Recap
Evidence is what a writer offers to support a claim. The CED lists facts, statistics, examples, details, anecdotes, personal observations and experiences, testimonies, expert opinions, experiments, analogies and illustrations. Evidence is not a claim: you can check it or it illustrates, while a claim argues a position. Useful evidence is relevant, credible, representative and suited to the audience. Evidence supplies the material; reasoning and commentary explain why it supports the claim.
Key relationships
| Type | Signal | Strength | Weakness |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fact | Verifiable statement | Hard to dispute | May be too general |
| Statistic | Number summarising many cases | Shows scale | Misleading if source or comparison is unclear |
| Example / detail | One specific case | Concrete | May not be typical |
| Anecdote | Short story | Human | Personal and unrepresentative |
| Testimony | A witness’s statement | First-hand | Possible bias or memory error |
| Expert opinion | A qualified authority | Authority on technical points | Only within the expert’s field |
| Experiment / study | Test or research | Controlled | Depends on method |
| Analogy | A comparison | Clarifies the unfamiliar | Never exact |
Four questions to test evidence
- Is it relevant to exactly what the claim says?
- Is the source credible and in a position to know?
- Is it representative, not a rare case?
- Does it suit the audience and purpose?
Worked mini-example
Claim: “A four-day school week would not reduce learning.” Best evidence: a study of several schools that measured test scores for two years and found them unchanged, because it measures the outcome named in the claim. Weaker: “many people like long weekends” (not about learning), a single pupil’s opinion (personal, unrepresentative), and “four-day weeks are used in rural areas” (shows practice, not results).
Stanton, Declaration of Sentiments (1848): a catalogue of specific restrictions (“He has never permitted her to exercise her inalienable right to the elective franchise”). The evidence is a list of particular facts whose weight comes from accumulation and from imitating the form of the Declaration of Independence.
Reading tips
- Identify the claim first; then ask which sentences the claim depends on.
- Decide whether each supporting sentence is checkable (fact, statistic) or illustrative (anecdote, analogy).
- When asked what evidence “adds”, say what it does for the claim: shows scale, makes it concrete, adds authority, clarifies by comparison.
Mistakes to avoid
- Calling a statement of position evidence.
- Calling any quotation evidence without checking relevance.
- Assuming statistics are always stronger than stories.
- Using evidence that proves something other than the claim.
- Leaving evidence without commentary.
Quick self-check
- Is “The ferry is failing the island” evidence or a claim? A claim.
- What type of evidence is “Late sailings rose from 12 to 68 percent”? A statistic.
- What is a weakness of an anecdote? It is personal and may not be representative.
- Which test question checks whether evidence matches a claim? Is it relevant to exactly what the claim says?
- What is an analogy for? To clarify an unfamiliar idea by comparing it with a familiar one.
For the full explanation and worked examples, return to the study guide.