Chapter 2 Evidence

Categories of Evidence  Evidence is divided into 2 categories:  Statement of fact  Statement of opinion

Statements of Fact  Objective reports of actual happenings (objective evidence)  Eye witness reports (may be true or false)  “This is the worst weather of the season.”  Statistics (generally neutral and objective, but can be manipulated)  Need to know source (Dateline vs Jerry Springer), how data was obtained, and how data has been interpreted

Statements of Opinion  Individual beliefs based on personal interpretation (subjective evidence)  Too often people interpret facts to suit own purposes (we must learn to recognize personal interpretations)  Characteristic: emotional  Danger: some may present an opinion as fact

Tests of Evidence  Before accepting an argument, a thoughtful person will evaluate the evidence by asking five questions to determine the reliability and accuracy of evidence.

Tests of Evidence 1. Is there sufficient evidence? failure to gather enough evidence is a frequent error in making generalizations “Wow, girls are horrible drivers. I just saw Amy hit two cars when she was parking”

Tests of Evidence 2. Is some evidence deliberately omitted? slanting or card stacking: intentionally omitting unfavorable evidence from an argument “I couldn’t type the assignment because the power went off last night.” (omits previous night, previous day, and this morning to type)

Tests of Evidence 3. Does evidence conflict with other evidence? signal that more evidence from trusted authority is necessary - DR. #1 says that athlete is out for season with ACL strain. DR. #2 says athlete can play. What do you do?

Tests of Evidence 4. Is evidence relevant? if evidence is “out of date” (according to a 1997 Car and Driver article, seatbelt actually cause more injury) Or, evidence can be “out of place” (Wisconsin doesn’t need mandatory diversity classes. We are plenty diverse to begin with at our school)

Tests of Evidence 5. Is the evidence accurately reported? - Primary source – actual witness to event - Secondary source – not witness to event, but reporting information received from someone else (considered hearsay) a. How credible is the report? b. Is report confirmed by other witnesses? c. Is witness free from pressure that might restrict freedom of reporting? d. Did event create strong emotional reaction in witness, thereby affecting ability to report objectively? Internet: be extremely careful about sources used (chat rooms, wikis, and other sites created by “non-experts” are not credible/reliable)