GED guideSubjects
GED Social Studies Study Guide: Sources, Graphs, and Reasoning
GED social studies asks you to use a source or a graphic. These original exercises stay with the evidence and avoid a memorized list of dates.
Short answer
GED social studies is a 70-minute test of reading, historical and civic arguments, and graphs. GED.com says it is not a memorization test of capitals and dates. Use the source you are given. A graph supports a comparison of its own numbers. It does not support a campaign slogan that the graphic never stated.
What you are practicing
The social studies overview lists reading for meaning, analyzing historical events and arguments, and using numbers and graphs. The test is 70 minutes, including 2 minutes of instructions and final review, with no break. An on-screen calculator is listed for the subject. You will not be asked to recite an undated list of capitals. If a date matters, the item will give it.
This page uses made-up sources so the reasoning is visible. They are not historical documents.
A source, and what it can carry
A made-up park board minutes entry says: “In March, 64 of 80 comments asked for the pool to stay open through Labor Day. The board voted 4–1 to extend the season.”
Supported:
- Most of the comments in that set, 64 of 80, asked for a longer season.
- The board voted 4–1 to extend it.
Not supported:
- Every resident wanted the pool open.
- The one “no” vote was wrong, or the board was corrupt.
- The vote happened because of a campaign the minutes do not mention.
64 / 80 = 0.80, so 80% of the comments in this set asked for the longer season. “Most comments in this set” is fair. “Most people in the city” is not, because the minutes did not sample the city.
A table
A made-up town report lists library visits:
| Month | Visits |
|---|---|
| April | 900 |
| May | 1,200 |
| June | 1,050 |
Supported: May had more visits than April or June in this report. The May-to-June change is a drop of 150 visits. Not supported: the library is failing, funding should be cut, or June’s weather caused the drop. The table has no weather row and no budget row.
The same care applies to a real historical excerpt on the test. Read the claim, then the sentence that can prove it. A modern political preference is not evidence. Practice that check on an original item if you want another source. Science graphs are a different page because the question is an experiment rather than a civic source: science study guide.
Social studies at 145 completes one subject. The credential still needs 145 on the other three.
Trust the source
Official sources
Exam policies can change. Use these primary sources for the most current details.