anecdotalist means one who recounts anecdotes, or uses them instead of experimental evidence in a field of study. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 87 out of 100.
Why “anecdotalist” is a great word
ANECDOTALIST — [Noun] One who recounts anecdotes, or who relies on them instead of systematic evidence. From anecdotal (relating to or consisting of anecdotes) + -ist (suffix forming agent nouns). Unlike an anecdotist (a benign collector or teller of tales) or an empiricist (who grounds knowledge in repeatable observation), the anecdotalist wields personal narrative as a flawed substitute for rigor. He is the pundit constructing a grand theory on three casual encounters, the wellness guru citing a single miraculous recovery as universal proof, and the policymaker swayed by one constituent's tale over a mountain of data—a curator of the statistically insignificant, trading the rigor of the general for the potent intimacy of the particular.
Etymology
From anecdotal + -ist.
noun
- One who recounts anecdotes, or uses them instead of experimental evidence in a field of study.