The Toulmin Method

The Toulmin Method 

Within the age of online communication, the Toulmin Method provides a structured approach to arguments online because you're able to back up the claim you may be making in response. As we have learned before it is easy to have things misconstrued in online discussions and the Toulmin Method allows us to break down those arguments into it's key components and evaluate the validity of it in order to respond. First, you are able to identify the claim that is being made, whether it is a discussion about politics or another public debate, and begin to understand where the argument is based. Next, it is important to acknowledge the grounds (or data) that is being used. The grounds are very important because is it necessary to see what evidence is being used to back up certain claims, you need to be able to see if the evidence truly supports the claim. To see this connection between the claim and backings, you need to be able to identify the warrant, or in other words the analysis to why the evidence backs up the claim. Lastly, the rebuttal is important to recognize because it shows that the argument has some other views available, and doesn't make the argument as rigid. It also shows that the argument was carefully thought through. As with everything, there are limitations to the Toulmin Method. One may be that you aren't able to tell if someone is lying, also meaning that you would have to do your own research in order to fully analyze the argument. Another setback may be that there is an overload of information and you can feel bombarded by the evidence or even emotion within the argument. Knowing these limitations, you can productively navigate the arguments by taking everything with a grain of salt and taking your time to analyze every piece of the argument. This leads to more thoughtful and constructive online conversations between people or even organizations. There is a large role of critical thinking skills and information literacy when having online discussions. As I mentioned before, it is important to take things with a grain of salt and think a bit deeper, as well as not responding immediately and with emotion (especially anger). Also being able to read and learn information (fact-checking for example) is very important so you know that the argument is based on genuine evidence. 

Here's a link to a video that I found that explains the method very well!

The Toulmin Method