Supporting Our Ideas Using Examples, Statistics and Testimony

Activity AIDS is serious problem in Africa The AIDS plague is taking a fearsome toll throughout sub-Saharan Africa By the year 2000, more than 12 million people in sub-Saharan Africa had died of AIDS – 2.2 million in 1999 alone. Every minute, 11 people world-wide are infected with AIDS, 10 of them in sub-Saharan Africa.

Activity Museums are very popular Attendance at museums outstrips many other forms of culture and entertainment More people in the United States visit museums each year than attend all major –league sports events combined. New York’s largest tourist attraction is not the Statue of Liberty or the Empire State Building, but the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which draws more than 5 million visitors annually

Point of View or an Idea Generalization from own experience Vs. Specific, clear, credible information Generalization from own experience – Skeptical Specific, clear, credible information – Convincing Need to support ideas or point of view with concrete examples, statistics or testimony

Supporting Materials Examples, Statistics and Testimony Using supporting materials – not a matter of haphazardly tossing facts and figures Using them effectively and responsibly – related to critical thinking Supporting materials need to be accurate, relevant and reliable

Why Supporting Materials? To back up our ideas To bring our ideas across clearly and creatively To illustrate our point of view

Using Examples Vivid, concrete examples – for strong impact Ideas become specific, personal and lively Brief Examples, Extended Examples and Hypothetical Examples

Types of Examples Brief Example – A specific case referred to in passing to illustrate a point Extended Example – A story, narrative, or anecdote developed at some length to illustrate a point Hypothetical Example – An example that describes an imaginary or fictitious situation

Using Statistics According to our recent poll, 43% of Americans brush their teeth incorrectly Our research indicates that only 33% of people like purple cars The class did well on its first exam, with a mean (average) score of 89.5% This season, the Big High School Hockey Team scored a mean (average) of 2.3 goals per game

Using Statistics A child gets abused somewhere in the world every 30 seconds, every single day, 365 days a year There are 60 of us here, if two-thirds of us ban together to stop smoking, the oxygen levels in this room would improve by 85%

Guidelines Using statistics from reliable sources Using statistics sparingly Rounding off statistics Always reference your statistics

Activity – Right or Wrong Use The ten largest cities in the U.S. comprised 54% of the total U.S. population Wrong Use

Activity – Right or Wrong Use According to the United States Census Bureau, in 2000, the ten largest cities in the U.S. comprised 54% of the total U.S. population Right Use

Testimony Expert and Peer Testimony Paraphrasing and Quoting

Activity – Right or Wrong Use According to one expert, “Mainstream medical care is not meeting the needs of many Americans. I encourage people to pursue alternative treatments such as acupuncture, chiropractic, and massage therapy.” Wrong use

Activity – Right or Wrong Use As Sean Penn noted in a recent interview, the United States needs to change its foreign policy in the Middle East. Otherwise, Penn said, it will be impossible to bring about lasting peace in the region Wrong use

Activity – Right or Wrong Use According to The New York Times Almanac, San Francisco has the highest per capita annual income of any U.S. city—$57,414. The lowest per capita annual income belongs to McAllen-Edinburg- Mission, Texas, at $13,344. The average per capita annual income for all U.S. metropolitan areas is $31,332 Wrong use