Finding Evidence

Today's Scripture

• "When spirits grow faint within me, it is you who knows my way." Psalm 142:3

Review

• What is a contested case?
• Describe what the 3 criteria do.
• What formula is used for a category Definition argument?
• How do you use the definition of your term within your thesis statement?

Evidence

• introduces and uses a source helps create a particular angle of understanding for the reader
• more about building a good case for an argument
• creating an impression for readers than it is about reporting facts
• creating an impression for readers than it is about reporting facts

How Audiences Perceive

• see a set of evidence that, through careful scientific investigation, leaves little room for question
• facts are irrefutable...describe arguments as solid if they are supported by facts rather than opinions

Such things as facts are not arguable

• such as water boils at 212 degrees Fahrenheit at sea level, they are hardly arguable
• there are only right and wrong answers, and the research with the real facts is right
• not really anything to learn about or anyone to persuade

Numbers are often reliable...

• statisticians have complicated formulas to derive data from observations
• gives one a sense of control
• numbers can be represented in different ways to create different impressions
• adapt them based on purpose and audience

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (2008) released a fact sheet about driving and talking
on a cell phone. It found that 6% of drivers used cell phones while driving in 2007, which translates to
1,005,000 vehicles during any given day (p. 1). At this point, a writer has a choice to make: either use the
statistic or use the number that the statistic represents. An author who uses the statistic of 6% may
convince an audience that the number of drivers who use cell phones while driving is low, whereas an
author who uses the number of 1,005,000 may convince an audience that the number is high. Each
number represents the same idea differently.

In this case, Martin...

• chose to use qualitative evidence—not evidence that could be counted, but rather evidence that must be described—to support his view.
• description of two patients and their tattoos had its own explanatory and persuasive power, which derives from an emphasis on the personal.

Finding A Purpose For Evidence

• If there is so much wrong with facts and evidence, what is the use?”
• set of facts to prove what is correct and incorrect...
• what is persuasive and what is not, or what helps a writer present a best case and what does not.

For example, consider the practice of Supreme
Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. who often engaged in playful sparring with his law clerks (Ramage,
2006). “Holmes would enter the office each day and demand of them that they ‘State any proposition and I’ll
deny it!’” (Ramage, 2006, p. 26). In asking such a question, Holmes was enlarging his own capacity to see
various sides of an issue clearly and taking part in a “rhetorical conversation,” thus enabling him to “be in a
position to make the best—most appropriate, most defensible—choice” (Ramage, 2006, p. 28) in the
decisions he would have to make as a judge on the nation’s highest court.

Common Types of Evidence

Quantitative evidence
...
uses numbers to measure a given phenomenon. Some researchers and writers rely heavily on statistics, for example, which are a form of quantitative evidence. If evidence involves numbers, it is often quantitative.

Qualitative evidence requires that the researcher interpret what he or she observes, and the
observations often come from human subjects.

Primary evidence is something that the researcher collects directly, such as an interview, a survey, or a questionnaire. It is primary because researchers conduct the research themselves by designing,
distributing, and collecting it.

Secondary evidence is evidence that a researcher or writer sees secondhand. It is often primary evidence that has been processed in some way. For example, while a survey is primary evidence, it becomes secondary evidence once its results have been published so that it can be used by other researchers.

Example

• For example, while a survey is primary evidence, it becomes secondary evidence once its results have been published so that it can be used by other researchers. Consider a researcher who collected interviews, studied them, and then published the results in a book or an academic journal article; the published material would be secondary evidence.

Expert testimony
is used as evidence at times. This happens often in court cases in which lawyers will call expert witnesses to explain complex ideas that are important to the case. This also occurs in academic writing when one researcher cites the work of another researcher

Example

• For example, if a psychologist studies the link between video games and violence, and a writer quotes a statement from the psychologist which asserts that video games do not cause violence, the writer has used expert testimony as evidence.

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• However, if a writer summarizes the particulars of the psychologist’s research, then the writer is reporting on the evidence more directly.

Narratives,
depending on the audience of an argument and the genre in which an argument is expressed, are acceptable to use as an explanation of a sequence of events as evidence.

Example

• For example, if a writer is making an argument about the cause of school shootings, he or she might refer to news sources to explain the story of the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

Independent reasoning entails an author using his or her own independent reasoning as evidence to
support an argument.

Example

• For example, in a court case, a judge might use a hypothetical scenario to provide examples that support a judgment.