Page 22 - Sociology and You

Applying the Skill
Separating fact from opinion can be very important to you in everyday life.
1. Do some research on the causes of criminal behavior. Prepare a short report that summarizes your findings.
2. Discuss how the principle of multiple causation applies to criminal behavior.
3. What other questions does your research raise?
Separating Fact from Opinion
Being able to distinguish fact from opinion can help you make reasonable judgments about what others say and write. Unfortunately, fact and opinion are often confused with each other, and separating them can be difficult. Facts must be verified by evidence. Opinions are simply based on people’s differing values and beliefs.
Learning the Skill
The following steps will help you distinguish facts from opinions:
◆ Read or listen to the information carefully. Identify the
facts by asking: Can these statements be proved?
Where would I find information to verify them?
◆ If a statement can be verified, it is factual. Check the
sources for the facts. Often statistics sound impressive,
but they may come from an unreliable source.
◆ Identify opinions by looking for statements of feelings
or beliefs. If the statement refers to situations that are desirable or undesirable, important or unimportant, or likely or unlikely, then the statement is an opinion. Opinions may also contain words like should, would, could, best, greatest, all, every, or always.
Practicing the Skill
Read the following paragraph, then answer the questions below it.
According to data collected by the Census Bureau, African Americans who have received a high school diploma earned a median income in 1999 of $23,990, and their white counterparts earned $29,261, near- ly 22 percent more. The gap between blacks and whites with bache-
HB-8 Sociology Handbook