<Heat over the heartland The Oil Drum DrumBeat: August 3, 2006>

38 comments on A reference that has been asked for

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phineas gage on August 2, 2006 - 7:54pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
What's wrong with anecdtoes if they are clearly presented as such?  The contributor identified the comment as from personal experience.  I found the comment interesting.  It was not presented as scientific fact.  

Besides, if we are going to point out things we should have learned in freshman English, let's consider the case of circular definitions.  In this example the error is commited double as both "evidence" and "anecdote" are used to define the phrase "anecdotal evidence":

"Anecdotal evidence is an informal account of evidence in the form of an anecdote, or hearsay"

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Don Sailorman on August 3, 2006 - 8:27am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
I suspect that most solid scientific hypotheses began with anecdotal evidence--which is way better than no evidence at all.

Of course, not all anecdotal evidence is equal (to put it mildly).

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38 comments on A reference that has been asked for

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