Academic Work in Any Discipline

61e Use of evidence

As you grow familiar with an area of study, you will develop a sense of what it takes to prove a point in that field. You can speed up this process, however, by investigating and questioning. The following questions will help you think about the use of evidence in materials you read:

How do writers in the field use precedent and authority? What or who counts as an authority in this field? How are the credentials of an authority established? (See 14e.)
What kinds of quantitative data (countable or measurable items) are used, and for what purposes? How are the data gathered and presented?
How are qualitative data (systematically observed items) used?
How are statistics used and presented? Are tables, charts, graphs, or other visuals important, and why?
How is logical reasoning used? How are definition, cause and effect, analogy, and example used?
How does the field use primary materials—the firsthand sources of information—and secondary sources that are reported by others? (See 16a.) How is each type of source presented?
What kinds of textual evidence are cited?
How are quotations and other references to sources used and integrated into the text? (See Chapter 18.)