Study Guide for HE2 - NS4

Please see the Preliminary Study Guide for NS4/NS4H for the Information Table that will be on the front of the exam.

Details for the exam of 11/12/2002:

Be sure to check over your notes from the presentations. You may need to know what each topic was about and what the arguments pro and con were.

Know about the different kinds of generalizations and what we can use them for.

We spent a lot of time talking about proper sampling and what we mean by "random" when making a generalization. There are questions about this.

Be sure you can identify the various Fallacies associated with generalizations. Don't forget to check and include the Fallacies of our Own on the web site.

Go over the Five Steps of Hypothetical Reasoning and know how to use these. Also know how to formulate a Good Question (Why is that?), then come up with multiple hypotheses. Hypotheses can be tested and possibly disconfirmed. Know how we have done that in class. Surviving hypotheses are sometimes rated according to the Criteria of Adequacy. Know how to use those. The Criteria themselves are named, but not described, on the Information Table on the front of the exam.

Be able to evaluate the claims made in newspaper ads for miracle cures and similar stuff.

Be able to comment on the possible harm that pseudoscientific practices can do. Look over the topics that were presented.

Be clear on how to use the hypothetico-deductive method on a real world example.

We had a rather complicated discussion of "if and only if" as it pertained to DNA analysis. Yes, there is a question about that, so be prepared to describe it and argue how it should properly be used.