This is a high school or college level PPT to teach levels of supporting evidence for claims.

1. What is Evidence?
By
Dean Berry, Ed. D.
www.commoncorecurriculum.info

2. What does evidence look like?
When we read a persuasive text, we must read very closely to ensure that the
arguments that are presented include very specific, credible evidence. For example,
we should look for statistical data such as numbers and scores, analogies that
compare similar claims and solutions, quotations or testimonials supporting the
claims, or anecdotal examples that substantiate the claim.

3. What does the research say?
1.Statistical Evidence
• Statistical evidence is the kind of data people tend to
look for first when trying to prove a point. That’s not
surprising when you consider how prevalent it is in
today’s society. Remember those McDonald’s signs that
said “Over 1 billion served”? How about those Trident
chewing gum commercials that say “4 out of 5 dentists
recommend chewing sugarless gum”? Every time you use
numbers to support a main point, you’re relying on
statistical evidence to carry your argument.

4. What do you think?
Use your imagination
What are some possible types of
statistical evidence for these
products or events?
Monster Energy Drinks
Global warming
Graduation rates
Bayer Asprin

5. Some of the strongest evidence that can support a claim is based on
scientific studies. For example, a 2008 study by John Hopkins
University Medical Center of four advertised weight loss programs
found that Weight Watchers was the most successful with
participants losing an average of twelve pounds after one year in the
program. If a study such as this can be replicated by other studies, the
results become even more powerful evidence to support a claim.

6. It seems like research findings on topics such as health come out every few days.
One week a study suggests that getting only six hours of sleep at night does not
have any harmful effects. The following week a new study indicates that getting
six hours or less of sleep at night is related to weight gain caused by the body’s
desire to eat more carbohydrate snacks to make up for the energy burned by the
extra two hours of being awake each day. What are we to believe? How do we
sort out the facts and determine which information is reliable?

7. Discussion
• What should you do when you find conflicting
evidence from two different scientific studies about
the same topic?
• Why might research studies come up with different
results?

8. How is a systematic review of the research on a topic
different from one study that examines the effect of
exercise on heart disease?
Which approach should be trusted as providing the
most accurate research findings about a topic?
Discussion

9. At the bottom of this pyramid is the weakest evidence that can be used to
support an argument or claim. Anecdotal reports are personal cases or
observations of an event that cannot be generalized to a larger population.
However, conducting a review of many research studies, meta-analysis, is the
most powerful way to prove a cause and effect relationship between events.
Why would this type of evidence be at the top of the pyramid?

10. How much research evidence should we see before we
consider believing the results of research studies and
changing our behavior based on the new evidence?

11. If research studies contradict each other, how do we
determine the truth? How much evidence do we need
to negate one side of the disagreement?

12. Is this enough evidence to prove
the claim on the right side? How
much more proof would you need?

13. Some studies measure relationships between two
events to see if one is significantly related to the other.
Many research studies are designed to see if one action,
such as eating a diet high in sugar and saturated fat, is
directly related to higher illness rates such as heart
disease. If the study shows that people who eat such a
diet have much higher rates of heart disease than people
who eat low sugar and low saturated fat diets, the
researchers may conclude that there is a high
correlation between the two events.

14. While such correlations suggest that one event
may cause the other, scientists cannot
conclude that high sugar and high fat diets
definitely cause heart disease. Correlations are not
direct proof of cause and effect.

15. Is it likely that organic food causes autism?
Are there any other reasons that both events
increased at a similar rate during the last 10 years?

16. Use of correlation as scientific evidence
Much of scientific evidence is based upon a correlation of
variables that are observed to occur together. Scientists
are careful to point out that correlation does not
necessarily mean causation. The assumption that A
causes B simply because A correlates with B is often not
accepted as a legitimate form of argument.

17. Correlation data my be a valid argument.
However, sometimes people commit the opposite
fallacy – dismissing correlation entirely, as if it
does not suggest causation at all. This would
dismiss a large swath of important scientific
evidence. Since it may be difficult or impossible to
run controlled double-blind studies, correlational
evidence from several different angles may be the
strongest causal evidence available.

18. For example, heart disease may be caused by many
factors including lack of exercise, diabetes, obesity,
stress, cholesterol, and saturated fats. In fact, most
complex events like heart disease are difficult to study
because each possible causal factor has to be considered
a possible variable that can cause heart disease. If all of
the significant variables are considered in a research
study, the correlations of these variables with heart
disease can lead to powerful scientific information. In the
end, correlation can be used as important evidence for a
cause-and-effect relationship between a treatment and
benefit, a risk factor and a disease, or a social or
economic factor and various outcomes.

19. Discussion
• Let’s examine some common correlations that we could make. We could
observe that more traffic accidents occur on rainy days.
• If we find that the number of accidents increases when we have a heavy rain
season, we could say that increased rainy days is correlated with increased
traffic accidents. While there could be a strong correlation, it does not prove
that rain causes more accidents. In fact, research does not support rain as a
cause of more accidents.
• Meet in small groups and see if you can come up with two events that you
might predict are correlated with each other. Remember, they can seem to be
occurring at the same time and, therefore, be correlated but still have no cause
and effect relationship. More ice cream is sold during the summer and more
people get sunburned during the summer, but that does not mean that eating
ice cream causes sunburns.

20. Groups Report Back to the Class
•Share the possible correlation that you
developed between two events.
•Does this correlation seem plausible or
ridiculous?

21. What do the experts say?
2. Testimonial Evidence
• Testimonial evidence is another type of evidence that is
commonly turned to by people trying to prove a
point. Commercials that use spokespersons to testify
about the quality of a company’s product, lawyers who
rely on eye-witness accounts to win a case, and
students who quote an authority in their essays are all
using testimonial evidence.

22. Stand and Deliver
Who can give us a testimonial about one of these?
iPhone
In N Out Burgers
Starbucks Coffee
Del Taco
Shopping at Stater Bros. Market
Frosted Flakes
Nike tennis shoes

23. Is all testimonial evidence of equal value?
• What is the difference between strong
testimonial evidence and weak testimonial
evidence?
• Why should we believe what others say about a
product or event?
• How is eye witness testimony used by our justice
system?
• Are there problems with using eye witness
testimonial evidence?

24. Why are these effective uses
of testimonial evidence?

25. Are these types of testimonials good evidence that
the products are superior and worth buying? Why?

26. Do testimonials by scientists carry more weight?

27. Our justice system uses eye witness testimony
extensively to determine guilt or innocence.

28. What factors reduce the reliability
of testimonial evidence?

29. What is the message here?

30. How good is your visual memory for detail?
Does your visual memory get weaker as time passes?

31. What does this graph suggest
about eye witness memory?

32. What does this study suggest about the
reliability of eye witness testimony?
On the next slide test your eye witness skills.

33. You just witnessed a bank robbery in which the
robber pointed his gun at you for a few seconds
before he ran out of the bank.
Look at the following suspects
for a few seconds. The man on
the right is the robber.

34. The guy on the right did it!!

35. Describe the Robber
Write a description
of the robber.

36. Who did it?? Select the robber
from the following slides.

37. Frankie

38. Robert

39. Joseph

40. The Robber is…
Did you pick Joseph?

41. Do personal observations
support the claim?
3. Anecdotal Evidence
• Often dismissed as untrustworthy and meaningless,
anecdotal evidence is one of the more underutilized
types of evidence. Anecdotal evidence is evidence
that is based on a person’s observations of the
world. It can actually be very useful for disproving
generalizations because all you need is one example
that contradicts a claim.

42. If eight people you know swear that a new product
produces hair on bald males, can we generalize that
success to most males?

43. Be careful when using this type of evidence
to try and support your claims. A few
examples of high school graduates that have
perfect grammar does NOT prove that ALL
high school graduates have perfect
grammar. All the anecdotes can do is
disprove the claim that all high school
graduates have terrible grammar.

44. You CAN use this type of evidence to support
claims, though, if you use it in conjunction with
other types of evidence. Personal observations can
serve as wonderful examples to introduce a topic
and build it up – just make sure you include
statistical evidence so the reader of your paper
doesn’t question whether your examples are just
isolated incidents.

45. What is Anecdotal Evidence?
•Generalizing from anecdotal examples to
a larger population
•Citing examples from your personal
experience and observations
•“I’ve met a few people who were from
Australia and they were very rude. I would
never visit that country because I don’t
like the people.”

46. Use Your Imagination
• Create an anecdote or personal observation about a
situation and solution that seems to work very well. Use
one of the following topics:
• Hunger in America
• Homework Overload
• Gang Violence
• Internet bullying

47. Do similar situations provide evidence?
4. Analogical Evidence
• The last type of evidence is called analogical
evidence. It is also underutilized, but this time for a
reason. Analogies are mainly useful when dealing with
a topic that is under-researched. If you are on the
cutting edge of an issue, you’re the person breaking
new ground. When you don’t have statistics to refer to
or other authorities on the matter to quote, you have to
get your evidence from somewhere. Analogical
evidence steps in to save the day.

48. What is an analogy?

49. Effective analogies include these components.

50. What is the analogy
in this conversation?

51. Student loans are a permanent responsibility that must be
paid off during a lifetime. Is this a good analogy? Why?

52. Why is always having a dog eat your homework
(for real) similar to some student loans?

53. What two things are being
compared? How are they similar?

54. Is this an effective analogy? Why? Why not?

55. Can you write an analogy between a
teenager’s bedroom and a landfill?
Teenager’s Bedroom Landfill

56. Can you write an analogy between a
drill sergeant and a PE teacher?
Drill Sergeant PE Teacher

57. Can you write a simple analogy
comparing homework to a mountain?
Homework mountain

58. •Take the following example: You work for a
company that is considering turning some
land into a theme park. On that land there
happens to be a river that your bosses think
would make a great white-water rafting
ride. They’ve called on you to assess whether
or not that ride would be a good idea.

59. • Since the land in question is as yet undeveloped,
you have no casualty reports or statistics to refer
to. In this case, you can look to other rivers with
the same general shape to them, altitude,
etc. and see if any white-water rafting casualties
have occurred on those rivers. Although the rivers
are different, the similarities between them should
be strong enough to give credibility to your
research. Realtors use the same type of
analogical evidence when determining the value
of a home.
• When you use analogies to support your claims,
always remember their power.

60. 5. Physical Evidence
In review, we need to remember how evidence
such as statistics, testimonials, anecdotes, and
analogies can be used as strong or poor evidence
to support a claim. In addition, we can look at
concrete forms of evidence such as documents,
records, electronic messages, collected data,
fragments, DNA, and artifacts.

61. Physical evidence is one of the strongest types of
evidence that can be used in an argument.

62. In recent years, technology has enabled investigators to
make strong connections between DNA found at a crime
scene and possible suspects.

63. Collecting data and documents from various
sources is a critical part of criminal investigations.

64. A thorough analysis of physical evidence at the crime
scene is a great starting place for investigators.

65. In today’s world, public places often have
surveillance cameras that can provide
valuable information.

66. Class Discussion
• Let’s consider a hypothetical situation. Suppose that two
masked attackers entered a mall and began shooting
randomly at the crowd. Within minutes the police arrived
and killed one of the attackers. The second suspect
escaped carrying several weapons including an AK 47
assault rifle.
• If you were the lead investigator, what would be your
strategy to develop a comprehensive plan for
apprehending and convicting the perpetrators of the
attack? What types of evidence would you look for at the
crime scene and beyond? What kind of questions would
you formulate to guide your investigation?

67. Quick Write
Write a paragraph detailing the
kind of evidence that you believe
would be the most important in
this investigation. Explain why
you chose this type of evidence.

68. Reread this crime scene as you write your
analysis of the type of evidence you would
collect to solve this crime.
• Let’s consider a hypothetical situation. Suppose that two
masked attackers entered a mall and began shooting
randomly at the crowd. Within minutes the police arrived
and killed one of the attackers. The second suspect
escaped carrying several weapons including an AK 47
assault rifle.
• If you were the lead investigator, what would be your
strategy to develop a comprehensive plan for
apprehending and convicting the perpetrators of the
attack? What types of evidence would you look for at the
crime scene and beyond? What kind of questions would
you formulate to guide your investigation?

69. Be sure to focus on the details
of the writing assignment.
Write a paragraph detailing the
kind of evidence that you believe
would be the most important in
this investigation. Explain why
you chose this type of evidence.

70. What kind of evidence did you write
about in your crime scene analysis?

71. Let’s examine the kind of evidence that Investigators
collected to determine that Al Qaeda terrorists planned
and carried out the attack on the World Trade Center
Twin Towers. Looking at past behavior patterns and Jihad
motives offered useful evidence.

72. Al Qaeda has made over twenty terrorist attacks in
major cities during the last sixteen years.

73. Does the history of Al Qaeda attacks against the United
States and its allies provide a motive that ties Al
Qaeda to the 9-11 attacks?

74. During the 9-11 attack investigation, the FBI identified some of the Al Qaeda
terrorists who participated in the attack. Does the identification of these Al
Qaeda members provide supporting evidence to the FBI claim that Osama Bin
Laden sent terrorists to attack America on September 11, 2001?

75. Read about the following crime and prepare to determine what kind of
evidence would be important to help find the perpetrator.
On Tuesday afternoon, a ten year old boy was walking home from
school but never arrived. A neighborhood mother reported seeing a
dark blue van driving through the field near the path that the student
uses to walk home. Later that night, a telephone call was made to the
boy’s mother. The mysterious, gravelly voice demanded one million
dollars for the return of the child. Two days later the ransom was paid
and the child returned to his family. The detectives need to collect as
much evidence as possible in order to identify and convict the kidnaper.
Make a list of the methods you will use to gather
evidence. Identify the types of evidence that
would be important. Consider all avenues that
might lead to valuable information in this case.

76. Independent Research Assignments
The following five assignments require
students to use the internet to gather
and analyze evidence collected in
major criminal cases. Hyperlinks are
provided for easy access to the
recommended websites.

77. What type of evidence was used in the
following criminal cases?
List and describe the evidence that
was collected and used to support
the conviction of suspects in the
following cases.
When you google for your information, begin
with this phrase, “evidence used to convict
________________(full name of the serial killer).

78. Unabomber: Ted Kaczynski
Access online sources and
create a list of the evidence
that was used to identify and
convict Ted Kaczynski.

79. The Night Stalker: Richard Ramirez
Access online sources and
create a list of the
evidence that was used to
identify and convict
Richard Ramirez.

80. Son of Sam: David Berkowitz
Access online sources and
create a list of the evidence
that was used to identify and
convict David Berkowitz.

81. Meet in Small Groups
Use your notes and present the evidence
that was used to convict the serial
killers.
Which evidence do you think was the
most powerful in convicting these
killers?

82. Boston Marathon Bombing Case
Use the following sources to identify evidence that was
collected and used to prosecute Djohar Tsarnaev. Create
a written outline of the most important evidence.
• http://thedesk.matthewkeys.net/bostonbombing/
• https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/04/07/critical-pieces-
evidence-marathon-bombing-
trial/nwAc6xKBG3gKckuVFOT3lN/story.html

83. Meet in Small Groups
• Use your notes and share the evidence that was reviewed on the
websites.
• Which types of evidence seemed to be the most important in
determining the guilt of the two suspects?
• After reviewing this evidence, do you believe the government’s
explanation that the two brothers committed this crime because they
were radicalized, Islamic terrorists?
• Do you believe that the brothers were part of a larger American
government conspiracy? If so, what evidence supports that view?

84. Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting
Was it a conspiracy to take away the 2nd Amendment
rights to have guns?
• http://www.snopes.com/politics/guns/newtown.asp
• This site examines the claim that the school massacre was a hoax staged by
actors.
• Review the analysis of evidence provided on this website and determine if
the evidence supports the claim that the attack was a hoax.
• Write a review of the information and discuss how the evidence supports or
fails to support the hoax claim.

85. Meet in Small Groups
• Use your notes and share the evidence that was reviewed on the
websites.
• Which types of evidence seemed to be the most important in
determining the guilt of the primary suspect?
• After reviewing this evidence, do you believe the government’s
explanation that the suspect committed this crime because he was
a disturbed young man who had connections to the school?
• Do you believe that the crime was part of a larger American
government conspiracy? If so, what evidence supports that view?