Fact and Opinion: Is There Really a Difference

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Fact and Opinion Is There Really a Difference

• Every man has a right to be wrong in his
  opinions.
• But no man has a right to be wrong in his facts.

• -Baruch, Bernard M 1870-1965
• American Financier

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How to Navigate Through a PowerPoint
Workshop

• This PowerPoint Presentation is designed to be
  experienced as a workshop.
• To ensure that you do not miss important
  information, only use your mouse at this prompt
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Lets Get The Facts Straight!

• There is a difference between
• FACT and OPINION.
• Facts are statements that can be proven.
• Opinions can not be proven. They are based on
  someone's thoughts, their feelings and their
  understanding.
• Though you may be able to use facts to add
  credibility to an opinion, it is still an
  opinion!
• Though an opinion may be widely accepted, that
  does not make it a fact.

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Lets Get The Facts Straight!
A fact is something that can be proven
by a reliable authority such as
Proven scientific law
A history book
Statistics
Governmental law
Measurements
Mathematics
An observation
Note None of these authorities are fool proof,
but information that they provide is considered
to be fact.

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Lets Look at Some Examples of Facts
Reliable Authority
Facts
Must Have a

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More Examples of Facts
What About Observations?
Observations are facts because they can be proven
by the senses.
Fact
How it is Provable

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Getting the Facts on Facts
Some facts change over time.
For example
It was once considered to be a fact that the
world was flat.
We believed that those traveling too far in
either direction could literally fall off!
Because new things are being discovered everyday,
reliable authorities are sometimes forced to
alter what we all once considered to be facts.

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Lets Look at Some Examples of Opinions
Here are some of the same topics that we saw as
facts. Can you figure out how they were changed
to opinions?
excellent
Apparently,
All of these words are hints that there is an
opinion present.
necessary.
It is likely
It is unfair

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Types of Opinions

• There are Several Types of Opinions
• Hypothesis Statements
• Theory Statements
• Assumptive Statements
• Value Statements
• Exaggerated Statements

Lets Take a Quick Look at all of them.

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Types of Opinions Statements of Hypothesis
A Hypothesis is an assumption made in an attempt
to explain an observation. Though an Observation
is a Fact, a Hypothesis is an Opinion.
For Example, if I were to elaborate on a previous
observation and say
Some flowers are larger than others because they
are in more fertile soil.
This hypothesis would have to be further
investigated and scientifically proven to be
considered a fact.

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Types of Opinions Statements of Theory
A theory is an opinion that is a widely believed
explanation for a group of observations. Here
are two well known examples

• The Theory of Relativity.
• The Evolutionary Theory.

Though many scientists believe that these
theories are true, we still consider them to be
opinions rather than facts because they have not
been proven.

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Types of Opinions Statements of Assumption
An assumptive statement is an opinion that is an
improvable prediction. Here are three examples

• If Hillary Clinton ran for President she would
  definitely win.
• The war in Iraq will eventually cost the US all
  of its allies.
• When that new movie comes out it will definitely
  be at the top of the charts!

Though these are stated as though they are true,
they are only assumptive opinions.

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Types of Opinions Statements of Value
A value statement is any claim that is based on
someone's beliefs. Here are three examples

• Colin Powell is an excellent candidate for
  president.
• The use of animals in lab testing is cruel and
  must be stopped.
• The Bahamas is the most beautiful place on Earth.

Value Statements are often opinions attempting to
sway the reader to a certain belief.

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Types of Opinions Statements of Exaggeration
An exaggerated statement is one that embellishes
the facts, often to sway the reader. Here are
two examples

• There were millions of people rioting on the
  streets of down town Cincinnati.
• The president has not made one good decision
  since he has been in office!

Writers often use exaggeration to make their
point more clear. They are still opinions.

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Opinions Words To Look Out For
There are Certain Words that will Warn You that
You are Being Given an Opinion and Not a Fact!
Successful
Maybe
Perhaps
Necessary
Best / Worst
Apparently
Probably
Experts Agree

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Getting the Facts About Opinions

• An opinion is not necessarily wrong, it is merely
  not a provable fact.
• For example

Bridgett is a very beautiful young lady.
Even if everyone agreed with this statement, it
is still an opinion because it is not provable.
Beauty is relative.

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Keeping Your Facts Straight
Do you think that you can separate facts from
opinions?
The next slide will have five statements. Decide
whether each statement is a fact, or an opinion.
Write down you answers on a separate sheet of
paper.

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Keeping Your Facts Straight
Separate the facts from the opinions.

• The best way to choose a spouse is based on
  brains, not beauty.
• The car probably stopped running because it ran
  out of gas.
• The Learning Center is in the Educational
  Services Building.
• If I were to go on to receive my Bachelors, I
  would not be successful.
• There are 121 prescription drugs that come from
  plants.

Write your answers on a separate sheet of paper.

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Keeping Your Facts Straight
How well did you do?
The Learning Center is in the Educational
Services Building. -Fact
The car probably stopped running because it ran
out of gas. -Opinion hypothesis
The best way to choose a spouse is based on
brains, not beauty. -Opinion value
statement
If I were to go on to receive my Bachelors, I
would not be successful. -Opinion Assumption
There are 121 prescription drugs that come from
plants. -Fact

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Need more help Separating Facts from Opinions?
Visit Us on Campus at
The Learning Center Room 100
Educational Services Building

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