Evaluating Evidence

Evaluating Evidence

Recap & Practice: Which Evidence is the Most Accurate and Relevant?

Multiple Select

We'll start with an easy one. You are writing an argumentative essay about steps that should be taken to avoid species' mass-extinction. Which sources would be worth exploring further for relevant evidence?

• "This Farmer Found a Rare Bird in a Corn Field. You'll Never Believe What Happens Next"

  by CrazeNet.com

• "Brazilian Zoologists Join University of Sao Paulo Ecologists to Determine Cause of Declining Porpoise Population"

  by Reuters.com

• "South Carolina Couple Stumbles Upon Fossilized Medieval Fire-Breathing Dragon while Searching for Car Keys"

  by TheOnion.com

• "Migration Changes in Grevie's Blue-Billed Duck Flocks Raise Concerns of Deforestation"

  by JSTOR.org

• "Where Have the Tree Frogs Gone? One Researcher's Quest to Find Out"

  by HuffPost.com

Multiple Choice

When an author shows how they feel about the topic on which they are writing it is called ________ _________.

• Author's purpose

• Author's perspective

Multiple Choice

What does relevance mean?

• unbiased information

• a course written by someone with a college degree

• to form an opinion based on evidence

• information directly related to your topic

Important Concept: Peer-Edited

A peer-reviewed publication is also sometimes referred to as a scholarly publication. The peer-review process subjects an author's scholarly work, research, or ideas to the scrutiny of others who are experts in the same field (peers) and is considered necessary to ensure academic scientific quality.

Multiple Choice

What is a fact?

• A statement that everyone agrees upon

• A personal belief

• A true statement which can be verified with evidence

• A general understanding of reality

Multiple Choice

What is bias?

• to be an expert

• to have prejudice towards something

• to have valid information

• to convince someone using emotion

Multiple Choice

Which is NOT an example of gender bias?

• In 2004, American women earned more college degrees than men.

• American women are better softball players than men.

• American men are better auto-mechanics than women.

• In 2004, American men were more dedicated to their work than American women were.

Multiple Choice

Expensive. Obesity. Addictive. Three words that show that video games can be bad for you. Sometimes video games can cost $40-$50 a piece! That’s a lot of money when you think of how many video games you own. Video games can be addicting, leaving little time to spend with family and friends…and little time to go outside and get some exercise. Which leads to obesity. If people are choosing to stay indoors to play video games, they are not getting outdoors and participating in outside activities. We must put an end to the amount of time spent on gaming!

• Objective

• Positive Bias

• Negative Bias

Multiple Choice

What sentence best shows the negative bias in the previous passage?

• Three words that show that video games can be bad for you.

• That’s a lot of money when you think of how many video games you own.

• If people are choosing to stay indoors to play video games, they are not getting outdoors and participating in outside activities.

• Video games can be addicting, leaving little time to spend with family and friends

Multiple Choice

When you paraphrase, you...

• Quote a credible author

• Express a piece of someone else's idea in your own words

• Summarize the piece in your own words

Multiple Choice

When you paraphrase you need to give credit to the original author

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

Which person has the best qualifications to write a credible article about the history of food production in the United States?

• A former worker in the meat-packing industry that is angry about being fired

• A professor of history who has published works about the food production industry

• A senator whose proposed law would overhaul the food production industry

• A television reporter who visited the Fast-Food Museum in Chicago, Illinois.

Multiple Choice

You are writing an article meant to explore the effects of funding cuts to public schools in under-resourced districts. Your sentence begins: "However, once the change had been made, both test scores and staff-morale reflected the results."

Which quote should follow this sentence to best make your point?

• Tina Cudrow, a teacher at West Elm Elementary, stated in a local news interview that "students are really desperate for quality instruction, and without resources, we feel pressured. Our students are more stressed" (NBC).

• Principal Manaj Tipton explained that "You can always tell when students take advantage of the public library outside of school. Their test scores almost always increase with usage of the service" (Westover).

• "Studies have shown that when students are given school lunch options with healthy choices, such as raw veggies and fruits, extra-curriculars, like sports and performing arts, benefit greatly" (Cambden 7)

• "I want the best for my son," Martha Linton, a Parkwood mom said. "If that means redistributing funds to help our private schools flourish, so be it. He didn't learn much at Linwood anyway" (CBS)