Vocabulary Masters
This term refers to the trustworthiness and believability of a source.
What is credibility?
A source was published last month and discusses a current issue.
Which CRAAP category is strongest?
What is currency?
A statement that can be argued and supported with evidence is called a:
What is a claim?
Before deciding whether an argument is convincing, a reader should first:
What is understand the author's argument?
You're researching AI in education. Which source would you investigate first?
A university research study, a TikTok video, or a meme?
University research study
This term refers to information that directly helps answer a research question.
What is relevance?
A university professor publishes research in a peer-reviewed journal.
Which characteristic most strengthens the source?
What is authority?
Researchers survey 3,000 students from schools across the country to study sleep habits.
What characteristic makes this evidence stronger than a survey of 15 students from one school?
A larger and more representative sample.
An author acknowledges opposing viewpoints and limitations.
How does this generally affect credibility?
It generally strengthens credibility.
You find two sources. One is highly credible but only loosely related to your topic. The other is directly related but written by an unknown author.
What should you do?
Evaluate both and balance relevance with credibility before deciding.
This term describes a person's tendency to favor certain information because of beliefs, experiences, or assumptions.
What is bias?
A source is written by an expert but is unrelated to your research question.
Which CRAAP category is weakest?
What is relevance?
An author includes statistics from a study but never explains how those statistics support the claim.
What important element is missing?
Explanation/line of reasoning connecting evidence to the claim.
A student accepts an argument because it agrees with their beliefs.
What may be influencing the student's judgment?
What is confirmation bias?
You discover three sources that all support the same position.
What is the next thing you should look for?
Competing or alternative perspectives
This term refers to a person's experiences, values, culture, and assumptions that shape how they understand an issue.
What is perspective?
A website provides no author information, citations, or evidence.
What credibility concern should a researcher have?
What is a lack of authority and accuracy?
A study concludes that all teenagers prefer online learning based on interviews with 20 students from one school.
Identify TWO weaknesses in the evidence.
A researcher compares multiple sources before reaching a conclusion.
Which AP Seminar skill is being demonstrated?
What is evaluating multiple perspectives?
While researching food deserts, you see arguments from researchers, government officials, and business owners.
Whose perspective might still be missing?
Community residents/people directly affected
This term describes a belief accepted as true without sufficient evidence.
What is an assumption?
A 2026 report from the CDC and a 2010 blog post make the same claim. Explain which source you would use and why.
The CDC report because it is more current, authoritative, and supported by evidence.
Researchers conclude that all American teenagers think the same way after surveying 30 students from one private school.
What's the biggest issue?
Limited sample and lack of generalizability
An argument contains Recent evidence, Expert sources, Strong reasoning. However, it completely ignores credible opposing evidence.
What concern should a critical thinker raise?
The argument's credibility is weakened because it fails to acknowledge limitations and opposing perspectives.
A source contains strong statistics, expert testimony, and recent information.
Before accepting the argument, what should a critical thinker still examine?
Bias, methodology, limitations, and opposing viewpoints