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History vocabulary · Sources and Archives

Bias

Meaning in history, with examples

/ˈbaɪəs/nounCore term

In history, bias means: A one-sided view that makes a source or a writer favour one person, group or explanation, so that the account is not fully balanced or complete.

In Turkish: taraflılık, yanlılık, önyargı

How it is used

A standard word in source analysis. Students are asked to detect, identify or allow for bias. Bias does not make a source useless: a biased source can tell us a lot about its author's views. The adjective is biased.

Example sentences

  1. The chronicle was written for the sultan, so we must allow for some bias.

  2. A biased source can still be useful if you ask the right questions.

Common collocations

  • allow for bias
  • detect bias
  • a biased account
  • political bias
  • bias in the sources
  • source criticismThe careful evaluation of a historical source to judge where it came from, who made it and why, and how reliable and useful it is for a particular question.
  • primary sourceEvidence created at the time being studied or by people who witnessed it, such as letters, diaries, official records, photographs or objects.
  • interpretationA particular explanation of what past events meant or why they happened, based on the evidence and on the historian's questions and point of view.
  • propagandaInformation, images or ideas spread in an organised way to influence public opinion, often one-sided or misleading, especially by governments in war or political struggle.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Sources and Archives

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