Option 1: Investigate an issue and evaluate competing arguments and claims.
For those of you interested in picking a topic and investigating it, here are some issues that I think might be interesting to cover. You are of course welcome to come up with your own. I think the best issues are those where there are not only disputes over the facts but also over the moral relevance of the facts.
If you have a grade below a 'B' in the course I strongly suggest you do not choose Option 1.
If you would like to do option 1, you must consult with me about your topic and give me an outline for your approach.
List of Suggested Issues:
Bundy Ranch
Nuclear Waste
Nuclear energy/safety
Anthropogenic Global Warming
Anti-Vaccine
Minimum Wage laws
Paleo diet (or any diet)
Atkins diet
GMO safety or environmental impact
Flat tax
Drones
Option 2: Standard Take-Home Final
Part 1: Misleading Comparisons and Slanting by Omission
A. Arthur the Alien is planning on moving his family from a galaxy far far away to earth. One problem he has is to figure out which country he should live in. The most important quality he's looking for in a country is the one that will give him the best chance at a high standard of living. To make his decision he looked at a recent study comparing the average family incomes between different countries found that the average family income in country A was $70 000.00 US/year while in country B it was $50 000.00US/year. Identify and briefly explain 3 important additional pieces of information that Arthur the Alien would have to know in order for this report to be useful in choosing between Country A and B.
B: In the far away land of Bugabuga there are two tribes: The Lupalupas and the Tikitakas. Recently some anthropologists conducted an IQ test on all 12 year-old children from both tribes. It turns out that 70% of those children who scored in the top quintile are from the Lupalupa tribe. When the anthropologists published the results, the Lupalupa tribe bragged to anyone who'd listen that on-average, their 12-year olds have higher IQs than those belonging to 12 year olds in the Tikitaka tribe. The Tikitaka only shook their head and laughed "typical example of the Dunning-Kruger effect." What mistake have the Lupalupa made in their reasoning?
C: Evil Empire Pharmaceuticals has just developed a new vaccine that is almost 100% effective against disease X. The problem is that it causes brain damage in 1/1 000 000 people who get the vaccine. Would you get your child vaccinated? What additional information would you need to know in order to make the decision?
Part 2: Name That Fallacy (From the whole course):
A: This passage is from an article in a prominent anti-vaccine website. (a) Which fallacy is being committed? (b) To support the claim that vaccines are ineffective, what additional piece of information would have to be true? (Hint: Think about "the full data set")
Let's fill in the data that so obviously got flushed down the memory hole by this irresponsible piece of CNN 'reporting.'
First, we should acknowledge one underreported fact of immunology: vaccine-induced antibody elevations do not guarantee real world protection against the pathogen the vaccine is intended to immunize us against, which is the only true measure of their value.
This is not a new observation. It goes back decades, with a 1990 study published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases finding that even though 95% of a population of urban African children had measles antibodies after vaccination, vaccine efficacy was not more than 68%.[1]
B: Prestige Properties now has a policy of only investing in development projects that are environmentally friendly and sustainable. Before you conclude that Prestige Properties actually care about the environment you should know that they used to be the biggest slumlords in the county.
C:
D:
E: "Send aid to Africa? We should be helping our own citizens."
F: "The counties of Michigan clearly need the ability to raise additional sources of revenue, not only to meet the demands of growth but also to maintain existing levels of service. For without these sources those demands will not be met, and it will be impossible to maintain services even at present levels."
G: You might think that nuclear energy is safe and that's fine. I happen to disagree. After all, it's a matter of opinion.
H: Almost 80% of Americans believe that the US government is covering up evidence of UFOs. Clearly we have been visited.
Part 3: Do You Haz Science?
A: This headline occurs in an article from one of the most prominent anti-vaccine websites.
Measles Vaccine Failures Documented for A Quarter of A Century, Around the World
Read one of the actual studies they cite as evidence and suggest why this headline misinterprets the study's findings and suggest a headline that is more consistent with the study. [Technical language help: "seropositive" means that antibodies were present in the blood.]
B: (a) Watch the video below. (b) Do some online research and based on that research and concepts of standards for scientific evidence discussed in class, answer the following questions:
i) What is the quality of the evidence supporting the claims that DCA cures cancer in humans?
ii) What is the quality of the evidence supporting the claim that DCA has no negative side effects in humans? Is there any evidence to the contrary? What is the quality of that evidence?
iii) The video makes an appeal to conspiracy and/or greed to explain why major pharmaceutical companies aren't pursuing research in DCA. Based on your research might there be other explanations for their lack of interest in DCA as a cancer drug?
C: The following study/meta-analysis is often cited by US anti water fluoridation groups as support for the idea that fluoridation in US municipal water supplies is harmful and should be removed. Read the study abstract, the introduction (the section right after the abstract) and paragraph 2 of the methods. Using the concepts we've discussed in class answer the following:
i) Why does the meta-analysis arrive at the results that it does?
ii) Are the anti-fluoridationists correct in citing this analysis as evidence for their view that fluoridation in US municipal water supplies should be removed.
iii) Suggest a more appropriate conclusion that can be drawn from this study in regards to fluoridation in drinking water.
D: Polling Problem: In the 2012 election the Republican pundits grossly miscalculated the election results. One notable difference between how the Democrats and the Republicans conducted their polls is that the Republicans called only land lines while the Democrats also called cell phones. Using the concept of selection bias, suggest how this data collection method could account for the Republican's failed predictions.
Part 4: Arguments from Analogy
(a) Evaluate the argument as we have done in class for arguments using this scheme (b) what are the claimed similarities and how relevant are they, (c) what are the differences and how relevant are they, (d) once you've put the argument into standard form for analogies, evaluate whether S and/or T really do have the properties being ascribed to them, (e) based on your evaluation, how strong is the argument?
Argument 1 (This is a meme, not an actual study)
An economics professor at Texas Tech said he had never failed a single student before but had, once, failed an entire class. The class had insisted that socialism worked and that no one would be poor and no one would be rich, a great equalizer. The professor then said ok, we will have an experiment in this class on socialism. All grades would be averaged and everyone would receive the same grade so no one would fail and no one would receive an A.
After the first test the grades were averaged and everyone got a B. The students who studied hard were upset and the students who studied little were happy. But, as the second test rolled around, the students who studied little had studied even less and the ones who studied hard decided they wanted a free ride too; so they studied little ...
The second Test average was a D! No one was happy. When the 3rd test rolled around the average was an F. The scores never increased as bickering, blame, name calling all resulted in hard feelings and no one would study for anyone else. All failed to their great surprise and the professor told them that socialism would ultimately fail because the harder to succeed the greater the reward but when a government takes all the reward away; no one will try or succeed.
Argument 2
The federal budget is just like a family budget, and we in government must tighten our belts and live within our means just like families do.
Part 5: Identify that Argument Scheme!
(a) Identify the argument scheme and rewrite the argument in its standard form (b) explain why these instances fail as good instances of the argument scheme, (c) name any fallacies relevant to inductive reasoning, and (c) suggest additional information could be included to strengthen the claim (where possible).
(1) There's no good evidence to show that aspartame is safe for human consumption, therefore we shouldn't consume it.
(2) 82 percent of people with tattoos prefer hot weather over cold, compared with 63 percent of people in general. Therefore, preferring hot weather causes people to get tattoos. Based on a survey of 114 people with tattoos and 579 people in general.
(3) I get headaches after drinking diet soda, therefore aspartame causes headaches.
(4) About 1/2 the students I know receive government financial aid, therefore it's reasonable to conclude that 1/2 the students at UNLV receive government financial aid and are socialists.
(5) There are several cases where multiple people have sighted an object in the sky which they couldn't identify, therefore those objects are alien space crafts.
(6) All my philosophy professors think Aristotle is better than Plato, therefore most philosophy professors must prefer Aristotle to Plato.
(7) A study demonstrated that 90% of all pedophiles consumed pornography before the age of 12. When they reported this study, the media concluded that early exposure to pornography causes pedophilia.
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