Is That True?

Joel Best is Professor of Sociology and Criminal Justice at the University of Delaware. He is the author of the best-selling Damned Lies and Statistics, Stat-Spotting, and American Nightmares.  

Acknowledgments

1. What Is Critical Thinking?

2. The Basics: Arguments and Assumptions

3. Everyday Arguments
Anecdotes • Ad Hominem Arguments • Myths • Folk Wisdom and Metaphors • Facts • Everyday Reasoning

4. The Logic of Social Science
Patterns • Causality • Judging Social Scientific Claims • The Importance of Evidence

5. Authority and Social Science Arguments
Challenges for Social Science • The Case of Sociology • Thinking about Sociology and Critical Thinking

6. Sociology as a Social World
Camps • Envy • Sociology’s Subdivisions

7. Orientations
Optimism and Pessimism • Team Culture and Team Structure • Insiders and Outsiders • Tragedy and Comedy • The Importance of Orientations Contents

8. Words
Jargon • Word Fads • Definitions • Concept Creep

9. Questions and Measurements
Sociological Questions • Empirical Questions • Measurement • What Is Being Measured? • Questioning Measurements

10. Variables and Comparison
Variables • Issues with Comparison • Varieties of Comparative Findings • Replication • Comparison in Qualitative Research • Questioning Comparisons

11. Tendencies
Patterned Tendencies • The Ecological Fallacy • The Modesty of Sociological Explanations • Thinking about Tendencies

12. Evidence
Effective Evidence • Not-So-Effective Evidence • Questioning Evidence Choices • Questions about Research

13. Echo Chambers
Recognizing and Addressing One’s Own Biases • Expectations and Sociologists • The Complications of Ideological Homogeneity • The Importance of Self-Criticism

14. Tough Topics
Cultural Waves • Good Guys and Bad Guys • Taboos • Thinking about What’s Difficult

Afterword: Why Critical Thinking Is Important

Notes
References
Index