Ask Me Anything
Definitions
The "F" word (FALLACY)
STATISTICS
Give Me a Good Reason
100

A weak sense critical thinking skill where someone distorts one side of an argument.

What is bias?

100

The existence of possible meanings for words or phrases.

What is ambiguity.

100

Making the assumption that one step will set off a series of undesirable events.

What is a Slippery Slope?

100

the most repeated number in an 'average'

What is the mode?

100

The two basic approaches to learning discussed in this class

What are the Sponge Approach and the Panning for Gold Approach

200

Which of the following is NOT an important kind of omitted information to search for?
a.common counter-arguments
b.positive and negative effects of what is advocated
c.value preferences
d. title of article


Title of the article

200

Issues that raise questions about what we should do or about what is right or wrong.

What are Prescriptive issues?

200

An attack or insult on a person rather than directly addressing the person's reason.

What is Ad Hominem?

200

The gap between the highest and lowest numbers 

What is the Range?

200

Beliefs, evidence, metaphors analogies, and other statements to support conclusions.

What are reasons

300

Plausible alternative explanations that can explain why a certain outcome occurred.

What are Rival Causes?

300

A helpful way to create multiple reasonable conclusions is to generate

What is if- clauses

300

An irrelevant topic used to divert attention from an original issue at hand.

What is a Red Herring?

300

The  frequency of numbers occurring

What is the distribution?

300

A conclusion and the reasons that allegedly support it.

What is an argument

400

Relevance, authority, accuracy,

currency, and purpose

What is CRAAP?

400

Searching for alternative reasonable conclusions help prevent,
a.too much emphasis on the strong reasons
b.dichotomous thinking
c.too much emphasis on identifying assumptions
d.searching for rival causes

B. Dichotomous thinking

400

A person draws a conclusion about a large group based on the experiences with only a few members of that group.

What is a Hasty generalization?

400

Absolute numbers and percentages

What are needed before you can can judge the impact of the statistics?

400

A reasoning trick the author might use while trying to persuade you to accept a conclusion.

What are Fallacies

500

Their logical soundness.

Their consistency with other knowledge you have.

Their previous success in explaining or predicting events.

What is criteria used to evaluate rival causes?

500

his type of argument tries to show that their conclusions are plausible or likely given the premise(s).

What is an inductive argument?

500

Assuming that a particular event, B, is caused by another event. A, simply because B follows A in time

What is a Post Hoc Fallacy?

500

Analyzing and reducing the causal factors of possible disasters. Usually used in health related fields.

What is risk reduction?

500

Drawing conclusions based solely on opinions.

What is making an assumption.