Research – Evidence

Blessed is the man, who having nothing to say, abstains from giving wordy evidence of the fact. George Eliot

Definition

According to Collins Dictionary Evidence is anything that you see, experience, read, or are told that causes you to believe that something is true or has really happened.

The key words in this definition is “causes you”, and what causes you to believe something to be true may not cause someone else to believe the same thing. Hence our challenge is to find out what type of evidence will be required by our audience in order to believe you. For example, you may regard a testimonial on a website to be sufficient when considering the purchase of a product, however someone else may require a hands on demonstration before they purchase that product.

The research on the different types of evidence stems from writing, debating and the law. Below is a list of the different types of evidence, but remember the evidence must be relevant and tailored to your audience.

  • Facts
  • Case studies
  • Experiments
  • Logic
  • Testimonials
  • Statistical
  • Physical
  • Demonstration
  • Analogy

When evaluating the types of evidence used we need to make sure that it is:

  • Relevant
  • Representative
  • Accurate
  • Detailed
  • Adequate – is it enough