Is That a Fact?
Broadview Press Ltd (Verlag)
978-1-55481-132-8 (ISBN)
We are inundated by scientific and statistical information, but what should we believe? How much should we trust the polls on the latest electoral campaign? When a physician tells us that a diagnosis of cancer is 90% certain or a scientist informs us that recent studies support global warming, what should we conclude? How can we acquire reliable statistical information? Once we have it, how do we evaluate it? Despite the importance of these questions to our lives, many of us have only a vague idea of how to answer them.
In this admirably clear and engaging book, Mark Battersby provides a practical guide to thinking critically about scientific and statistical information. The goal of the book is not only to explain how to identify misleading statistical information, but also to give readers the understanding necessary to evaluate and use statistical and statistically based scientific information in their own decision making.
Mark Battersby is Professor of Philosophy at Capilano University.
Acknowledgements
CHAPTER 1: How to Li(v)e with Statistics: Why We Need to Think about Statistical and Scientific Information
CHAPTER 2: Introduction to Critical Thinking
CHAPTER 3: Polling: The Basics
CHAPTER 4: Sampling Woes and Other Biases
CHAPTER 5: The Facts Ma’am, Nothing but the Facts: Getting Good Data
CHAPTER 6: Making Sense of Data: What Does It All Mean?
CHAPTER 7: The Power of Graphs
CHAPTER 8: Correlations: What Goes with What?
CHAPTER 9: Finding the Cause: Evaluating Causal Claims
CHAPTER 10: Evaluating Scientific Claims: Looking at the Context
CHAPTER 11: Using What You’ve Learned: Finding and Evaluating Scientific Information
CHAPTER 12: Probability and Judgement
CHAPTER 13: Studies Show, But So What?
Glossary
Index
| Erscheint lt. Verlag | 1.7.2013 |
|---|---|
| Verlagsort | Peterborough |
| Sprache | englisch |
| Maße | 152 x 229 mm |
| Themenwelt | Geisteswissenschaften ► Philosophie ► Logik |
| Mathematik / Informatik ► Mathematik | |
| ISBN-10 | 1-55481-132-5 / 1554811325 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-1-55481-132-8 / 9781554811328 |
| Zustand | Neuware |
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