Thinking Critically: Establishing Trustworthiness and Credibility
Sylvan Barnet, Hugo Bedau, John O’Hara
Activity Objective: For each method, provide your own example of a sentence that helps to establish trustworthiness and credibility. (Pick a topic that interests you. If you need ideas, look at the topics addressed by the authors presented in Chapter 3.) Be sure to use a tone and language that are appropriate and respectful of your audience.
Acknowledge weaknesses, exceptions, and complexities.
Example of method: “Although the unemployment rate continues to decline, further investigation into underemployment and the loss of jobless benefits is necessary in order to truly understand the unemployment crisis in the United States.”
Use personal experience when appropriate.
Example of method: “As a student who works and attends school full-time, I can speak firsthand about the importance of increased availability of financial aid.”
Mention the qualifications of any sources as a way to boost your own credibility.
Example of method: “According to Deborah Tannen, author and noted professor of linguistics at Georgetown University, . . .”