Experiential Evidence
Experiential evidence is a meta-category of evidence that is less objective than empirical evidence, encompassing suggestions from commonly accepted standards, norms, and the opinions of qualified experts.
THE IDEA
Experiential Evidence
Experience-based evidence is generally less objective and often less context-specific than empirical evidence in this classification. Broadly defined, experiential evidence encompasses suggestions or signs stemming from either commonly accepted standards and norms or experience-based opinions and forecasts of properly qualified and practiced experts. Accepted norms and expert judgments both draw on practice, but they provide different forms of support.
When to use it
Making medical diagnoses based on a specialist's clinical experience rather than only quantitative tests.
Evaluating the feasibility of a business strategy by consulting industry experts and established practices.
Determining safe operating procedures in manufacturing by following longstanding safety standards.
Assessing legal arguments that hinge on expert testimony about standard practices in a profession.
FROM THEORY TO EVERYDAY LIFE
In practice
Expert Testimony in Court
A forensic analyst explains standard laboratory procedures and how experienced practitioners apply them. This testimony supplies practice-based context alongside the measured test results.
Engineering Standards
A civil engineer uses established industry norms for concrete curing times in a bridge design, relying on experiential evidence from accepted practices rather than new empirical tests.
A MOMENT TO REFLECT
Put it to work.
In what scenarios might experiential evidence be more trustworthy than empirical data?
How can you assess the validity of an expert's opinion when forming a conclusion?
What are the potential pitfalls of relying solely on commonly accepted norms as evidence?
Often confused with
CONTINUE THE CONVERSATION
Source texts
- Evidence-Based Decision-Making How to Leverage Available Data and Avoid Cognitive Biases (Andrew D. Banasiewicz)