BIOLOGICAL VALIDITY

=Biological Validity= Biological validity refers to scientifically accurate information that is used in an unbiased way to convey a biological idea. ''' Accurate + Unbiased = Valid''' ==Accuracy== '''Accurate:''' Correct in all aspects '''Inaccurate:''' Incorrect in some ways The following things may suggest a claim is accurate: *It is published in a peer-reviewed scientific journal *the author provides citations (references), especially peer-reviewed scientific journals *The information published is in agreement with other reputable sources *The Information is published by an impartial organisation with a reputation for accuracy *The author has a qualification relevant to the field of study *The publication is recent ==Bias== A statement or belief is biased if there is prejudice towards a certain viewpoint. Prejudice is when the opinion is not based upon evidence. Evidence of bias can include: '''Emotive language & Prejudice''' Does the author use positive words and images to describe his/her point of view and negative words and images to describe other points of view? Does the author make statements that are not supported by evidence? Does the author make a decision on behalf of the reader rather than presenting the supporting evidence and letting the reader draw their own conclusions? '''Unbalanced arguments''' How does the author present arguments? Is the message one-sided, or does it include alternative points of view? Does the speaker fairly present alternative arguments? Does the speaker ignore obviously conflicting arguments? If the message includes alternative points of view, how are those views characterized? '''Misleading use of information''' What sources does the author use, and how credible are they? Does the author cite statistics? If so, how were the data gathered, who gathered the data, and is the data being presented fully? Does the author leave out information that might cause the reader to interpret the information differently? Is information taken out of context? NCEA Level 2 Biology students will be required to read three articles and use '''biological knowledge''' to identify at least '''two biological features''' as '''inaccurate''', '''inaccurate''' or '''biased'''. They will also be asked to '''explain''' how or why each feature is inaccurate, accurate or biased.