History source question

[namechanger110]

History question here. Please can someone explain the difference to me between an inference source question and a usefulness source question? I understand the basic difference between them but would you not talk in an inference question about the quality of the source, its reliability or its purpose? Would this not affect what can be inferred from the source? If this is the case then what in reality is the actual difference between an inference and usefulness question and how is the approach to them different? Thank you.

What you can INFER from a source is information that you can work out without it being stated e.g. "I am feeling better today" = inference I was feeling unwell yesterday. You don't need to discuss why the source is one sided unless it asks for that. The question is there to test whether someone can use their contextual understanding to work out inference.

With usefulness, its looking at the strengths and limitations of the source as evidence. What is useful about the content if taken at face value but what might limit its usefulness if we have reservations about taking it at face value. Weighing up pros and cons allows evaluation of extent of usefulness.

Head of History here.

An inference is only what you can work out from the source. Its reliability etc dont matter.

The usefulness of the source is how much it can tell you about a topic. The provenance of the source is important here as you can say things like 'the source shows us hat Chamberlain believed appeasement would work..'or 'the usefulness is limited as it only shoes us Chamberlain's opinion and he was pro-appeasement'.
Hope that helps.