anecdata
Stories masquerading as statistics
Anecdata is a blend of anecdote and data, referring to personal stories or individual experiences treated as if they were reliable evidence.
The term is usually dismissive, pointing out that someone's argument relies on isolated examples rather than systematic research: That's not proof, that's anecdata.
It highlights the gap between "this happened to me" and statistically meaningful findings.
Unverified secondhand information
- testimonialStatement praising someone's qualities
- word-of-mouthInformation shared through conversation
- secondhandHaving had prior ownership
- unverifiedNot yet proven true
casual · gossip · grapevine · watercooler · folk wisdom · urban legend · old wives' tale · personal account
Events one has lived through
- impressionEffect on the mind
- opinionSubjective personal belief
- hunchUnproven inner sense
- gut feelingInstinctive sense about something
intuition · perception · belief · eyewitness · firsthand · narrative · storytelling · testimony
Chose only supporting evidence
- selectiveChoosing with care
- skewedAsymmetrically shifted
- one-sidedUnfairly weighted toward one
- confirmation biasPreferring belief-supporting information
unrepresentative · small sample · outlier · non-random · distorted · misleading · convenient · hand-picked
hearsay
Unverified secondhand information
- testimonialStatement praising someone's qualities
- word-of-mouthInformation shared through conversation
- secondhandHaving had prior ownership
unverified · casual · gossip · grapevine · watercooler · folk wisdom · urban legend · old wives' tale · personal account · storytime
personal experience
Events one has lived through
- impressionEffect on the mind
- opinionSubjective personal belief
- hunchUnproven inner sense
gut feeling · intuition · perception · belief · eyewitness · firsthand · narrative · storytelling · testimony · self-reported
cherry-picked
Chose only supporting evidence
confirmation bias · unrepresentative · small sample · outlier · non-random · distorted · misleading · convenient · hand-picked · curated
anecdataempirical data
Facts from direct experience
scientific data · controlled study · quantitative data · systematic research · meta-analysis
data, anecdote, database, anecdotal, anecdotes, dataset, data-driven, anecdotally, anecdotalist