Evaluating Types of Evidence

Evidence from people who have special knowledge and experience on a subject.

• expert opinion

• surveys

• hypothetical situation

• facts

A fact or piece of data from a study of a large quantity of numerical data.

• experiments

• definitions

• hypothetical situation

• statistics

A brief, real story. Explains what happened, who was involved, and when and where it happened.

• anecdote

• hypothetical situation

• statistics

• interviews

Investigates the opinions or experience of a group of people by asking them questions.

• personal examples or observations

• expert opinion

• surveys

• facts

Provable information; who, what, where, when, how, and why.

• definitions

• facts

• anecdotes

• statistics

A scientific procedure undertaken to make a discovery, test a hypothesis, or demonstrate a known fact.

• hypothetical situation

• expert opinion

• anecdotes

• experiments

This can provide an expert’s opinion, biographical or first-hand experiences, and suggestions for further research.

• surveys

• interviews

• experiments

• definitions

A fictional incident with enough detail to feel real. The writer makes up the situation and details to prove his/her point.

• personal examples or observations

• surveys

• interviews

• hypothetical situation

Writers use examples from their own lives to represent a larger group or typical situation.

• personal examples or observations

• interviews

• expert opinion

• definitions

Explanation of what a term or concept means (especially domain-specific vocabulary).

• facts

• statistics

• anecdotes

• definitions