Week 8 Discussion: The Toulmin Method

 Stephen Edelston Toulmin was born in 1922 and dedicated much of his professional career to developing ways to objectively analyze moral reasoning. Over his career, he developed a sequential model consisting of six components that could assist in any form of rebuttal, argument, or analysis of beliefs. The following components are the foundation of his model; they include Claim, Data/Grounds, Warrant, Backing, Rebuttal/Reservation, and Qualification. 







Although I was never formally introduced to the Toulmin Method before this discussion, I have experienced components that encompass this model; what is interesting is that this same approach can now be applied to online communications. The internet is filled with different perspectives, and it may be beneficial to understand the Toulmin Method to better understand different biases we may find. For example, the news media is filled with highly politically charged stories. From immigration to economic issues, many stories seem to be told from varying sources. Which news outlet do you trust? Many people have trouble finding good sources of information for certain information. The Toulmin Argument Method can be a great source to help filter what you hear and see on the news and online. This model enables you to look beyond seeing only one side of the story. It gives us the tools to analyze information and find our conclusions.




The biggest message of the Toulmin Method is that you should not believe everything you hear or read. Given the many sources to access information on a single topic, we need to pause, think, and analyze to form our own opinions. What is the evidence? List the facts and the backing of their arguments. Is the claim true in all circumstances? Lastly, is there another valid view or perspective by looking at the bigger picture? If we asked ourselves these forms of self-reflecting questions, we would be less likely to fall into the trap of believing everything we hear or see online, on the news, or in politics. 







Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Week 5 Discussion: Online Marketing

Image
 The business that I chose to write about is McDonalds. McDonalds is a name that needs no introduction, everyone knows what it is, and they are a giant in the Fast Food Industry and have the 3rd highest number of locations of any fast food chain, only behind Subway and Starbucks. Of course McDonalds didn't become this way by accident and they have been able to adapt well to changing times with and the ever increasing need for online marketing. Looking at their website the overall design is a lot more plain then one would expect but it isn't something that  takes away from the approachability of the website. There are no fancy colors or ads to drive viewer's attention  away from important details like the top bar showing links to the menu, downloading the app, my McDonalds rewards or the list of different promotions for their various food.            On the social media side McDonalds will have ads featured over any social media avai...
Read more

Week 6 Discussion: The Battle For Public Opinion

Image
  The rise of social media and the internet has allowed people to reach a much larger audience than any method previously used. The number of people you can voice your opinions to on the internet dwarfs the number you would reach by writing in the newspaper, writing in a book, putting up a billboard, or even yelling in the street. Of course, this has done a lot of good, like allowing information and knowledge to spread faster and on a much larger scale. However, it also has several consequences, like allowing people to spread hate and misinformation on a wider scale. Many people have taken advantage of this to advertise or spread their beliefs online. Several key factors affect how effective this will be. One of the more important factors is the bias present in the media a person might frequent. For example, a person who frequents a social media group or follows many people who favor one political party and often watches a news program that favors the same party is more likely to...
Read more