evidence available facts, circumstances, etc. indicating whether or not a thing is true or valid....
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EVIDENCE
Available facts, circumstances, etc. indicating whether or not a thing is true or valid.
(The Oxford Dictionary of Current English.)
From Sherlock Holmes In one story Sherlock Holmes comes back
home and learns that he had a visitor, but the visitor left in a hurry
However, the visitor left a hat in Holmes’ house
Holmes looks at the hat and begins his reasoning
Sherlock Holmes’ reasoning
“That the man was highly intellectual is of course obvious upon the face of it…”
Holmes clapped the hat upon his head. It came right over the forehead and settled upon the bridge of his nose.
“It is a question of cubic capacity,” said he; “a man with so large a brain must have
something in it.”
Deductive reasoning All people with large hats have
large head. This man has a large hat Therefore This man has a large head
Deductive reasoning All people with large heads have
large brain. This man has a large head Therefore This man has a large brain
Deductive reasoning All people with large brains are
intelligent. This man has a large brain Therefore This man is intelligent
The need for evidence Premises must be either assumed
or proven Only obvious truths can be
assumed If they are not obvious, they must
be proven/supported with evidence
How do we know that: This man has a large hat All people with large hats have
large head. All people with large heads have
large brain. All people with large brains are
intelligent.
This man has a large hat Evidence? The hat itself. We have the hat. We can see it.
We can measure it. How do we know it is large? In comparison to what?
All people with large hats have large head. Evidence? It sounds logical, but: Are there any exceptions? Can we
be sure?
All people with large heads have large brain. Evidence? It sounds reasonable, but “sounds
reasonable” is not good enough We need biological, medical
studies. At least a newspaper article reporting on such studies
All people with large brains are intelligent. Evidence? This is the most difficult. We definitely need biological,
medical studies. They must be solid studies From reputable and reliable
sources
FACTS and OPINIONS.
In a logical argument facts are always preferable to opinions.
FACT is “a thing that is known to exist or to be true”
OPINIONS
OPINION is an unproven belief, something that either cannot be proven or is not proven at this time.
Opinions are someone’s perceptions of
the facts.
Correspondence theory of truth
What we believe or say is true if it corresponds to the way things actually are—to the facts.
A belief is true if there exists an appropriate entity—a fact—to which it corresponds. If there is no such entity, the belief is false
Artifacts
When we use an artifact, we let others to observe the actual thing. (Actual objects, photos, videotapes)
Is the artifact genuine? Is the artifact typical of the class of items it
is supposed to represent?
EXAMPLES
EXAMPLES (individual instances): A report or description of an observation, experience, event, etc.
Examples of what? Factual examples? Hypothetical? Recent?
Statistics
The field of STATISTICS is concerned with the COLLECTION, ORGANIZATION, and INTERPRETATION of data according to well-defined procedures.
Descriptive
Descriptive statistics = data reduction. Collection and organizing data.
Making some sense in all these numbers.
Statistics…
Were the statistics collected by a reliable source?
Were the statistics collected from a sufficiently large sample/or a sufficiently long period of time?
Are comparable units used in statistical comparisons?
Scientific theory: common miunderstandings
In a common usage the word “theory” means an opinion, speculation, unproven belief.
In science that guess or speculation has another word: hypothesis.
Hypothesis
The initial guess that is tested by scientists The first step to develop a theory. If the hypothesis cannot be proven, it is
rejected (it remains an unproven guess). However, if, after rigorous scientific
testing, the hypothesis is proven to be true, that hypothesis becomes a theory.
Theory
When scientists use the word theory, they mean that a particular explanation of natural phenomena is well-substantiated by scientific tests.
When an observation has been repeatedly confirmed, for all practical purposes the theory is accepted as ‘true,’ it is a fact.
The key characteristics of science and scientific theory
Science is not a set of doctrinal and dogmatic beliefs. Nothing in science is accepted as true until it can be proven true through rigorous tests.
Further, many theories continue to be tested and retested. Although it is rare that a theory is disproved by new evidence that was not available in the original testing, many theories are being extended and modified.
CONSISTENCY
Internal consistency: evidence is consistent
with other statements in the same argument (you are not contradicting yourself).
External consistency: evidence is consistent with the majority of other available evidence.
Primary versus secondary sources
This distinction illustrates the degree to which the author of a piece is removed from the actual event being described
Primary versus secondary sources Primary sources: These are
contemporary accounts of an event, written by someone who experienced or witnessed the event in question. These are original documents
Secondary sources: Usually retell or interpret primary sources, and so can be described as at least one step removed from the event or phenomenon under review.
Judging the authority of the text
Specialized knowledge of writer Qualifications and/or reputation of writer Specialized knowledge of other people
who contribute information (e.g. interviewees) Access writer has had to relevant sources Citation procedures used (evidence seems
authentic: e.g. names, dates given).
Special care in evaluating Internet sources Problem 1: a large number of material
on the Internet is self-published (not reviewed)
Problem 2: many unreliable sources and articles resemble high quality sources
Problem 3: tendency to believe that “everything is on the Internet”
Problem 4: relying on Google etc.
Evaluating websites: Author’s authority- Is the author or sponsor readily identifiable?- What information is there about the author or his
or her credentials?- Is the material presented from a particular point of
view? How would you know?- What links are there to other sites; what does this
tell you about the site you are evaluating?- What is the purpose?
Evaluating websites:Publishers Authority- To whom is the site directed?- Whose site is it?- How is the site financed?- Why has the site been established?- What is its history?- When was the site last updated?- Is there a link to its home page?
Your Library GUIDES http://www.csupomona.edu/~library/tutorials/tutorials_general.html
Bibliographic Citations Boolean Operators Controversial Topics / Opposing Viewpoints Finding Biographical Information Help Finding Biographies Key to Library Jargon New Users Guide Peer Reviewed Versus Other Types of Periodicals Masters Theses and Project Guidelines Website Evaluation Criteria
Your Library
Online EZ Research Workshop http://connect.csupomona.edu/ez
By the end of the tutorial students will know how to: Use 5 database search strategies for effective searching Conduct searches using the Boolean operators AND, OR,
& NOT Read a bibliographic citation correctly Select the right information resources for their topic Brainstorm keywords and synonyms for effective search
strategy Determine the availability of the full text of cited items
and use document delivery services as needed
Handbooks A scholarly subject book: provides a comprehensive
summary of most recent, relevant, and important research and research trends.
Also manuals and books of facts
Encyclopedias
General encyclopedias: Britannica, Americana, Wikipedia,
etc.Specialized: Encyclopedia Of 20th Century
Photography 2006International encyclopedia of
communication 1989
Legal Research Resources Oyez: US Supreme Court Case
Summaries, Oral Arguments & Multimedia www.oyez.org
American Bar Association's Lawlink: The Legal Research Jumpstation
www.abanet.org/tech/ltrc/lawlink/home.html
Scholarly Journals (Peer Reviewed)
• PURPOSE:
• Report original research; review and evaluate previously published materials; or expand and refine theory.
• Often published by a professional association, society, research institution, or academic institution.
Examples of scholarly journals Harvard Business Review Journal of Management Studies Journal of Animal Science Quarterly Journal of Speech Human Communication Research American Political Science Assoc.
Review Journal of Geophysical Research
Non-scholarly publications• Diverse topics covered - popular topics
or current events. • News on a daily or weekly basis.• Appeals to the layperson or
tradesperson• Contains advertising• Published by commercial publisher. • Sources not cited• Contributions by local staff, newswire
services and syndicated columnists.
NEWSPAPERS• USA Today• Los Angeles Times• New York Times• Wall Street Journal• Chicago Tribune• Washington Post
NEWS MAGAZINES Good basic information on topics of
current interest, especially in national politics and international affairs.
However, the articles seldom have depth and may be opinionated.
Some examples are: The Economist, Newsweek, Time, and U.S. News & World Report
OPINION MAGAZINES Aim at an educated audience interested in
understanding the significance of contemporary events and ideas -- social, political, and scientific. Typically, they offer information from a particular point of view.
Fairly objective: Atlantic Monthly, The New York Review of Books,
Very partisan: American Spectator, American Prospect, Nation, National Review, New Republic
POPULAR MAGAZINES The information they offer may or
may not be valid (it should be verified). Their purpose is chiefly to entertain. They very seldom should be quoted in a serious paper.
Examples: Car and Driver, Esquire, Good Housekeeping, Omni, Readers Digest, and Sports Illustrated.
Recording Evidence… Know what evidence is needed Keep an annotated bibliography Have an organized system of note taking
Using note cards helps Putting headings on your cards helps even more
References PURPOSE: to enable readers to
retrieve and use the sources.
Distinguish references and bibliography
Agreement of in-text and end-of-text references
Reference List: General Forms Flores, T. (1992). Communications statistics:
Country-by-country analysis. Flores and Associates. Retrieved 05/24, 1992 from www.flores.org/com-stats.html
Martinez, C. R. (1996). Pesticide controversies. Pesticide Journal, 12, 17-24.
Smith W. (2001, January 17). Obesity matters. The New York Times, A1, A4.
Walker, T. L. (2005). Marketing television shows. New York: Copley.
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