Chapter 10: Evaluations

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Chapter 10 Evaluations

• Everythings An Argument
• EH 1302

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Criteria of Evaluation

• The standards we establish for judging anything
• Idea
• Work of art
• Person
• Product

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Features of Evaluations

• Making a judgment about a person, idea, or
  object.
  
• Establishing criteria by which you measure your
  subject.
  
• Presenting evidence that the particular subject
  meets or falls short of the stated criteria.
  

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Criteria for Evaluation

• Can be self-evident
• A car that gets 10 mpg is a gas hog.
• A steak thats charred and rubbery should be
  taken back.
  
• Can be abstract
• What makes a politician effective?
• What features make a film a classic?
• How do we measure a college education?

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Criteria for Evaluation

• Identifying criteria can lead to important
  insights into
  
• Values
• Motives
• Preferences

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Criteria of Evaluation

• Go beyond the surface judgments and uncover the
  unasked questions
  
• Challenging a grade made in a class
• Question the practice of grading itself
• Argue that Miss Alabama would be the better
  choice for Miss America
  
• Question the importance or sensibility of such
  competitions
  
• Argue that the Republican Congress is better than
  the Democratic alternative
  
• Ask why voters get only two choices
• Argue that Britney Spears should not be taken
  seriously as a singer
  
• Consider her impact on young girls

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Criteria of Evaluation

• Problems with producing evaluations
• Coming up with/specify criteria.
• Many believe their opinion about subject is
  self-evident and widely shared by others.
  
• Knowing subject well enough to evaluate it.

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Criteria of Evaluation

• Differ according to time and audience
• Market research
• Whats popular with certain demographic
• Provide product that attracts consumer
• Honda Element example (pg. 179-180)

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• Consider types of evidence they use.
• Hard evidence
• Anything that can be measured, recorded, found
• Stats
• Facts
• testimony
• Evidence based on reason
• Shaped by language
• Uses various kinds of logic

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Characterizing Evaluations

• Look at types of evidence produced.
• Quantitative
• Rely on criteria that can be measured, counted,
  or demonstrated
  
• Taller
• Faster
• Quieter
• Smoother

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Characterizing Evaluations

• Look at types of evidence produced.
• Qualitative
• Rely on criteria that must be explained through
  words
  
• Rely on
• Values
• Traditions
• Emotions
• More ethical
• More handsome
• More noble

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Quantitative

• Once a quantitative standard has been defined, it
  seems like it is easy to measure and count.
  
• Who is tallest person in class?
• measure by inches
• Who is the smartest person in the class?
• Measure by
• GPAs
• SAT scores
• IQ tests

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Quantitative

• However, quantitative criteria must be
  scrutinized carefully to make sure that what they
  measure relates to what is being evaluated.
  
• Who is the smartest person in class?
• SAT scores

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Qualitative

• Sometimes issues close to the heart arent
  subject to quantification.
  
• What makes a movie great?
• How much money it grossed?
• How many awards it received?

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Qualitative

• What makes a movie great?
• How much money it grossed?
• Titanic (601 million)
• Star Wars (461 million)
• Star Wars The Phantom Menace (431 million)
• E.T. (400 million)
• Jurassic Park (330 million)

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Qualitative

• 2004 Top 10 Box Office Hits
• Shrek 2
• Spiderman 2
• Passion of the Christ
• Meet the Fockers
• The Incredibles
• Harry Potter the Prisoner of Azkaban
• The Day After Tomorrow
• The Bourne Supremacy
• National Treasure
• The Polar Express

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• Academy Award Nominees for 2004
• Best Picture
• The Aviator
• Finding Neverland
• Million Dollar Baby
• Ray
• Sideways

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Qualitative

• What makes a movie great?
• Citizen Kane (1941)
• Casablanca (1942)
• The Godfather (1972)
• Gone With the Wind (1939)
• Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
• The Wizard of Oz (1939)
• The Graduate (1967)
• On the Waterfront (1954)
• Schindlers List (1993)
• Singin in the Rain (1952)

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Developing an Evaluative Argument

• Finding a Topic
• Make a judgment about quality.
• Citizen Kane is probably the finest film made by
  an American director.
  
• Challenge a judgment.
• Citizen Kane is vastly overrated by most film
  critics.
  
• Construct a ranking or comparison.
• Citizen Kane is a more intellectually challenging
  movie than Casablanca.

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Developing an Evaluative Argument

• Finding a Topic
• Be alert to evaluative arguments when using terms
  that indicate value or rank
  
• good/bad
• effective/ineffective
• Best/worst
• competent/incompetent
• successful/unsuccessful

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Developing an Evaluative Argument

• Researching the Topic
• Journals, reviews, magazines
• Books
• Biographies
• Research reports or scientific studies
• Websites
• Periodicals
• Surveys and polls

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Developing an Evaluative Argument

• The Claim
• Makes a judgment about something
• Establishes clearly what is being evaluated.
• Should be arguable/controversial

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Developing an Evaluative Argument

• Formulating a claim
• X is (or is not) a good example of Y because it
  has (or does not have) features A, B, and C.
  
• Scream is a bad horror movie because it
  foreshadows its scary parts and defuses them with
  humor.
  

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Developing an Evaluative Argument

• The Criteria
• Should be clear
• Should be appropriate for evaluation
• May need defending
• Controversial criteria should be validated with
  evidence.
  

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Developing an Evaluative Argument

• Evidence for the Claim
• Provide enough evidence to ensure what is being
  evaluated meets the criteria established for the
  evaluation.
  
• May be simply announced
• May need some analysis of its significance and
  appropriateness
  
• More detailed discussion

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Developing an Evaluative Argument

• Evidence for the Claim
• Address any objections readers might have to the
  claim, criteria, or evidence.
  
• Consider conditions of rebuttal,
• Consider need for qualification.

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Developing an Evaluative Argument

• Introduce the issue - Why is evaluating X
  problematic?
  
• Offer an arguable (controversial) claim.
• Dont, for instance, argue that Godfather is a
  very good gangster film, for the movie is already
  recognized as one of the best in the genre.
  
• Explain to your readers in a paragraph or so why
  you think your argument is important.
  
• Why, in other words, is your argument
  controversial? What are its implications or
  possible applications?
  

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Developing an Evaluative Argument

• Define a term or concept (the Y of your argument)
  by establishing at least two or three criteria.
  
• If necessary, you will need to defend your
  criteria.
  
• The criteria should be both necessary and
  sufficient for defining the Y.
  
• Match the criteria you've established for the Y
  term against the controversial concept you are
  assessing (the X term of your argument, in this
  case, a movie).
• This criteria match is the crux of your
  thesis.
  
• State criterion 1.
• Show that X meets criterion 1.
• State criterion 2.
• Show that X meets criterion 2.
• State criterion 3.
• Show that X meets criterion 3.

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• Provide sufficient grounds (evidence) that your X
  term does (or does not) possess the criteria
  established.
  
• Provide as necessary sufficient backing (chains
  of reasons and evidence) that show true Y's have
  features A, B, and C.
  
• Refute the opposing views - perhaps conceding
  some of them.
  
• Defend your criteria against counterarguments (in
  other words, carefully consider conditions of
  rebuttal and the need for qualification).

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Developing an Evaluative Argument

• Introduce the issue - Why is evaluating X
  problematic?
  
• Summarize opposing views.
• Refute the opposing views - perhaps conceding
  some of them.
  
• Present your own claims, stating criteria as
  necessary
  
• State criterion 1.
• Show that X meets criterion 1.
• State criterion 2.
• Show that X meets criterion 2.
• State criterion 3.
• Show that X meets criterion 3.
• Sum up your evaluation.