Dubiousexamples

Dubiousexamples is a term used in critical thinking and rhetoric to describe illustrative instances offered to support a claim that are questionable in reliability or relevance. The term is not widely standardized and may appear in informal discussions or educational materials. Dubious examples can arise from selective presentation, overgeneralization, or failure to distinguish correlation from causation. They often rely on single anecdotes, extreme cases, or unverified data that do not adequately represent the issue.

Common forms include anecdotal evidence presented as universal proof, cherry-picked instances that support a hypothesis while ignoring contrary data, and misinterpreting statistics or outliers as representative. Another pattern is using analogy or hypothetical scenarios that do not map well to real-world conditions. The effect is to mislead or to create the illusion of support for a claim without providing solid empirical backing.

Evaluation involves checking the source and method behind the example, assessing representativeness, and seeking counterexamples. Analysts should determine whether the example truly supports the conclusion, whether alternative explanations are accounted for, and whether the data are corroborated by higher-quality evidence. In writing and argumentation, identifying dubious examples can help prevent misleading conclusions and improve critical thinking.

See also: anecdotal evidence, cherry-picking, hasty generalization, statistical literacy.