<p>I was just wondering what the official difference between bias and point of view was for the history APs (specifically World). I’ve seen/heard lots of different answers, and I really need to know before I take my exam.</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>My AP World History teacher this year told us that there is no difference between bias and point of view. They used to use the word bias a few years back, but the word has sort of a negative connotation. So, they decided to use point of view which is somewhat better.</p>
<p>It’s kind of a semantic issue. The point of view is the actual viewpoint. For example, “Blue birthday cakes taste better than green birthday cakes.”
The bias is what creates the proclivity toward a certain response. So in that example, the bias is that blue is my favorite color. When something is biased, it makes people’s answers lean toward a certain response based on their point of view.</p>
<p>My teacher has also said that they’re basically the same. However, I see it as one’s POV affecting the bias. For example, if you’re doing a document on the role of women in ancient society, a document from the point of view of a man is probably going to be biased against women. I’m thinking you’d be safe by saying “Because this document is written from an aristocrat’s/commoner’s/man’s/woman’s/etc viewpoint, a clear bias against commoners/aristocrats/women/men/etc can be seen.”</p>
<p>Any more input?</p>