We have already discussed some of the difficulties both Mascetti and Barber encountered in handling the evidence in support of their hypotheses. Before you practice evaluating one of the selections in this book on your own, you should be aware that there are several specific problems that authors encounter when handling evidence, and these problems affect the strength of their arguments and the final reliability of their work. It is the responsibility of the author, and the reader as well, to be highly aware of these difficulties. Awareness of the particular challenges faced by both the reader and the author allows both individuals a greater chance of arriving at a more certain conclusion to their original question— in our case, whether vampires exist. We will look briefly at the types of problems with handling evidence.

Assumptions...