by appearing to show

[olegv]

Please explain the meaning of "by appearing to show" in the sentence below. "Several studies carried out in the late 1970s backed the academics by appearing to show that the analysis was correct" Many thanks

[crazYgeeK]

Please explain the meaning of "by appearing to show" in the sentence below. "Several studies carried out in the late 1970s backed the academics by appearing to show that the analysis was correct" Many thanks

I don't understand your sentence well but I think "by appearing" and "to show" modify the "...backed academics", but "by appearing" is to answer the question "How?" and "to show" is to answer the question "what for?"
"by appearing to show" is not a meaning phrase as the reason I mentioned above. They all modify for the action before.
Thank you !

[Raymott]

Please explain the meaning of "by appearing to show" in the sentence below. "Several studies carried out in the late 1970s backed the academics by appearing to show that the analysis was correct" Many thanks

'appearing' here means 'seeming'.
"The studies seem/appear to show agreement with the academics."
The writer has not studied these studies deeply, or is not an expert, and so is not willing to state that they do in fact show agreement.

[crazYgeeK]

'appearing' here means 'seeming'.

Does this mean I can replace "by appearing" by "by seeming" ?
Thank you so much !

[Raymott]

Does this mean I can replace "by appearing" by "by seeming" ?
Thank you so much !

Yes, you could, but "appearing" is probably more common in an academic context like this.