Encouraging Critical Thinking Online

Unit 1

Checking Facts and

Gathering Opinions

When and what were the ‘Burning Times’? How many

people died as a result?• Find a selection of websites that

address this question

• Record your search strategy and what you find on the worksheet

• Comment on any notable features of the sites or answers you discover

When and what were the ‘Burning Times’?

• The phrase refers to the persecution of people accused of witchcraft in the early modern period (ca. 1450-1700)– A Google search for define:“Burning

Times” produces a range of definitions, including this glossary

When and what were the ‘Burning Times’?

• However:– In England and America, most people

convicted of witchcraft were hanged– In Scotland and on the continent,

burning was more common, but victims were rarely burnt alive – they were usually executed by other means first

When and what were the ‘Burning Times’?

• Many academics prefer to avoid the term– Instead, more neutral terms such as

‘early modern persecution of witches’ or ‘witch hunts’ are preferred

– But the term is still in frequent use in the neo-Pagan community

How many people died as a result?

• Some popular estimates are as high as nine million

• Most scholarly investigations put the figure at a few tens of thousands– Many websites reflect the scholarly

research, but there are also sites which still give inflated figures

Example websites giving high estimates

• The website Witch Prickers suggests “a maximum estimate of 13 million dead and a minimum estimate of 4 million”

• Wiccan Terms and Definitions and the Wiccan Dictionary both suggest nine million

Example websites giving lower estimates

• Religious Tolerance.org suggests between 50,000 and 100,000

• The article ‘Falsehoods of the Burning Times’ suggests 60,000

• Wicca: For the Rest of Us suggests between 40,000 and 100,000

Compare and contrast

• Look at the example sites and consider:– Other than in the figures they give,

how do these sites differ?– Who wrote these sites? What are their

credentials?– Are sources/references given?

Compare and contrast

• There is a significant difference in tone– Articles quoting higher numbers often

use more emotive language– Those giving lower numbers are

frequently couched as attempts to set the record straight

Compare and contrast

• There may also be a marked difference in the picture painted– Sites giving higher numbers are more

likely to identify the victims as Pagans or followers of ‘the Old Religion’

– The Catholic Church is more likely to be blamed

Compare and contrast

• However, sites giving lower estimates are not immune from error– For example, Religious Tolerance.org

implies that alleged witches were routinely burned alive

Compare and contrast

• Sites with lower estimates more frequently give information about the author– From Religious Tolerance.org– From Wicca: For the Rest of Us

• But this isn’t universally the case

Compare and contrast

• Sites on this topic are frequently written by people with a keen personal interest rather than an academic background in the area

• The occasional source is listed, but full references are rarely given

Alternative search strategies

• Search using terms favoured by academics – Phrases like “witch hunt” and “witch craze

” produce slightly different results– Some more academic sites – e.g.

The Witch Hunts, by Prof. Brian A. Pavlac – but still a fairly high proportion of non-scholarly material

Alternative search strategies

• Use more specific search terms– Phrases like “witch hunt scholarship”

or “witch hunt scholarly research” produce some useful hits

– But not all the material is helpful: some is irrelevant, some only suited to in-depth research, and some requires subscription

Alternative search strategies

• Consult a gateway– An academic gateway site such as

Intute offers hand-selected resources– Searches give fewer results, but

they’re more likely to be what you’re looking for

Alternative search strategies

• Searching Intute for “Burning Times”, ‘witch hunt’, or ‘witch craze’ gives a small number of (mostly) relevant results

• A description of each site aids the process of determining what’s most useful

• Also offered are additional features such as Limelight articles

Alternative search strategies

• The hits include Jenny Gibbons’s informative essay ‘Recent Developments in the Study of the Great European Witch Hunt’

• Gives the author’s credentials and mentions her sources (though still lacks detailed references)

Summary - key things to note

• Popular and scholarly answers may vary widely

• It’s useful to consult a variety of sources

• Checking where the information given is drawn from is also wise

Why might we find conflicting answers to a question?

• There may be real uncertainty about the answer

• Authorities may disagree

• There may be multiple ways of interpreting a question

Why might we find conflicting answers to a question?

• Some sources may be more up to date than others

• Answers may vary in precision

• Some sources may simply be wrong

Questions to ask when assessing sources

• Who is the author?– An individual or an institution?– What are the author’s credentials?

• Is this a scholarly resource, or a more informal one?

• How up to date is this source?

Questions to ask when assessing sources

• Are there reasons to doubt the reliability of this source?– Does it include information I know to

be false?– Does it contradict itself or use poor

reasoning?– Is it biased towards a particular view?

Questions to ask when assessing sources

• Is the information provided confirmed by other sources?– Are references provided?– Do other websites agree? (A major

advantage of the Web is that many sources can be compared quickly and easily.)

Remember the three Ws

• WHO wrote this site? – Is the author a trustworthy source?

• WHEN was it written? – Is it up to date?

• WHY was it written?– Does the author have an axe to grind?

This slideshow is part of

Encouraging Critical Thinking Online,a set of free teaching resources

designed to develop students’ analytic abilities,

using the Web as source material.

For the full set, please visit Intute Training:

http://www.intute.ac.uk/training/