In analyzing evidence, it helps to have an idea of the different types that are out there. Then, you can classify the facts in what you are reading: pick which type(s) they belong to. Here are some of the most common types of evidence writers use to support their points:
- Statistics
- Other numbers (e.g. date and time, or any specific number or measurement: Length of a boat, number of witnesses, votes for a certain bill, score of a game, etc.)
- Expert opinion
- Specialized knowledge
- Individual stories/examples (also known as anecdotal evidence)
- Physical details (sense data)—things you can see, hear, touch, smell or taste
- Dialogue (technically this is a subset of physical detail, because it is something you can hear, but direct reporting of what people have said is important enough to be considered a separate category)
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- Documentary evidence (evidence from documents). This includes all of the following, among many others
- Letters
- Diaries
- Unpublished writings (early drafts of works published later; juvenile works by famous authors, etc.)
- Laws
- Administrative policies, like the Washington Administrative Code
- Court decisions
- Speeches, interviews, and other statements by relevant people
