Research Prompts
Identify Biases in a Source
Analyze a text for potential biases — selection, framing, omission, and ideological slant.
Prompt
Please analyze the following text for potential biases. I want a critical reading, not a summary. **Known context** (optional — include what you know about the author, publication, or date): [KNOWN_CONTEXT] --- [TEXT] --- Analyze for: 1. **Selection bias** — what topics, data points, examples, or perspectives are included, and what seems to be excluded or underweighted? What picture would look different if the omitted material were included? 2. **Framing effects** — identify specific word choices, metaphors, or rhetorical structures that guide the reader toward a particular interpretation. Provide direct quotes from the text as examples. 3. **Source bias** — who is cited or quoted, and who is absent? Are the sources diverse in perspective, or do they predominantly represent one viewpoint, institution, or demographic? 4. **Potential motivations** — based on the known context and the content itself, what ideological, financial, institutional, or personal motivations might shape the author's perspective? Note if this is speculative. 5. **Questions a skeptical reader should ask** — list 3-5 specific questions someone should research before accepting the article's framing or conclusions. 6. **Overall bias assessment** — rate the apparent bias as Low, Moderate, or High, and summarize in 2-3 sentences. Note that detecting bias does not mean the factual content is wrong.
How to Use
Paste any article, report, or text into [TEXT]. If you know who wrote it, where it was published, and when, add that to [KNOWN_CONTEXT] — this context helps the model flag potential institutional or ideological influences. Leave [KNOWN_CONTEXT] blank if you want a blind analysis based only on the text itself.
Variables
| Variable | Description |
|---|---|
| [TEXT] | The article, report, editorial, or passage you want to analyze |
| [KNOWN_CONTEXT] | Optional background on the author, publisher, funder, or date of publication |
Tips
- Run this prompt before sharing or citing a source — it takes 30 seconds and can save you from unknowingly spreading misleading framing.
- Detecting bias does not mean a source is wrong or useless; use the output to read more critically, not necessarily to discard the source.