SrD: How to craft a good argument

References:
* http://www.englishbiz.co.uk/mainguides/argue.htm

* The Craft of Research, Booth et. al., 2003

"...we examine a kind of argument that is less like a prickly dispute with winners and losers and more like a thoughtful conversation with amiable colleagues, a conversation in which you cooperatively explore a contestable issue that you all think is important to resolve, a conversation that aims not at coercing each other into agreement, but at cooperatively finding and agreeing on the best answer to a hard question."

Envision your audience asking: Why should I believe that?...start at a point where they are, what they accept...

1. Good claims are Specific and Significant (Why should I care?)

2. Reasons outline the logic of your argument and state why the claim should be accepted

3. Evidence is what your audience accepts as fact, solid proof that would be evident to anyone who could observe it.

If you can imagine your audience asking "How do you know that?", or "Why should I accept that as a fact", then you are still at the level of reason, not at the level of evidence - the solid foundation on which we build arguments.

Example:

American Higher education should review its "hands-off" policy toward student drinking off-campus [CLAIM],

because high-risk binge drinking has become a common and dangerous form of behavior. [REASON]

Injuries and death from it have increased in frequency and intensity, not only at the big "party" schools but among first-year students at small colleges. [Unspecific evidence]

Episodes of binge drinking resulting in death or injury by first-year students at colleges with fewer than two thousand students have increased by 19% in the last 5 years. [Evidence, which is likely to be accepted if it can be shown that standard methods were used.]