How can you organize and evaluate evidence?

1 Identify your purpose and question

Before you start looking for evidence, you need to have a clear idea of what you are trying to achieve and what question you are trying to answer. Your purpose and question will guide your search and selection of evidence, as well as your criteria for evaluating it. For example, if your purpose is to persuade someone to adopt a certain position, your question might be: What are the best arguments and facts to support this position?

2 Gather and sort evidence

Once you have your purpose and question, you can start gathering evidence from various sources, such as books, articles, reports, websites, interviews, surveys, or experiments. You should look for evidence that is relevant to your question, that is credible and trustworthy, and that is diverse and balanced. You should also sort your evidence into different categories or themes, depending on how it relates to your question. For example, you might sort your evidence into pros and cons, causes and effects, similarities and differences, or strengths and weaknesses.

3 Analyze and interpret evidence

After you have gathered and sorted your evidence, you need to analyze and interpret it critically. This means that you need to examine the quality, accuracy, and validity of the evidence, as well as the assumptions, biases, and perspectives behind it. You also need to explain how the evidence supports or challenges your question, and what implications or conclusions it leads to. For example, you might analyze and interpret your evidence by asking questions like: How reliable is this source? How relevant is this fact? How strong is this argument? How does this evidence fit with the other evidence?

4 Compare and contrast evidence

Another way to evaluate evidence is to compare and contrast it with other evidence, both within and across categories or themes. This can help you to identify gaps, inconsistencies, contradictions, or conflicts in the evidence, as well as to highlight similarities, differences, or patterns in the evidence. You can also use comparison and contrast to weigh the strengths and weaknesses of the evidence, and to assess its significance and relevance to your question. For example, you might compare and contrast your evidence by saying: This evidence agrees with that evidence, but disagrees with this other evidence. This evidence is more convincing than that evidence, but less convincing than this other evidence.

5 Organize and present evidence

Finally, you need to organize and present your evidence in a clear and coherent way, according to your purpose and question. You should structure your evidence in a logical order, using transitions and connectors to show the relationships between the evidence. You should also use appropriate formats and styles to display your evidence, such as tables, graphs, charts, diagrams, or quotes. You should also cite your sources properly, using a consistent referencing system. For example, you might organize and present your evidence by following an outline like: Introduction - state your purpose and question; Body - present your evidence in categories or themes, using analysis and interpretation, and comparison and contrast; Conclusion - summarize your main findings and implications.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?