Considering Evidence

Every field has different requirements for “acceptable” evidence. You should consider the following elements when forming an academic argument:

Familiarise yourself with arguments in your field and what they use for evidence. Or, in other words, what are other academics saying about the subject matter?
Pay attention to your lecturers to see what types of arguments and evidence they use. Lecturers themselves often use arguments in the form of presentations!
Check recommended readings for more examples!

Don’t just apply whatever evidence you like best without considering its relevance. An argument needs to contain logical reasoning, which should be explained to the reader. The connection between the evidence and the argument should be clear.

Evidence & Incorporating Research Video Lesson

What Counts as Proof in Your Field?

You can use more than one type of evidence, but make sure that you are consistent in how you apply your evidence, within each section of your argument. The evidence should be appropriate to each claim.

For example, if you are attempting to argue that the crowd attending a basketball match boasts player performance, then, you could use statistics (both crowd attendance and player performance) and compare different games.

The evidence used in the field of history is going to be different to the evidence in field of biology. Consider what type of evidence will work to prove your point?

- - Statistics
  - Logical development of points
  - Breakdown of a model
  - Combination of more than one of these things

Incorporating Research

Researching material can aid you in proving the claims of your argument and disproving oppositional claims. Make sure that it is relevant and enhances your argument!

Double check the recommended reading list, lecture notes and Canvas material because that can help you develop your argument.

Remember: do not think of your audience as telepathic. You have to state your claim and your evidence clearly. Do not assume that because the instructor knows the material, he or she knows where you are going with it.

Layout & Research

Organisation is key to incorporating your research. Initially, mind maps can be used to structure your research but they can also be applied in reverse, once you have written your assignment. Think about each paragraph/point and try to sum up what you are proving.

This layout, along with the layout shown in the image, can also be used when you are outlining your argument and organising your research and you can fill in the spaces between the bullet points.

Title
Introduction
Thesis statement
Body paragraphs
- Constructing topic sentences
- Building main points
- Countering the opposition
- Conclusion

Evidence & Incorporating research