Here's a quick introduction to the three methods and how to use them:
This type includes data, numbers, and statistics often drawn from research studies, surveys, or reports. It is particularly effective in documents that require empirical support, such as an argumentative or . For example, one of the ways to introduce evidence in an essay is to cite a statistic about the percentage of people who support a particular policy, which can help reinforce an argument.
Instructors in different academic fields expect different kinds of arguments and evidence—your chemistry paper might include graphs, charts, statistics, and other quantitative data as evidence, whereas your English paper might include passages from a novel, examples of recurring symbols, or discussions of characterization in the novel. Consider what kinds of sources and evidence you have seen in course readings and lectures. You may wish to see whether the Writing Center has a handout regarding the specific academic field you’re working in—for example,,, or .
Here are some examples of sources of information and tips about how to use them in gathering evidence. Ask your instructor if you aren’t sure whether a certain source would be appropriate for your paper.
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To paraphrase a source for use as evidence, you should use as little of the original language as possible and put the passage in your own voice and sentence structure. Also, because paraphrasing involves wrapping your words around someone else’s idea, people often forget to give credit to the author. Even though a paraphrase is in your words, it is not your idea. Remember to cite your source when you paraphrase. Here is another quotation from Allport and an example of weak and strong paraphrase:
Books, journals, websites, newspapers, magazines, and documentary films are some of the most common sources of evidence for academic writing. Our handout on will help you choose your print sources wisely, and the library has a on evaluating both print sources and websites. A librarian can help you find sources that are appropriate for the type of assignment you are completing. Just visit the reference desk at Davis or the Undergraduate Library or chat with a librarian online (the library’s IM screen name is undergradref).
Sometimes you can directly observe the thing you are interested in, by watching, listening to, touching, tasting, or smelling it. For example, if you were asked to write about Mozart’s music, you could listen to it; if your topic was how businesses attract traffic, you might go and look at window displays at the mall.
Signal Phrase: introduce the author and then the quote using a signal verb (scroll down to Table 15.2 to see a list of common verbs that signal you are about to quote someone).
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This type of introducing evidence examples uses comparisons between similar situations to support an argument. It is useful when direct reference is unavailable or when you try to explain something complex by comparing it to something more familiar. For example, comparing the effects of a new law to those of a similar past law can help clarify potential outcomes.
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This type of proof involves quotes with and connection words for essay, summaries, or paraphrases from a document. This is essential in literary analysis essays or any writing that requires the text’s interpretation. For example, citing a passage from a novel to support an interpretation of a theme.
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Logical evidence is based on reasoning and logical inference rather than empirical data. An argumentative or often uses it to build a case through logical steps. For example, if A is true and B is true, then C must logically follow.
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Experimental data serve as the primary form of scientific evidence. For scientific experiments, you should follow the specific guidelines of the discipline you are studying. For writing in other fields, more informal experiments might be acceptable as evidence. For example, if you want to prove that food choices in a cafeteria are affected by gender norms, you might ask classmates to undermine those norms on purpose and observe how others react. What would happen if a football player were eating dinner with his teammates and he brought a small salad and diet drink to the table, all the while murmuring about his waistline and wondering how many fat grams the salad dressing contained?
What are some good transition words for evidence in essays?
When you summarize another writer’s idea to use as evidence in a paper of your own, you are taking the essence of the writer’s idea and stating it more briefly, with less detail and explanation, than in the original. You may summarize an article or a chapter, or even a book, in a sentence, a paragraph, a page, or more—the purpose of your summary should dictate how specific you are. Summaries should be mostly in your own words, but often summaries include quotations or paraphrases when it is necessary to highlight a certain key point. When you are writing a summary, you need to be very careful not to use the original writer’s words without putting those words in quotation marks. You also need to be sure that when you summarize, you are fairly representing the original writer’s main idea. Here is a paragraph from Allport and examples of weak and strong summary: