Next, Gladwell states the question that the researchers asked all of the violinists. As you read the paragraph below, circle all the numbers:
[They asked the violinists] “Over the course of your entire career, how many hours have you practiced?” By the time they had reached the age of twenty, after beginning violin lessons at the age of five, the elite performers had each totaled ten thousand hours of practice. By contrast, the merely good students had totaled eight thousand hours, and the future music teachers had totaled just over four thousand hours.
The numerical information you circled is called STATISTICS. It refers to the study of the collection, organization, presentation, and interpretation of data. Generally speaking, numbers do give CREDIBILITY. However, these statistics about practice time might be considered ANECDOTAL EVIDENCE, or reports from non-scientific observers. That’s because Gladwell does not explain how the researchers verified (made sure of) the number of hours that the violinists said they’d practiced.
Also, in the third paragraph, the author writes,
In those first few years, everyone practiced roughly the same amount, about two or three hours a week.
The words “about” and “roughly” indicate GENERALIZATIONS, or estimations. Based on this anecdotal evidence and generalizing language, do you think this experiment was strictly controlled? And do you trust it? Why or why not?
4.
Now, as you go through the rest of the Outliers, make sure to evaluate the rest of the information which Gladwell uses to develop his central idea, the information from Daniel Levitin, Michael Howe, and Harold Schonberg. Afterwards decide whether our section of Outliers is a credible source.
