From Inquiry to Academic Writing A Practical Guide, 3rd edition

64 CHAPTER 3 | FRom IdEnTIFyIng ClAIms To AnAlyzIng ARgumEnTs

Is the source reliable? You also need to evaluate whether the data you use

to support your argument are reliable. After all, some researchers present

findings based on a very small sample of people that can also be rather

selective.

For example, a researcher might argue that 67 percent of the people

he cited believe that school and residential integration are important con-

cerns. But how many people did this person interview? More important,

who responded to the researcher’s questions? A reliable claim cannot be

based on a few of the researcher’s friends.

Let’s return to the real estate example. You have confirmed that your

friends listed their condominiums at prices that were not out of line with

the market. Now what? You need to seek out reliable sources to continue

testing your argument. For example, you might search the real estate or

business section of your local newspaper to see if there are any recent sto-

ries about a softening of the market; and you might talk with several local

real estate agents to get their opinions on the subject.

In consulting local newspapers and local agents, you are looking for

authoritative sources against which to test your anecdotal evidence — the

confirmation of experts who report on, study, evaluate, and have an in -

formed opinion on local real estate. Local real estate agents are a source of

expert testimony, firsthand confirmation of the information you have dis-

covered. You would probably not want to rely on the testimony of a single

real estate agent, who may have a bias; instead, talk with several agents to

see if a consensus emerges.

Is the source accurate? To determine the accuracy of a study that you want

to use to support your argument, you have to do a little digging to find out

who else has made a similar claim. For instance, if you want to cite authori-

tative research that compares the dropout rate for white students with the

rate for students of color, you could look at research conducted by the Civil

Rights Project. Of course, you don’t need to stop your search there. You

could also check the resources available through the National Center for

Education Statistics. You want to show your readers that you have done a

relatively thorough search to make your argument as persuasive as possible.

The accuracy of statistics — factual information presented numer-

ically or graphically (for example, in a pie or bar chart) — is difficult to

verify. To a certain extent, then, their veracity has to be taken on faith.

Often the best you can do is assure yourself that the source of your sta-

tistical information is authoritative and reliable — government and major

research  uni versities generally are “safe” sources — and that whoever is

interpreting the statistical information is not distorting it.

Returning again to our real estate example, let’s say you’ve read a

newspaper article that cites statistical information about the condition of

the local real estate market (for example, the average price of property

and volume of sales this year in comparison to last year). Presumably the

author of the article is an expert, but he or she may be interpreting rather

than simply reporting on the statistics.

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