Qualifiers and the Scope of a Claim

Read qualifying words precisely to determine exactly how much a central claim asserts.

Qualifiers are words that limit or set the scope of a claim: 'often,' 'most,' 'in some cases,' 'may,' 'tends to,' 'under these conditions. ' They change what an author is committed to defending. Compare: 'Social media causes anxiety in teenagers' with 'Heavy social media use may contribute to anxiety in some teenagers. ' The first is sweeping and easy to refute with one counterexample. The second is narrower and more defensible, but also claims less.

When you identify a main idea, preserve its qualifiers; dropping them distorts the argument, usually making it sound more extreme than it is. When you evaluate an argument, check whether the evidence matches the scope. A study of 200 students at one school might support 'in some cases' but not 'all teenagers. ' Writers sometimes slip from a qualified thesis to unqualified conclusions, a move called overgeneralization. Noticing that slip is one of the most powerful critical reading skills you can develop.

• 1Qualifiers set the scope of a claim.
• 2Preserve qualifiers when summarizing.
• 3Check whether the evidence matches the scope.
• 4Watch for slips into overgeneralization.