Three types of claim every researcher should know for better science communication

In the world of research, being able to build convincing arguments is central to success.

But despite all the practice we get, there are still those frustrating moments when we can't seem to sort out the different strands of our argument, or when a colleague, reviewer or stakeholder misunderstands the point we're trying to make.

Often, these problems stem from confusion about the nature of the claims we're making, and the different types of evidence they require. Luckily, there's a whole body of research on the various types of claims we typically use in argumentation, and a little bit of understanding of just some of the key types can already make a big difference to our science communication.*

Here are three types of claim that every researcher should know in order to get better at crafting clearer and more effective arguments:

1 | Claims of fact

These are statements that can be verified as either true or false, e.g. The new catalyst increases the reaction yield by 15%. What's at stake here is whether the claim is correct or not, and so it needs to be supported by evidence that the audience will accept as objectively verifiable.

2 | Claims of value

These are value judgements about the worth of something, e.g. Running the experiment again was a waste of time. What matters here is the specific criteria used to arrive at the value judgement — which we should always make explicit alongside the claim itself. A common mistake is to treat claims of value as claims of fact, when they are actually very different!

3 | Claims of policy

These are statements about what ought to be done (rather than what is currently done), e.g. In future, more attention should be given to the type of chemical interaction involved. Here, the aim is to change or reinforce a course of action, and the evidence required involves both fact and value (i.e. factual assessment of the current conditions plus a value judgement of why the course of action is desirable).

Once you're familiar with these claim types and can tell them apart, it becomes easier to build and defend your arguments — as well as to assess other people's!

Question to ask yourself	Claim type	Evidence required
Can this be shown to be true or false?	Claim of fact	Objective
Am I expressing a value judgement?	Claim of value	Criteria-based reasoning
Am I recommending action?	Claim of policy	Factual assessment + value judgement

Photo by Volodymyr Hryshchenko on Unsplash

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I hope you found this post useful!

I'm Hannah, a former academic in linguistics, and in my work at Smart Phrasing I help researchers communicate their work with confidence, clarity and impact, so their ideas and discoveries reach the people who most need to hear them.

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*On different types of claim see e.g. Hart, Chris (1998), Doing a literature review: releasing the social science research imagination. London: Sage, p. 90.