Dictionary Definition
corroborate
Verb
1 establish or strengthen as with new evidence or
facts; "his story confirmed my doubts"; "The evidence supports the
defendant" [syn: confirm, sustain, substantiate, support, affirm] [ant: negate]
2 give evidence for [syn: validate]
3 support with evidence or authority or make more
certain or confirm; "The stories and claims were born out by the
evidence" [syn: underpin, bear out,
support]
User Contributed Dictionary
English
Pronunciation
Verb
- To confirm, strengthen or support something with additional evidence; to attest or vouch.
Related terms
Translations
To confirm, strengthen or support with
additional evidence
- Dutch: onderbouwen
- Finnish: vahvistaa
- German: bestätigen, untermauern, stützen, bekräftigen
- Turkish:delille desteklemek
Extensive Definition
Corroborating evidence is evidence that tends to
support a proposition that is already supported by some evidence.
For example, W, a witness, testifies that she saw X drive his
automobile into a green car. Y, another witness, testifies that
when he examined X's car later that day he noticed green paint on
its fender.
For more information on this type of reasoning
see casuistry.
Another type of corroborating evidence comes from
using the Baconian
method, i.e. the method
of agreement,
method of difference, and
method of concomitant variations.
These are followed in experimental design. They
were codified by
Francis Bacon, and developed further by John
Stuart Mill and consist of controlling several variables in
turn to establish which variables are causally connected. These
principles are widely used intuitively in various kinds of proofs,
demonstrations and investigations, in addition to being fundamental
to experimental design.
In law, corroboration refers to the requirement
in some jurisdictions, such as Scotland, that
any evidence adduced be backed up by at least one other
source.
References
Plutchik, Robert (1983) Foundations of
Experimental Research Harper's Experimental Psychology
Series.