The expression anecdotal evidence refers to evidence from anecdotes.
Because of the small sample, there is a larger chance that it may be unreliable due to cherry-picked
or otherwise non-representative samples of typical cases.
Anecdotal evidence is considered dubious support of a generalized claim; it is, however, perfectly
acceptable for claims regarding a particular instance.
Anecdotal evidence is no more than a type description, and is often confused in discussions
with its weight, or other considerations, as to the purpose(s) for which it is used.
This is true regardless of the veracity of individual claims.
The term is often used in contrast to scientific evidence, such as evidence-based medicine,
which are types of formal accounts.
Some anecdotal evidence does not qualify as scientific evidence because its nature prevents
it from being investigated using the scientific method.
Misuse of anecdotal evidence is an informal fallacy and is sometimes referred to as the
"person who" fallacy.
Anecdotal evidence is not necessarily representative of a "typical" experience; in fact, human
cognitive biases such as confirmation bias mean that exceptional or confirmatory anecdotes
are much more likely to be remembered.
Accurate determination of whether an anecdote is "typical" requires statistical evidence.
The term is sometimes used in a legal context to describe certain kinds of testimony.
Psychologists have found that people are more likely to remember notable examples than typical
examples.
When used in advertising or promotion of a product, service, or idea, anecdotal reports
are often called a testimonial, which are banned in some jurisdictions.
Introduction In all forms of anecdotal evidence, its reliability
by objective independent assessment may be in doubt.
This is a consequence of the informal way the information is gathered, documented, presented,
or any combination of the three.
The term is often used to describe evidence for which there is an absence of documentation,
leaving verification dependent on the credibility of the party presenting the evidence.
Anecdotal evidence, in the United Nations Dangerous Goods programme is called human
experience.
In any case where a product, pure or as a compound, does not meet the toxicity criteria
for inclusion in one of the nine classes, if evidence is presented that shows the product
to be toxic to humans, animals or the environment, is included in the most appropriate class.
Scientific context In science, definitions of anecdotal evidence
include: "information that is not based on facts or
careful study" "reports or observations of usually unscientific
observers" "casual observations or indications rather
than rigorous or scientific analysis" "information passed along by word-of-mouth
but not documented scientifically" Anecdotal evidence can have varying degrees
of formality.
For instance, in medicine, published anecdotal evidence by a trained observer is called a
case report, and is subjected to formal peer review.
Although such evidence is not seen as conclusive, it is sometimes regarded as an invitation
to more rigorous scientific study of the phenomenon in question.
For instance, one study found that 35 of 47 anecdotal reports of drug side effects were
later sustained as "clearly correct."
Anecdotal evidence is considered the least certain type of scientific information.
It is the opposite of scientific evidence.
Researchers may use anecdotal evidence for suggesting new hypotheses, but never as validating
evidence.
Faulty logic Anecdotal evidence is often unscientific or
pseudoscientific because various forms of cognitive bias may affect the collection or
presentation of evidence.
For instance, someone who claims to have had an encounter with a supernatural being or
alien may present a very vivid story, but this is not falsifiable.
This phenomenon can also happen to large groups of people through subjective validation.
Anecdotal evidence is also frequently misinterpreted via the availability heuristic, which leads
to an overestimation of prevalence.
Where a cause can be easily linked to an effect, people overestimate the likelihood of the
cause having that effect.
In particular, vivid, emotionally-charged anecdotes seem more plausible, and are given
greater weight.
A related issue is that it is usually impossible to assess for every piece of anecdotal evidence,
the rate of people not reporting that anecdotal evidence in the population.
A common way anecdotal evidence becomes unscientific is through fallacious reasoning such as the
Post hoc ergo propter hoc fallacy, the human tendency to assume that if one event happens
after another, then the first must be the cause of the second.
Another fallacy involves inductive reasoning.
For instance, if an anecdote illustrates a desired conclusion rather than a logical conclusion,
it is considered a faulty or hasty generalization.
For example, here is anecdotal evidence presented as proof of a desired conclusion:
There's abundant proof that drinking water cures cancer.
Just last week I read about a girl who was dying of cancer.
After drinking water she was cured.
Anecdotes like this do not prove anything.
In any case where some factor affects the probability of an outcome, rather than uniquely
determining it, selected individual cases prove nothing; e.g. "my grandfather smoked
40 a day until he died at 90" and "my sister never went near anyone who smoked but died
of lung cancer".
Anecdotes often refer to the exception, rather than the rule: "Anecdotes are useless precisely
because they may point to idiosyncratic responses."
More generally, a statistical correlation between things does not in itself prove that
one causes the other.
A study found that television viewing was strongly correlated with sugar consumption,
but this does not prove that viewing causes sugar intake.
In medicine anecdotal evidence is also subject to placebo effects: it is well-established
that a patient's expectation can genuinely change the outcome of treatment.
Only double-blind randomized placebo-controlled clinical trials can confirm a hypothesis about
the effectiveness of a treatment independently of expectations.
By contrast, in science and logic, the "relative strength of an explanation" is based upon
its ability to be tested, proven to be due to the stated cause, and verified under neutral
conditions in a manner that other researchers will agree has been performed competently,
and can check for themselves.
Law Witness testimony is a common form of evidence
in law, and law has mechanisms to test witness evidence for reliability or credibility.
Legal processes for the taking and assessment of evidence are formalized.
Some witness testimony may be described as anecdotal evidence, such as individual stories
of harassment as part of a class action lawsuit.
However, witness testimony can be tested and assessed for reliability.
Examples of approaches to testing and assessment include the use of questioning, evidence of
corroborating witnesses, documents, video and forensic evidence.
Where a court lacks suitable means to test and assess testimony of a particular witness,
such as the absence of forms of corroboration or substantiation, it may afford that testimony
limited or no "weight" when making a decision on the facts.
Scientific evidence as legal evidence In certain situations, scientific evidence
presented in court must also meet the legal requirements for evidence.
For instance, in the United States, expert testimony of witnesses must meet the Daubert
standard.
This ruling holds that before evidence is presented to witnesses by experts, the methodology
must be "generally accepted" among scientists.
In some situations, anecdotal evidence may meet this threshold.
Altman and Bland argue that the case report or statistical outlier cannot be dismissed
as having no weight: "With rare and uncommonly occurring diseases, a nonsignificant finding
in a randomized trial does not necessarily mean that there is no causal association between
the agent in question and the disease."
See also Anecdotal value
Confirmation bias Empirical evidence
Fallacy Faulty generalization
Hasty generalization Scientific method
Post hoc ergo propter hoc References
Further reading Overall Assessment of Approach and Analysis
of the Law Commission Report Ministry of Economic Development, New Zealand
Legal Terms & Definitions Sprenger & Lang, Attorneys
Judge certifies Wal-Mart class action lawsuit MSBN, June 22, 2004
Second Generation Disparity Study Final Report City of Phoenix study
"Anecdotal Evidence" from a course in Critical thinking at Santa Rosa Junior College.
No longer active as of 2013-01-17 Lindsay, Don.
Anecdotal Evidence, via don-lindsay-archive.org Carroll, Robert Todd.
Anecdotal evidence, from the Skeptic's Dictionary.
Thompson, Bruce.
Anecdotal Evidence, describing its use as a fallacious argument.