a rhetorical fallacy that indicates a form of faulty reasoning used to appeal to the “everyone is doing it” mentality

Students should be able to review sources for a research project to determine if they are valid references for gathering supporting or clarifying information. Students should review a source by considering the objectivity of their information. Examining sources typically requires students to do some research on the source itself to determine if it should be used. Students might need to determine the reputation a source has among peers in that field; consider the consistency of previously provided information or documentations (e.g., has the source been proven wrong or questioned regularly?); and determine if there are any affiliations between the source and parties who may benefit from the source’s presenting the facts in a certain way.

As students work to determine the strength of an identified source, they should be aware of a source’s use of faulty reasoning to justify a position or interpretation of the facts. If sources use exaggeration beyond what data can support; reflects emotionally loaded language to skew, dismiss, or overemphasize the findings of the data; and/or attempts to categorize something without considering nuance, the source is likely not presenting the facts accurately. Faulty reasoning could be intentional if the source’s goal is to benefit from a misrepresentation of facts, or it could be unintentional due to the source’s lack of understanding of how to interpret the facts in a clear and valid way. In either case, students should know to look for faulty reasoning as they examine sources to use in support of their own conclusions.

words, terms, or phrases that have strong emotional overtones or connotations and are meant to influence and appeal to an audience by evoking negative or positive emotional reactions that extend beyond the literal meaning of word or phrase