中国考生在应对雅思作文时喜欢通过讲道理来说明问题，但话题中并不是所有题目和内容都可以通过道理来说服他人的，比如关于“anti-social behavior”, 属于道德范畴的话题，是很难用道理来讲清楚的。所以，建议考生在备考时需要加强论据论证的能力，使其能够很好地支持自己的观点。
那么，应该如何对大作文进行有力的论证呢？最常用的方式就是解释和例证，几乎在每一篇雅思大作文中，都可以看见这两种论证方法的身影。
如下面关于“work at home or study at home”的一段例证：
IBM, one of the business giants, has saved nearly 70 million US dollars in its northeastern region by promoting telecommuting, which has been a driving force to other enterprises to convert their normal working staff into telecommuters. Companies in Japan are one of them and plan to launch the scheme in 2009, which, in turn, spiritually wins more supports from the existing employees, and attracts new hires. 这段话中的2个例子（商业巨头IBM和日本的企业计划）都较好地完成了“若员工选择在家上班，会对公司带来积极的作用”这一证明。
此外，提醒考生们需要注意的是，雅思大作文明确指出“give reasons or examples from your own experience”, 这里的“your own experience”和“your personal experience”是完全不同的概念。前者是指通过个人的学习和总结而获得的经验，后者是指个人经历或周围某个个体的故事。如谈到“working hard produces better results”, “your own experience”的例子一定是“some 3-year-high school students usually stay up late to review lessons and prepare for next day classes”, 而“your personal experience”的例子则应该是“my roommate, Tony has always been working hard on studies and staying up late every night”, 不难看出两者的区别。故雅思大作文是不能使用个人案例的论据的，这一点与新托福的写作也是不同的。
另外，数据论证也是一个重要的方法，同时也是国外文章中非常常见的。使用这种方式，需要注意两点：数据和数据的来源。数据的真实性不重要，但至少要看上去是“真实的”。如：A survey by the latest Ministry of Labour’s opinion poll shows that more companies would like to open their doors to disabled people, as long as they can access to modern technology, and the rate has been increasing every year by 5% since 2003.
使用数据论证，提醒考生们不要刻意将数据夸张，这样反而会降低数据的真实可靠性。常见的句型有“a survey by….shows that / a research by….finds out that / a study by….suggests that / Statistics by….conclude that…”省略号的部分是需要根据文章的内容来填写的数据来源出处或机构。常用的机构包括：国外大学、学院、报纸、杂志、电视台、电台、网站、研究机构、民意调查等。我们按顺序给大家做一个示范：the University of Sussex, Business College of several European countries, the USATODAY, state media CNN, BBC Talking Point, Childwise.com, American Institute for Research, Harris Interactive Poll等，考生可按照自己的情况，来准备几个备选方案以供使用。
第三个常见的论证方法要数对比论证了。对比论证可以是一个东西或行为的正反面对比，也可以是一种现象的时间前后的论证。如下面关于“是否moving to regional areas”的例子：
Staffs used to complain about the crowded offices shared with climbing number of colleagues, the acute shortage of parking lots, the expensive luncheon, and the tedious civic landscape filled up with cement, steel rods and ceramic tiles. Now, companies can move to larger spaces, like industrial parks in the regional areas equipped with more personalized facilities, ranging from regular shuttle bus service, areas for relaxation, and more comfortable meeting rooms to hold a larger group of audience.
