Judging Evidence

Objective: Understand relevant and choose it accurately in context.

relevant (adjective): Directly connected to the question or issue being considered. Context sentences 1. The committee found the repair estimate relevant to its discussion of the building budget. 2. Maya removed an interesting childhood story because it was not relevant to her argument about school lunches. 3. The witness supplied relevant details about where the missing bicycle was last seen.

Objective: Understand reliable and choose it accurately in context.

reliable (adjective): Able to be depended on to provide consistent, trustworthy results or information. Context sentences 1. The class needed a reliable scale that would give consistent readings. 2. Over several projects, Jonah proved to be a reliable source of carefully checked information. 3. The old clock was no longer reliable, so we stopped using it to time experiments.

Objective: Understand valid and choose it accurately in context.

valid (adjective): Describing an argument or inference whose conclusion must be true if its premises are true. Context sentences 1. The teacher checked whether the student's argument was valid before discussing whether its starting claims were true. 2. If every item in the box is blue and this bead came from the box, the inference that the bead is blue is valid. 3. A confident tone cannot make an argument valid when its conclusion does not follow from its premises.

Objective: Understand credible and choose it accurately in context.

credible (adjective): Believable because there are good reasons to trust it. Context sentences 1. The witness's clear view of the doorway made her account credible. 2. A claim becomes more credible when independent evidence supports it. 3. The reporter sought a credible explanation for the sudden cancellation.

Objective: Understand accurate and choose it accurately in context.

accurate (adjective): Correct and free from errors in facts, measurements, or details. Context sentences 1. The diagram gave an accurate picture of how the pieces fit together. 2. Before submitting the report, Elena checked that every total was accurate. 3. An accurate quotation preserves the speaker's actual words.

Objective: Understand objective and choose it accurately in context.

objective (adjective): Based on observable facts rather than personal feelings or preferences. Context sentences 1. The evaluator used objective measures such as weight and length. 2. An objective report separates what observers recorded from how they felt about it. 3. The committee wanted an objective comparison of the two machines' performance.

Objective: Understand subjective and choose it accurately in context.

subjective (adjective): Based on personal feelings, tastes, or opinions. Context sentences 1. Whether the painting feels cheerful is a subjective judgment. 2. The review became subjective when the writer described how the music affected her mood. 3. Students offered different subjective reactions to the novel's ending.

Objective: Understand biased and choose it accurately in context.

biased (adjective): Unfairly favoring one side or viewpoint in a way that affects judgment or presentation. Context sentences 1. The article was biased because it excused every mistake by one candidate while attacking the other's smallest errors. 2. A judge who favors close friends may give biased scores. 3. The researchers checked whether the survey's wording encouraged biased responses.

Objective: Understand arbitrary and choose it accurately in context.

arbitrary (adjective): Chosen or decided without a clear reason, consistent rule, or fair standard. Context sentences 1. The club rejected an arbitrary deadline that had no connection to its schedule. 2. Without a scoring guide, the teacher worried that the grades might seem arbitrary. 3. The manager's arbitrary exceptions made the attendance policy difficult to understand.

Objective: Understand representative and choose it accurately in context.

representative (adjective): Reflecting the important characteristics of a larger group or whole. Context sentences 1. The survey needs a representative sample of students from across the school. 2. The curator chose a representative selection showing the artist's major subjects and styles. 3. One unusually busy afternoon may not be representative of the store's normal traffic.