3.3.2: Fact vs. Opinion
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Is is Fact or Opinion?
Just as our emotional response can influence our susceptibility to disinformation (Vongkiatkajorn, 2018), our emotions can influence our ability to distinguish between factual and opinion statements. In 2018, the Pew Research Center studied people's ability to tell the difference between faculty statements and opinion states in news media. The study found that "political awareness, digital savviness and trust in the media play large roles in the ability to distinguish between factual and opinion news statements" (Mitchell et al.).
It is important to note that Pew's research focused on people's ability distinguish between factual and opinion statements, not on their ability to determine whether the factual statements were accurate (though all the examples of factual statements the study used were also accurate). Determining whether a statement presented as fact is actually correct, is something we will explore later in this chapter.
How Well Can You Distinguish Between Factual and Opinion Statements?
Which of the following statements are factual statements and which are opinion statements?
- Snakes are scary and gross.
- Dog owners score higher on tests of well-being than cat owners.
- Snake owners are the likeliest to consider their pet “part of the family.”
- Dogs make better pets than cats.
- Answer
-
- Snakes are scary and gross. OPINION
- Dog owners score higher on tests of well-being than cat owners. FACTUAL
- Snake owners are the likeliest to consider their pet “part of the family.” FACTUAL
- Dogs make better pets than cats. OPINION
If you have negative feelings about snakes, the second factual statement might be hard to believe. And yet, some studies have found both of the factual statements above to be true (Brooks, 2021).
You can take the Pew Research Center's Quiz: How well can you tell factual from opinion statements? to see how your results compare to the group of 5,000 U.S. adults who participated in the study.
Sources
Brooks, A.C. (2021, Aug 5). Which pet will make you happiest? The Atlantic.
Mitchell, A., Gottfried, J., Barthel, M., & Sumida, N. (2018, June 18). Distinguishing between factual and opinion statements in the news: The politically aware, digitally savvy and those more trusting of the news media fare better; republicans and democrats both Influenced by political appeal of statements. Pew Research Center.
Vongkiatkajorn, Kanyakrit. (2018, Aug 9.) Here’s how you can fight back against disinformation. Mother Jones.