Tools & Downloads · Claim checking
“Everyone Knows” Is Not Evidence.
Some claims feel true because they are familiar, repeated or confidently stated. This worksheet helps you slow the claim down: say exactly what it claims, identify the evidence, inspect the reasoning and decide what you can responsibly conclude.
What exactly is the claim?
Rewrite it as one sentence. Remove vague phrases such as “everyone knows”, “people say”, “obviously” or “it is proven” unless the evidence actually establishes them.
Where did the claim come from?
Name the source if you can. Is it first-hand evidence, a study, a report, a news story, a social post, a quotation, an anecdote or something repeated without a traceable source?
What evidence is actually being offered?
Write down the evidence separately from the conclusion. If there is no evidence yet, write “not established yet” rather than filling the gap with assumption.
Does the evidence support this conclusion?
Look for the jump between evidence and claim. Ask: Is the sample representative? Is a correlation being treated as a cause? Is one example being generalised? Is an important comparison missing?
What else could explain the same evidence?
List at least one plausible alternative explanation. A strong claim should survive serious alternatives, not just the easiest objection.
What evidence would make you less confident?
If no possible evidence could change the conclusion, you may be defending a position rather than testing a claim.
How strong is the conclusion now?
Choose language that matches the evidence: possible, plausible, supported, strongly supported — or not established yet.
My evidence-bounded conclusion
Use: suitable for classroom discussion, debate preparation, source analysis, research planning and everyday media literacy. The worksheet is a reasoning aid, not a scoring instrument or validated assessment. It does not establish that a learner's critical-thinking ability has improved. Pair it with repeated work, clear criteria and appropriate assessment when the goal is to measure learning.
Related Anhaya resources: Teaching Students to Spot a Weak Argument · Learning Lab · Impact methodology