What term means the quality of being believable or trustworthy?

• A. Credibility
• B. Bias
• C. Primary source
• D. Stereotype

Answer: (A)

Credibility is the quality of being believable or trustworthy. In history, evaluating sources hinges on credibility: a credible source presents information that is well supported by evidence, comes from a knowledgeable author, and aligns with other reliable information. Such sources are more likely to be accurate and dependable when you’re building an understanding of past events. This distinguishes credibility from bias, which is a personal or contextual perspective that can color information but isn’t itself a measure of trustworthiness. It also sets apart primary sources, which are direct evidence from the time, and stereotypes, which are oversimplified beliefs about a group and don’t indicate how trustworthy the information is.