Evidence:
Finding it, Making it, and Using it
Elements to Consider
1. Don’t be rigidly bound to your
expectations
2. Culture and audience can affect
what is considered solid evidence
3. Video evidence can be easily
manipulated
4. Finding, evaluating, and
arranging evidence is a process
5. Your appearance of objectivity is
largely dependent not only on how
you present evidence, but how you
suggest it be used.
Questions to ask
1. What sources do you expect to
find?
2. Is the evidence timely given the
argument?
3. What are the biases of the
sources?
4. Who funded the research?
Solid evidentiary
techniques
1. Keep careful records, especially
of sources
2. Word choice is critical when
using evidence
3. The evidence you use should
anticipate questions
4. Organize your evidence to build
toward a critical mass
Kinds of Evidence
Created Evidence (First Hand)
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Citing Personal Experience
Conducting surveys
Providing observations
Taking photographs
Making illustrations and maps
Interviewing SME’s
Conducting experiments
Second Hand Evidence
Precedent: Examples of similar
situations, actions, or decisions
Quotes:
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Using print sources, electronic sources, or
video sources
Generally provides ethos appeal
A second-hand source of SME evidence
Anecdotal evidence:
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Can’t prove anything, but it can disprove
Tells a story
Gives a face to an argument
Could be considered a testimonial
Often establishes context
Evaluative evidence:
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Writer might evaluate evidence
SME might evaluate evidence
A way of qualifying or establishing
perspective
Empirical evidence:
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Data that is objectively observed and
counted
Usually perceived as factual
Statistical Evidence:
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Might or might not be empirical
Could be opinion based
Can often be manipulated depending on
the completeness of the context
Can usually be visualized
Quantifiable versus
Unquantifiable
Visual Evidence:
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Graphs and charts (may be conceptual
rather than quantifiable)
Photographs
Videos
Maps
Illustrations