Evidence to Support Claims Opinion Writing

Evidence Evidence refers to facts that support reasons for your claims. Evidence can be proven. Evidence will have different interpretations.

Types of Evidence • statistical • authoritative • anecdotal • analogical

Statistical Numbers! Numbers! Numbers! Statistics use the results of measurements, surveys, experiments and observations.

Examples Statistics are powerful because they seem authoritative and unbiased. • Sixty-two percent of the students support off-campus lunch. • The school is adding 14 rooms in the new addition. • The basketball team has four players born outside the United States.

Be careful The way a question is worded, an experiment conducted or measurements done can affect the outcome. Get help when conducting your own research. Question the biases of groups using statistics, or compare results from different groups.

Authoritative • appeals to authority • can be a quote or thinking from an expert in the field • can also include rules, laws and other official requirements

Do your research It is important to see what the experts say, especially if you are proposing changing a school policy — is it even legal to do that? While experts often disagree, it’s still good to know what they think and why, so check out their recommendations while researching.

Examples • Federal law requires some sort of filters on school internet. • District policy allows students to drive themselves to field trips only in rare occasions. • The Student Press Law Center recommends ...

Be careful Experts disagree and you need to understand who is really giving information and why.

Anecdotal Anecdotes are stories that illustrate a point. An anecdote can be a story from your life or of people you’ve talked to. Anecdotes can trigger an emotional response or show how big trends affect real people.

How they are effective Anecdotes are especially effective at poking holes in generalizations or showing people other points of view.

Be careful Most issues will have anecdotes on both sides. One person gives an example of a hard working teen, and another finds a lazy one. While they can be effective, they seldom will prove a point completely.

Analogical An analogy compares two different things to determine how something unknown may work.

Examples If your school is looking at getting laptops for all students, you may want to look at nearby schools that have done the same to predict what your results may be. Or you may look at how past technology additions have affected your school.

Be careful Make sure you are comparing similar things. A school that has a “bring your own device” policy will get different results than one with standard technology.

Evidence goes both ways Facts do not speak for themselves, you need to connect your evidence to your reasons to make it support your claims. An effective argument will use evidence to back reasons for your main claim.