"Cherry Picking"

Cherry picking refers to choosing certain information to use for or against one side of a position. The data collected either is all showing facts for a side or against a side. When using cherry picking an actual situation is not fully presented. Often time people will only tell what they want people to hear in order to persuade the listener to believe their side. This can be a good tactic for writing if you do not care if what you are preaching is right but only want people to be on your side of an issue. It does get your point straight across but it can also leave the writer wondering why you are only giving one side of the story. If you are trying to win an argument this is a good way of going about it but if you are writing to inform people about an issue it is best to let them know both sides and figure out for themselves what they side with. I think most times in my own writing I use cherry picking unconsciously. I know what I think about an issue usually straight from the get go and I am sure I use facts that appeal to my own beliefs. This can be good if I am trying to make a point on an issue but I know a lot of times cherry picking causes me to leave some of the most important facts out of my papers.