A Field Guide to Lies: Critical Thinking in the Information Age (41 page)

BOOK: A Field Guide to Lies: Critical Thinking in the Information Age
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racial identities,
89

Randi, James,
153
,
241
,
244

random sampling,
79
–81,
85
,
163

range and averages,
17

recycling,
54
–55

Rees, Nigel,
125
–26

refugees,
203

regret,
229

regulating authorities,
145
–46

reporting bias in data collection,
88
–89

representative sampling,
76
–80,
161
–64

Republicans,
62
–63,
139
–140

Respectfully Quoted
(Platt),
125
,
126
–27

Richards, Cecile,
42

risk

framing of,
201
–5
perception of,
173
–75

Rivera, Geraldo,
173

Rocketdyne,
230
–31

Rogers, Will,
126
,
127
,
128

Roosevelt, Franklin D.,
85

Rumsfeld, Donald,
211
,
213
–15

Sacramento Bee
,
173

salespeople,
203
–4

samples from disparate populations,
17

sampling,
76
–85

biases in,
85
–86
and confidence intervals,
82
–84,
84
,
269
n84
and margin of error,
82
,
83
–84,
84
,
269
n84
methods of,
62
–63
and probabilities,
104
quota,
81
random,
79
–81,
85
representative,
76
–80
sample size,
67
,
83
,
84
,
271
n98
selective small samples,
164
–66
stratified,
79
–81

SAT scores and school funding,
38
,
38
–40,
39

scenario planning,
154
–55

Science
,
6

science and the scientific method,
181
–197

and abductive reasoning,
191
–92
and alternative explanations,
249
and anti-science bias,
252
arguments in,
193
–94
and critical thinking skills,
252
and deductive reasoning,
183
–190,
192
,
193
,
194
–97
and experimental design,
213
and hypotheses,
212
and inductive reasoning,
183
–84,
190
–91,
192
and medical advances of Semmelweis,
194
–97
and meta-analyses,
142
,
183
,
217
myths about,
182
–83
and notation of logical statements,
187
–89
and scientific revolution,
181
value of basic research in,
252

selective windowing,
161
–64

Semmelweis, Ignaz,
194
–97

Seneff, Stephanie,
208
–9

September
11
, 2001, terrorist attacks,
169
,
202

Severinsen, Stig,
237

sexual behaviors of teens and preteens,
64
–65

Shaw, Gordon,
134

shifting baselines,
20
–24,
22
,
23

Shockley, William,
134

SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome),
106
–7

significance, statistical,
57
–58

Sink, Alex,
139
,
139
–140,
140

Slovic, Paul,
173

smoking deaths,
36
,
36
–37

Snopes.com,
252

sources, hierarchy of,
135
–37,
232

sporting events and probabilities,
101

standardization issues in data collection,
90

Standard Model of Particle Physics,
246
–250

standard of proof,
248
,
282
n248

statistical literacy,
166
–67

Stephanopoulos, George,
147
–48

stratified random sampling,
79
–81

subdividing,
73
–74

subjective probabilities,
99
–102

syllogisms,
185
–86

Tampa Bay Times
,
147

TED talks,
231
,
232
,
236
,
244

telephone sampling,
62
–63,
85
–86

terrorism,
169
,
202
–3

third factor
x
explanation of correlations,
50
–51

Tierney, John,
240
–42,
244

Time
magazine,
5
,
61

Time
s (U.K.),
174
–75

TMZ.com,
136
,
137
,
232

toilets, access to,
5
,
61

transportation and safety considerations,
201
–2

trials, legal,
16
,
117
,
124
,
155
–56

Trump, Donald,
147
–48

Tuten, Terrell,
21

Tversky, Amos,
100

Twain, Mark,
125
,
127
,
128

United Nations,
61

unknown unknowns,
211
–15,
214

USA Today
,
66

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics,
66
,
94

U.S. Centers for Disease Control,
73
–74

U.S. News & World Report
,
62
,
63

U.S. Steel,
16

vaccines and autism,
182
,
207
–10

verification of information,
147
–48

veterinary science,
223
–29

Vigen, Tyler,
49
–50

Wakefield, Andrew,
182
,
210

Wall Street Journal
,
136
–37,
171

Washington Post
,
147
–48,
171

water quality,
176
–77

water usage in California,
55

weather patterns,
103
–4

websites.
See
Internet and websites

Weiss, Hans,
6

World Health Organization (WHO),
209

Wright brothers,
131

xkcd
(Munroe),
51

Zander, Benjamin,
249

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

DANIEL J. LEVITIN, PhD
, is dean of Social Sciences at the Minerva Schools at KGI in San Francisco, and a faculty member at the Center for Executive Education in the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley. He is the author of the international bestsellers
This Is Your Brain on Music
,
The World in Six Songs
, and
The Organized Mind
. He divides his time between the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles.

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BOOK: A Field Guide to Lies: Critical Thinking in the Information Age
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