Supporting evidence

This workshop:

• About placing evidence in your essay
• Supported facts and unsupported facts
• Types of supporting details
• Using supporting and opposing ideas
• Don't do this!
• More information

Key words: evidence, supported/unsupported fact, example, statistics, quotations

About placing evidence in your essay

In a standard essay, you can follow these general rules (i.e. rules may vary) about where you should put your evidence:

Click on each link for a description.

   Introduction paragraphs

(about 5% of essay word count). INTRODUCTION PARAGRAPHS have a special function. Unless you are referencing a definition or an important introductory fact, avoid using references in your introductions.

   Body paragraphs

(about 90% of essay word count). BODY PARAGRAPHS carry your evidence (e.g. explanations, arguments, examples). You will need to use a number of references in almost every paragraph to support your claims.

   Conclusion paragraphs

(about 5% of essay word count). CONCLUSION PARAGRAPHS have a special function. Unless you intend to finish your conclusion with a final dramatic statement from a powerful source, avoid using references in your conclusions.

Please note that the APA referencing style is used in this workshop.

Supported facts and unsupported facts

Statements in academic writing need to be supported by factual details. When you are editing your writing, you will need to check that you have supported your claims with adequate evidence. For example:

Exercise 1: Recognising supported and unsupported facts

Check the following sentence to see if you can recognise unsupported and supported facts:

1. The learning and teaching report showed that incorrect punctuation caused the most problems for students in conveying meaning in their essay writing (Department of Student Services, 2003, p. 23).
	Fact supported with evidence
	Unsupported fact
2. To convey meaning, students must punctuate their work correctly.
	Fact supported with evidence
	Unsupported fact

Types of supporting details

There are a number of ways you can support your claims in writing by using information/evidence from the work of (significant) writers and researchers. The following are three of the most common techniques:

1. Quotations (e.g. direct quotes, paraphrases, summaries)
2. Examples (e.g. illustrations of your points)
3. Statistics (e.g. facts, figures, diagrams)

Exercise 2: Recognising types of supporting detail

Check the following sentence to see if you can identify quotations, examples and statistics:

1. Many student writers have difficulty with some aspects of punctuation. For example, researchers (George et al., 2006; Jones & Brown, 2005; Smith, 2002) found that many students misused commas, mixed up colons and semicolons and used capital letters incorrectly.
	Quotation
	Example
	Statistic
2. In its research project, the Literacy Foundation (2002, p. 167) argued that "common punctuation errors caused problems with meaning-making in student writing".
	Quotation
	Example
	Statistic
3. The Literacy Reference Group (2007, para. 10) found that more than 60% of the students who were assessed on their literacy scale made errors in their punctuation.
	Quotation
	Example
	Statistic

Using supporting and opposing ideas

When you have sorted out the position you will take in your essay, you will write a number of paragraphs to provide support for your stance. It is also equally valuable to find information that does not support your stance and argue against those opposite points of view. Statements that you use to do this can follow a simple pattern:

Don't do this!

1. Put information in your essay that comes from the recesses of your mind without finding an authority to support your statements
2. Use authorities that have no academic credibility (e.g. a popular magazine)
3. Use your lecture notes (even with appropriate referencing) as the sole authority in your assignments