How Do I Read a Source — and Can I Trust It?

What a source means depends on when, where and by whom it was made. These notes set out three steps for reading a source well: put it in its context, corroborate it against other sources, and check any eyewitness, especially one remembering years later. They end with a quick way to read a chart. The basics, such as making an inference, are in the Sec 1 Bonus Chapter.

Quick Exam Reminder

Section A: four sources and three questions.
Inference and comparison: two questions ask for an inference, often one about purpose; the third asks you to compare.
Section B: usually two structured questions, each asking you to describe, then explain.
Check: your school's paper may differ, so check with your teacher.

Step 1: Context

Five questions: before working out what a source means, ask about its date, place, person, audience and situation.
Example: a mother's letter from Chinatown to her sister in Penang, 1946, about queuing for the rice ration.
Date and place: about a year after the war, with the British back in charge, in crowded Chinatown.
Audience: her own sister. As a private letter, she had no reason to make things sound better or worse, which makes it more reliable.
Inference: a year after the war, families still struggled to get enough food, and many felt British rule had not yet made life better.

Step 2: Corroboration

Corroboration: one source is only one view, so check it against another.
Three results: a second source can confirm, extend or challenge the first.
Example: a 1946 notice for a People's Restaurant in Telok Ayer, with a meal for 35 cents.
The check: it confirms the letter (food really was a problem) and extends it (it shows how the British tried to fix it).
If sources differ: ask who wrote each one, and why, since the makers' aims may explain the disagreement.

Step 3: Check the Eyewitness

An elderly woman and man chatting with a teenage boy on a stone bench at the void deck of a block of flats — Listening to grandparents' memories. Illustration drawn for Our Study Tribe.

Memories: many Sec 2 sources are interviews, diaries and memoirs.
Three words: claim, support, question.
Example: two memories of 9 August 1965. A diary written two days later shows worry; an interview 40 years later says everyone cheered.
Hindsight: knowing how things turned out can change a memory, so for how people felt that day, the diary is more reliable.
Not lying: this does not mean the interview is false; it means you check it.

Three Questions for an Eyewitness

When was it recorded?
Was the person really there?
Did they have a reason to remember it a certain way?

Bonus: Reading a Chart

Numbers are sources too.
Example: the Singapore Improvement Trust built about 21,000 homes and shops in 13 years (1947–1959); the HDB built about 54,000 flats in 5 years (1960–1965).
The trend: building sped up enormously.
Who collected it? The government, to record its progress, so it would want the numbers to look good.
Whose voice is missing? The families: a chart cannot show how they felt about moving.

In One Sentence

To read a source well, put it in its context, corroborate it against other sources, and question any eyewitness, especially one remembering years later, because each step shows how far the source can be trusted.

Think About It

Your grandparent tells you about a big flood in the 1970s. What three questions would you ask before trusting every detail?
Why might a private letter be more honest than a newspaper report about the same event? When might it not be?
A government chart shows huge progress. What would you want to find out before using it as evidence?