereotype — generalization about an individual or group

8. REVIEW AND PRACTICE As you watch the video below, take notes on how to determine the credibility of sources.

9. REVIEW AND PRACTICE Complete the task below by the moving the boxes to the correct column on the chart. esc Press the esc key for edit mode Pew Research Center Poll Police Department Crime Reports National Rifle Association Twitter Feed

10. REVIEW AND PRACTICE Complete the task below by the moving the boxes to the correct blank spaces. You will not use all of the boxes. Which source would be the most credible source to use in each situation? esc Press the esc key for edit mode how a proposed tax cut would affect the U.S. national debt identifying which city intersections have the most car accidents determining the durability of various smart phones an independent consumer survey a report by the Congressional Budget Office a local police department report a social media ad by an interest group

11. REVIEW AND PRACTICE Highlight the correct answer to the question below. A news website publishes an article about a bill in the Ohio General Assembly. What would indicate that the article is biased in favor of the bill? The article quotes the full text of the bill. The article is printed before the final vote on the bill. The article quotes only state legislators who support the bill. The article indicates that the governor will likely veto the bill. esc Press the esc key for edit mode

12. REVIEW AND PRACTICE Answer the question below in the space provided. Body cameras may not provide full and accurate details of incidents. In the first place, there are no clear national guidelines yet on the use of body cameras, such as whether police officers should be required to keep them on at all times or given discretion to use them where appropriate. The Oakland Police Department in California, for example, has disciplined at least one officer for neglecting to turn on his body camera when dealing with Occupy Oakland protesters in November 2012. The Mesa Police Department experiment found that the use of body cameras dropped by 42 percent when officers were allowed discretion in turning the camera on and off. 1 Explain how you could determine the credibility of the source above. What additional information would be helpful in evaluating the credibility of the source? esc Press the esc key for edit mode

13. REVIEW AND PRACTICE Click here for the Quizlet Vocabulary Practice Click here for the Edcite Mastery AssessmentNote: this assessment includes content from Modules 1A and 1B.

14. CREDITS Developed by Columbus City Schools Office of Teaching and Learning Secondary Curriculum Division Social Studies Department www.ccsoh.us/socialstudies Cadwal template courtesy of Slides Carnival