Anecdotal evidence

Anecdotal evidence (or anecdata) is evidence based on descriptions and reports of individual, personal experiences, or observations, collected in a non-systematic manner.

The term anecdotal encompasses a variety of forms of evidence, including personal experiences, self-reported claims, eyewitness accounts of others, and those from fictional sources, making it a broad category that can lead to confusion due to its varied interpretations. Anecdotal evidence can be true or false but is not usually subjected to scholarly methods, scientific methods, or rules of legal, historical, academic, or intellectual rigor, meaning there are little or no safeguards against fabrication or inaccuracy. However, the use of anecdotal reports in advertising or promotion of a product, service, or idea may be considered a testimonial, which is highly regulated in certain jurisdictions.

The persuasiveness of anecdotal evidence compared to that of statistical evidence has been a subject of debate; some studies have argued that there is a generalized tendency to overvalue anecdotal evidence, whereas argue the contrary.