How Much Evidence?

In workshops, reporters often ask “how much evidence do I need” or “what kind of evidence is the best?” The answer is - it depends!

High impact solutions stories often gather both qualitative and quantitative evidence. You should seek out data and statistics on your topic, but there may be challenges in accessing good data:

• Some groups, like Native Americans, are underrepresented in data collection.
• A response in the early stages may not have generated significant data.
• Early data may be positive but hasn’t been tested over time.

Journalists who are covering potential solutions angles should ask themselves:

• Who collected the data or evidence? Do they have a bias or explicit self-interest in the result?
• What do the critics say and are they pointing to different sources of evidence or metrics?
• Is there a difference in how the community is measuring success and official statistics or metrics for evaluating progress? If yes, there’s an opportunity to add more depth to the evidence by acknowledging both.

The best strategy is to gather as much evidence as possible and then make that evidence transparent in your story. Tell your audience what you know about the evidence and what you don’t know.

If you’re covering a response in the early stages, and the evidence is limited, there’s a great opportunity to return for a follow up story later when more data is available.