Fact, Inference, Judgement Exercise
Due at class time, Friday, January 18.

As you read in your textbook, all information you encounter while conducting any research will fall into one of three categories: Facts, Inferences, or Judgements.

• Facts are bits of information which can be verified, observed, or measured. The ingredients in chocolate chip cookies, the number of jelly beans in a jar, the chemical composition of the paint on a car, these are all facts.

• Inferences are judgements about the unknown based on what is known. Scientists know that many diseases have been cured by the discovery and development of a vaccine, so they will assume that new diseases may be conquered in a similar fashion. Indeed, their search for a cure for AIDS rests on this inference.

• Judgements are expressions of approval or disapproval. President Clinton was one of the most interesting (dishonest, effective, productive) presidents the U.S. has ever had is a judgement, not a fact, although with the right kind of support it might become an inference.

Your task as researcher is to decide what sort of information you have encountered and use it responsibly. But being able to distinguish between these kinds of evidence can also help you discover possible research topics. A judgement can, with care, be developed into an interesting research project. Consider the following example:

• Fact--John Irving's novel, Prayer for Owen Meany, is narrated by John Wheelwright, who reflects on his youth and his friendship with Owen Meany, a strange boy with an odd voice who leads Wheelwright to believe in God.

• Inference--Novels often have a structural device which serves as a framework around which the work is built. In several of the chapters I've read so far, the narrator returns to his mother's death, but seems to be adding some new element to the story. The death of the mother seems to be the organizing device for the book.

• Judgement--I am really enjoying John Irving's book, A Prayer for Owen Meany. The book is filled with painful moments such as when Owen kills the narrator's mother with a foul ball hit during a little league game, but the book is also funny as in when Owen ruins the Christmas pageant when he plays the Baby Jesus.

Start your research by identifying 10 possible research subjects, topics, or questions. About each of these provide one or more facts, inferences, and judgements.