... an anecdote being USED as data... prone to placing anecdote on an equal footing with data. In fact, I've not encountered too many of them that actually comprehend completely that there is a fundamental difference between the two things.
Agreed! Even on this forum, some prefer to collect personal stories not in addition to scientifically conducted, controlled research (as found in articles on the Davidson Database and elsewhere) but in place of research. Conflation of anecdotes and data = anecdata.
