6 Chapter 6: Evidence and Reasoning

In argumentative (or persuasive) writing, authors use evidence  and reasoning to support their claims. Claims are the building blocks of arguments in writing, but readers won’t be persuaded by claims that don’t have strong, clear support to back them up.

Evidence

Evidence is made up of facts that support a claim. Remember, facts are objective truths, so there is no disagreeing with a piece of evidence. In academic essays, the kinds of evidence that are acceptable almost always need to be cited to a source. Sometimes, you’ll quote a claim as evidence to support your claim. That’s ok, as it is a fact that so-and-so said or wrote the quote.

Examples:

Consider the following claim: Dance music has become popular for reasons that have nothing to do with the quality of the music; rather, the clear, fast beats appeal to the need for people on amphetamines to move.

Potential Evidence that could support this claim:

• • • • Statistics showing percentage of dance music concert goers that take amphetamines
      • Facts about the effects of amphetamines on humans
      • Quotes from music experts discussing dance music and assessing music quality

Next, consider this claim: The mayor has continually done the community a disservice by mishandling money, focusing on frivolous causes, and failing to listen to her constituents.

Potential Evidence that could support this claim:

• • • • City budget data
      • Quotes from mayor about her “causes”
      • Statistics showing more needy “causes”
      • Quotes from constituents

Examples

An example is not the same thing as evidence. If I make the claim all men watch football and try to support it by giving examples of men that I know that watch football, I have not done much at all to support my claim. An example is an illustration or representation. We use examples to clarify and consider specific cases. But it is important to remember that we cannot ‘prove’ our argument with examples, we need evidence to do that.

Another important point about examples is called the 10 on 1 principle. This principle states that it is more effective to have 10 points on 1 example than it is to have 10 examples of just one thing. If you use examples in your writing, make sure you don’t just list example after example of the same thing. That’s a case of padding your writing with unnecessary filler. In fact, it’s best to find a rich example that you can return to multiple times throughout your writing. If you do have more than one example, make sure each example illustrates something different.

Reasoning

Reasoning is the connection or logic between the claim and the evidence. As a writer, it is your job to explain how the evidence supports the claim. Sometimes the reasoning is clear enough that it doesn’t need to be explicitly stated. But with more complex reasoning, the writer should spell out the connection. When a writer anticipates that their argument will not be accepted by the reader (as we should do in academic writing), the reasoning should be explicitly stated as well. We can use phrases like: “therefore”, “because of”, “since”, etc. to make our reasoning explicit.

Put it All Together with Examples

Claim: Dance music has become popular for reasons that have nothing to do with the quality of the music; rather, the clear, fast beats appeal to the need for people on amphetamines to move.

Evidence: Statistics showing percentage of rave goers that take amphetamines

Example: Anecdote quote from one rave goer about their experience on amphetamines during a rave

Reasoning: There must be some reason that such a high percentage of rave attendees take amphetamines. It might have to do with the way their bodies respond to the type of music. (The claim is complex, and will need more that just this evidence to support it. But the reasoning for this evidence starts to build the argument.)

– – –

Claim: The mayor has continually done the community a disservice by mishandling money, focusing on frivolous causes, and failing to listen to her constituents.

Evidence: City budget data

Reasoning: Since the mayor is responsible for signing off on the budget, she is the one responsible for the deficit.

– – –

Claim: Wearing seat-belts should be legally enforced.

Evidence: Data showing that seat-belts save lives.

Example: The jury in the case of Lady Diana’s death decided that if she had been wearing a seat-belt, she might not have died.

Reasoning: If we want to save lives, we should enforce a law requiring that seat-belts be worn.