Evidence

Every claim you make in an essay needs evidence to back it up. Evidence is an important part of illustrating your meaning and supporting your ideas. Evidence can include facts, examples, or quotes. Good writing blends different types of evidence. This gets your point across and convinces the reader you are an authority on the subject.

Meaning of Evidence

You might think of evidence as proof that you know what you're talking about. Evidence doesn't have to prove that you are undeniably correct like in a court of law. But it should show the reader how you came to your conclusions and why your Argument is logical.

Believe it or not, you use evidence all the time! Think about the last time you asked your parents to buy you something. You probably showed them the price to demonstrate that it wasn't too expensive. And what about the last time your friends wanted to go somewhere you didn't want to go? Perhaps you told your friend about a negative experience you had there. You used evidence to convince them you were right.

Difference Between Evidence and Examples

You might be wondering if evidence and examples are the same. Examples are just one form of evidence.

Think of examples as illustrations. They demonstrate your claims so others can understand them. But illustrations aren't always convincing on their own. They're strongest when you pair them with other forms of evidence. Below, we'll go over other types of evidence and how to use them.

The Importance and Purpose of Evidence

Evidence is important because it shows the reader what you mean and why you are right.

Fig. 1 - Think of your readers like a jury.

Think of your essay as a court case. The reader is the jury. To convince the jury of your claims, you need to provide evidence.

You can tell the jury that you are right. But you also have to show them. Without something to back up your claims, the jury is unlikely to believe you.

Evidence can be used to:

• Show the differences between others' opinions.
• Demonstrate cause-effect relationships.
• Disprove the opinions of your opponents.
• Confirm the logic of your claims.
• Show how two texts or experiences compare to each other.

Types of Evidence with Examples

Statistical Evidence

Statistics are a powerful form of evidence.

When they come from credible sources, statistics are difficult to argue with. Therefore, they are effective for supporting your claims.

Statistics are especially useful for:

• Grabbing the reader's attention at the beginning of an essay (if the statistic is surprising).
• Showing how serious or widespread a problem or issue is.
• Precisely explaining the effects of something.
• Demonstrating the Results of a scientific experiment.

Statistics can come from all kinds of sources. Look at the table below for examples of different types of statistics:

Testimonial Evidence

Expert opinions are another great way to support your claims. Testimonial evidence uses expert opinions to establish credibility and support your ideas.

When using testimonial evidence, introduce the expert whose testimony you are using. Let the reader know who they are. This establishes credibility.

To establish credibility, ask yourself: what makes this person an expert on the subject? Do they have an advanced degree in the subject? Do they have a lot of well-known publications on the subject? Do they have extensive experience in this subject? Share this information with the reader so they know this person is an expert.

Fig. 2 - Learn who knows about your topic.

To get testimonial evidence, ask yourself: who is an expert on my topic?

Here are some places you might look for testimonial evidence:

• Published interviews with an expert
• Video interviews and documentaries featuring an expert
• Quotes from an expert’s book, journal article, or newspaper editorial
• Conclusions from peer-reviewed journal articles written by experts

Textual Evidence

Analogical Evidence

Remember how examples are forms of evidence? To be specific, examples are considered a form of analogical evidence. Analogical evidence uses analogies to support your ideas.

Analogical evidence helps explain complicated ideas. They illustrate your meaning by making common-sense comparisons. For example, to explain how computer viruses work, you could compare them to cold and flu viruses in people. Or you might compare the results of a study to the results of a well-known study that the reader is already familiar with.

Here are some examples of analogical evidence you might use:

• An expert opinion about a topic that is similar to your own
• A comparison of a concept or object to something that functions similarly
• An event or experience that is similar to one you are describing

Fig. 3 - How does your evidence compare to something famous?

Logical Evidence

Logical evidence considers how things could be. This type of evidence uses logic to propose a hypothetical outcome to a situation. Logical evidence is one of the weaker types of evidence. It isn't based on real events and facts. Therefore, it's best to use this type of evidence along with other types of evidence.

Here are some of the ways you could use logical/hypothetical evidence in an essay:

• A hypothetical story about what would likely happen if your Argument is right
• A hypothesis about what will happen if an action is not taken soon
• A logical explanation of what will happen if experts on the subject turn out to be right

Anecdotal Evidence

Anecdotal evidence includes stories and case studies about individual experiences. Consider anecdotal evidence to be real-world experiences that are not documented anywhere.

³ Saloni Dattani. "At what age do people experience depression for the first time?" Our World in Data. 2022.

⁴ Katherine Schaffer. "Working moms in the U.S. have faced challenges on multiple fronts during the pandemic." Pew Research Center. 2022.

⁵ Allison Shultz. "Our Expert on Birds." Natural History Museum. 2019.