Evaluating Claims and Sources

C1 · 100 entries · Five themes

Evaluating Claims and Sources

Created by , British English teacher.

Open a theme, then select a word or phrase for its meaning, example and pronunciation.

1. Types of evidence (20 entries)
  1. empirical evidence
  2. anecdotal evidence
  3. circumstantial evidence
  4. corroborating evidence
  5. counterevidence
  6. archival record
  7. indirect evidence
  8. evidential standard
  9. evidential limit
  10. differentiate a claim
  11. converging evidence
  12. unresolved alternative
  13. causal identification
  14. suggestive
  15. inconclusive
  16. cherry-picking
  17. contextual evidence
  18. contextualise a statistic
  19. appeal to precedent
  20. selection effect
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2. Source reliability (20 entries)
  1. credible
  2. reputable
  3. unrepresentative
  4. unsubstantiated
  5. peer-reviewed
  6. editorial oversight
  7. source provenance
  8. verifiable
  9. authoritative
  10. traceable
  11. vested interest
  12. unsupported assertion
  13. authenticated
  14. attributable
  15. conflict of interest
  16. assured
  17. accessible
  18. cautiously favourable
  19. provisionally accept
  20. derivative
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3. Testing explanations (20 entries)
  1. compare competing explanations
  2. discriminate between
  3. be open to question
  4. biased
  5. isolate a variable
  6. examine an association
  7. triangulate
  8. replicate
  9. falsify
  10. corroborate
  11. control for
  12. simplistic
  13. establish convergence
  14. undercut the argument
  15. formulaic
  16. a sweeping generalisation
  17. unconvincing
  18. contrived
  19. a telling omission
  20. sparse
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4. Limits and qualifications (20 entries)
  1. caveat
  2. qualification
  3. context-dependent
  4. subject to revision
  5. approximation
  6. tentative conclusion
  7. reservation
  8. margin of error
  9. provisional finding
  10. measurement error
  11. sampling bias
  12. confounding variable
  13. qualify a claim
  14. domain
  15. depend critically on
  16. specify the conditions
  17. generality
  18. limiting case
  19. within its limits
  20. extend a definition
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5. Defensible conclusions (20 entries)
  1. reasonable inference
  2. indicative of
  3. qualified conclusion
  4. warrant
  5. compelling case
  6. weight of evidence
  7. sufficient grounds
  8. alternative interpretation
  9. balance of evidence
  10. borne out by
  11. appraisal
  12. cautious optimism
  13. insinuate
  14. invalidate
  15. veiled criticism
  16. deflect criticism
  17. suggestion
  18. overtone
  19. overstatement
  20. undertone
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