7 Principles of Evaluating Evidence

Question 1

• who made the statement
• motive e.g. trying to get re-elected/please people
• are we being told the whole story
• picking and choosing evidence without context

Answer 1

Look for a vested interest

Question 2

• vocabulary that infer something specific has been said when only a vague claim has been made e.g. ‘somewhat’ ‘generally’
• often emotive words

Answer 2

Weasel words

Question 3

• how it’s conducted, credibility, motive, pay
• neutrally worded questions
• sample size

Answer 3

Question surveys

Question 4

• Phrases moulded to sound more impressive and drive home potentially incorrect point
  e. g. thousands and thousands could mean 2000 or 100,000

Answer 4

Percentages and numbers

Question 5

• may not accurately represent data

Answer 5

Anecdotes and statistics

Question 6

• visually disproportionate (often not starting at 0 for bar graphs)
• poor scale use

Answer 6

graphs and figures

Question 7

• how doses information given fit into larger sense

Answer 7

retain sense of big picture