Asking the Right Questions : A Guide to Critical Thinking,9780130891341

Asking the Right Questions : A Guide to Critical Thinking

by ;
ISBN13: 9780130891341
ISBN10: 0130891347
Format: Paperback
Pub. Date: 2000-06-01
Publisher(s): Pearson College Div
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Summary

For all level Critical Thinking, Argumentative Writing, and Informal Logic courses in English, Social Science, Philosophy, Education, Journalism, and Mass Communication departments. This highly popular text helps students bridge the gap between simply memorizing or blindly accepting information, and the greater challenge of critical analysis and synthesis. It teaches them to respond to alternative points of view and develop a solid foundation for making personal choices about what to accept and what to reject.

Table of Contents

Preface xi
The Benefit of Asking the Right Questions
1(14)
Introduction
1(1)
Critical Thinking to the Rescue
2(1)
The Sponge and Panning for Gold: Alternative Thinking Styles
3(2)
An Example of the Panning-for-Gold Approach
5(2)
Panning for Gold: Asking Critical Questions
7(1)
The Myth of the ``Right Answer''
7(1)
Thinking and Feeling
8(2)
The Efficiency of Asking the Question, ``Who Cares?''
10(1)
Weak-Sense and Strong-Sense Critical Thinking
10(1)
The Satisfaction of Using the Panning-for-Gold Approach
11(1)
Trying Out New Answers
12(1)
Effective Communication and Critical Thinking
12(1)
The Importance of Practice
13(1)
The Right Questions
13(2)
What Are the lssue and the Conclusion?
15(12)
Kinds of Issues
16(1)
Searching for the Issue
17(1)
Searching for the Author's or Speaker's Conclusion
18(1)
Clues to Discovery: How to Find the Conclusion
19(4)
Critical Thinking and Your Own Writing and Speaking
23(1)
Practice Exercises
23(4)
What Are the Reasons?
27(14)
Reasons + Conclusion = Argument
28(1)
Initiating the Questioning Process
29(2)
Words That Identify Reasons
31(1)
Kinds of Reasons
31(2)
Keeping the Reasons and Conclusions Straight
33(1)
Clues for Identifying and Organizing the Reasoning of a Passage
33(2)
Reasons First, Then Conclusions
35(1)
``Fresh'' Reasons and Your Growth
36(1)
Critical Thinking and Your Own Writing and Speaking
36(1)
Practice Exercises
36(5)
Which Words or Phrases Are Ambiguous?
41(18)
The Confusing Flexibility of Words
42(1)
Locating Key Terms and Phrases
43(2)
Clues for Locating Key Terms
45(1)
Checking for Ambiguity
45(1)
Determining Ambiguity
46(2)
Context and Ambiguity
48(2)
Ambiguity, Definitions, and the Dictionary
50(2)
Ambiguity and Loaded Language
52(1)
Limits of Your Responsibility to Clarify Ambiguity
53(1)
Ambiguity and Your Own Writing and Speaking
54(1)
Summary
54(1)
Practice Exercises
55(4)
What Are the Value Conflicts and Assumptions?
59(18)
General Guide for Identifying Assumptions
60(1)
Value Conflicts and Assumptions
61(1)
Discovering Values
62(1)
From Values to Value Assumptions
63(2)
Typical Value Conflicts
65(1)
The Communicator's Background as a Clue to Value Assumptions
66(1)
Consequences as Clues to Value Assumptions
67(1)
More Hints for Finding Value Assumptions
68(2)
Clues for Identifying Value Assumptions
70(1)
Finding Value Assumptions on Your Own
70(3)
Summary
73(1)
Practice Exercises
73(4)
What Are the Descriptive Assumptions?
77(14)
Illustrating Descriptive Assumptions
77(3)
Clues for Locating Assumptions
80(3)
Applying the Clues
83(2)
Avoiding Analysis of Trivial Assumptions
85(1)
Assumptions and Your Own Writing and Speaking
86(1)
Summary
86(1)
Clues for Discovering Descriptive Assumptions
86(1)
Practice Exercises
86(5)
Are There Any Fallacies in the Reasoning?
91(20)
Evaluating Assumptions
93(2)
Common Reasoning Fallacies
95(6)
Further Diversions
101(1)
Confusing ``What Should Be'' with ``What Is''
102(1)
Confusing Naming with Explaining
102(1)
Searching for Perfect Solutions
103(1)
Begging the Question
104(1)
Summary
105(1)
Clues for Locating and Assessing Fallacies in Reasoning
106(1)
Fallacies and Your Own Writing and Speaking
106(1)
Practice Exercises
107(4)
How Good Is the Evidence: Intuition, Appeals to Authority, and Testimonials?
111(16)
The Need for Evidence
111(2)
Locating Factual Claims
113(1)
Kinds of Evidence
114(1)
Intuition as Evidence
115(1)
Appeals to Authority as Evidence
116(3)
Personal Testimonials as Evidence
119(1)
Dangers of Appealing to Personal Experience as Evidence
120(1)
Clues for Evaluating the Evidence
120(2)
Summary
122(1)
Practice Exercises
122(5)
How Good Is the Evidence: Personal Observation, Case Studies, Research Studies, and Analogies?
127(20)
Personal Observation
127(1)
Case Studies as Evidence
128(1)
Research Studies as Evidence
129(3)
Clues for Evaluating Research Studies
132(1)
Generalizing from the Research Sample
133(1)
Biased Surveys and Questionnaires
134(3)
Critical Evaluation of a Research-Based Argument
137(1)
Analogies as Evidence
138(3)
Summary
141(1)
Practice Exercises
142(5)
Are There Rival Causes?
147(18)
When to Look for Rival Causes
148(1)
The Pervasiveness of Rival Causes
149(2)
Lessons Learned
151(1)
Detecting Rival Causes
151(1)
Clues for Detecting Rival Causes
151(1)
The Cause or A Cause
152(1)
Rival Causes and Scientific Research
152(2)
Rival Causes for Differences between Groups
154(1)
Confusing Causation with Association
155(1)
Strong Support for a Cause
156(1)
Confusing ``After this'' with ``Because of this''
157(1)
Explaining Individual Events or Acts
158(1)
Clues for Evaluating an Explanation of an Event or Set of Events
159(1)
Evaluating Rival Causes
160(1)
Evidence and Your Own Writing and Speaking
160(1)
Summary
160(1)
Practice Exercises
161(4)
Are the Statistics Deceptive?
165(10)
Unknowable and Biased Statistics
166(1)
Confusing Averages
166(2)
Concluding One Thing, Proving Another
168(1)
Deceiving by Omitting Information
169(1)
Clues for Assessing Statistics
170(1)
Summary
171(1)
Practice Exercises
171(4)
What Significant Information Is Omitted?
175(14)
The Benefits of Detecting Omitted Information
176(1)
The Certainty of Incomplete Reasoning
176(1)
Questions That Identify Omitted Information
177(5)
The Importance of the Negative View
182(1)
Omitted Information That Remains Missing
183(1)
Missing Information and Your Writing and Speaking
184(1)
Practice Exercises
184(5)
What Reasonable Conclusions Are Possible?
189(12)
Assumptions and Multiple Conclusions
190(1)
Dichotomous Thinking: Impediment to Considering Multiple Conclusions
191(1)
Two Sides or Many?
192(1)
Searching for Multiple Conclusions
193(1)
Productivity of If-Clauses
194(1)
Alternative Solutions as Conclusions
195(1)
Clues for Identifying Alternative Conclusions
196(1)
The Liberating Effect of Recognizing Alternative Conclusions
196(1)
Summary
197(1)
Practice Exercises
197(4)
Practice and Review
201(12)
Question Checklist for Critical Thinking
201(1)
Asking the Right Questions: A Comprehensive Example
202(2)
What Are the Issue and Conclusion?
204(1)
What Are the Reasons?
204(1)
Which Words or Phrases Are Ambiguous?
205(1)
What Are the Value Conflicts and Assumptions?
206(1)
What Are the Descriptive Assumptions?
206(1)
Are There Any Fallacies in the Reasoning?
207(1)
How Good Is the Evidence?
208(1)
Are There Rival Causes?
209(1)
Are the Statistics Deceptive?
209(1)
What Significant Information Is Omitted?
210(1)
What Reasonable Conclusions Are Possible?
211(2)
Final Word 213(2)
The Tone of Your Critical Thinking
213(1)
Strategies for Effective Critical Thinking
214(1)
Index 215

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