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Asking the Right Questions : A Guide to Critical Thinking

ISBN: 9780137581863 | 0137581866
Edition: 5th
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Prentice Hall
Pub. Date: 1/1/1998

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SummaryTable of Contents
Appropriate for all level Critical Thinking 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 as they read and listen.
Prefaceix
1 The Benefit of Asking the Right Questions
1(12)
Introduction
1(1)
... MORE
Critical Thinking to the Rescue
2(1)
The Sponge and Panning for Gold: Alternative Thinking Styles
3(1)
An Example of the Panning-for-Gold Approach
4(2)
Panning for Gold: Asking Critical Questions
6(1)
The Myth of the "Right Answer"
7(1)
Thinking and Feeling
8(1)
The Efficiency of Asking the Question, "Who Cares?"
9(1)
Weak-Sense and Strong-Sense Critical Thinking
9(1)
The Satisfaction of Using the Panning-for-Gold Approach
10(1)
Trying Out New Answers
11(1)
Effective Communication and Critical Thinking
12(1)
The Importance of Practice
12(1)
The Right Questions
12(1)
2 What Are the Issue and the Conclusion?
13(10)
Kinds of Issues
14(1)
What Is the Issue?
15(1)
Searching for the Author's or Speaker's Conclusion
16(1)
Clues to Discovery: How to Find the Conclusion
17(2)
Your Thesis and Effective Writing
19(1)
Practice Exercises
20(3)
3 What Are the Reasons?
23(12)
Reasons + Conclusions = Argument
24(1)
Initiating the Questioning Process
25(2)
Words That Identify Reasons
27(1)
Kinds of Reasons
27(2)
Keeping the Reasons and Conclusions Straight
29(1)
Reasons First, Then Conclusions
30(1)
"Fresh" Reasons and Your Growth
31(1)
Reasons and Effective Writing
31(1)
Practice Exercises
31(4)
4 What Words or Phrases Are Ambiguous?
35(16)
The Confusing Flexibility of Words
36(1)
Locating Key Terms and Phrases
37(1)
Checking for Ambiguity
38(1)
Determining Ambiguity
39(2)
Context and Ambiguity
41(1)
Ambiguity, Definitions, and the Dictionary
42(2)
Ambiguity and Loaded Language
44(2)
Limits of Your Responsibility to Clarify Ambiguity
46(1)
Ambiguity and Effective Writing
46(1)
Summary
46(1)
Practice Exercises
47(4)
5 What Are the Value Conflicts and Assumptions?
51(15)
General Guide for Identifying Assumptions
52(1)
Value Conflicts and Assumptions
53(1)
Discovering Values
53(1)
From Values to Value Assumptions
54(2)
Typical Value Conflicts
56(1)
The Communicator's Background As a Clue to Value Assumptions
57(1)
Consequences As Clues to Value Assumptions
58(1)
More Hints for Finding Value Assumptions
59(1)
Finding Value Assumptions on Your Own
60(3)
Summary
63(1)
Practice Exercises
63(3)
6 What Are the Descriptive Assumptions?
66(12)
Illustrating Descriptive Assumptions
67(2)
Clues for Locating Assumptions
69(2)
Applying the Clues
71(2)
Avoiding Analysis of Trivial Assumptions
73(1)
Summary
74(1)
Practice Exercises
74(4)
7 Are There Any Fallacies in the Reasoning?
78(17)
Evaluating Assumptions
80(1)
Common Reasoning Fallacies
81(5)
Further Diversions
86(1)
Confusing "What Should Be" with "What Is"
87(1)
Confusing Naming with Explaining
88(1)
Searching for Perfect Solutions
89(1)
Begging the Question
89(1)
Summary of Reasoning Errors
90(1)
Writing and Reasoning
91(1)
Practice Exercises
91(4)
8 How Good Is the Evidence: Intuition, Appeals to Authority, and Testimonials?
95(12)
The Need for Evidence
96(1)
Locating Factual Claims
97(1)
Sources of Evidence
98(1)
Intuition As a Source of Evidence
99(1)
Authority As a Source of Evidence
99(3)
Personal Testimonials As a Source of Evidence
102(1)
Dangers of Appealing to Personal Experience As Evidence
103(1)
Summary
103(1)
Practice Exercises
104(3)
9 How Good Is the Evidence: Personal Observation, Case Studies, Research Studies, and Analogies?
107(17)
Personal Observation
107(2)
Case Studies As Sources of Evidence
109(1)
Research Studies As a Source of Evidence
109(4)
Generalizing from the Research Sample
113(1)
Biased Surveys and Questionnaires
114(2)
Critical Evaluation of a Research-Based Argument
116(1)
Analogies As a Source of Evidence
117(3)
Summary
120(1)
Practice Exercises
120(4)
10 Are There Rival Causes?
124(14)
When to Look for Rival Causes
125(1)
The Pervasiveness of Rival Causes
126(2)
Detecting Rival Causes
128(1)
Rival Causes and Scientific Research
128(1)
Rival Causes for Differences between Groups
129(1)
Confusing Causation with Association
130(2)
Confusing "After this" with "Because of this"
132(1)
Explaining Individual Events or Acts
133(1)
Evaluating Rival Causes
134(1)
Summary
134(1)
Practice Exercises
134(4)
11 Are the Statistics Deceptive?
138(9)
Unknowable and Biased Statistics
139(1)
Concluding One Thing, Proving Another
140(1)
Deceiving by Omitting Information
141(1)
Summary
142(1)
Practice Exercises
142(5)
12 What Significant Information Is Omitted?
147(11)
The Benefits of Detecting Omitted Information
148(1)
The Certainty of Incomplete Reasoning
148(2)
Questions that Identify Omitted Information
150(3)
The Importance of the Negative View
153(1)
Omitted Information that Remains Missing
154(1)
Practice Exercises
155(3)
13 What Reasonable Conclusions Are Possible?
158(11)
Assumptions and Multiple Conclusions
159(1)
Dichotomous Thinking: Impediment to Considering Multiple Conclusions
160(1)
Two Sides or Many?
161(1)
Searching for Multiple Conclusions
162(1)
Productivity of If-Clauses
163(1)
Alternative Solutions As Conclusions
164(1)
The Liberating Effect of Recognizing Alternative Conclusions
164(1)
Summary
165(1)
Practice Exercises
165(4)
14 Practice and Review
169(8)
Question Checklist For Critical Thinking
169(1)
Asking the Right Questions: A Comprehensive Example
170(1)
What Are the Issue and Conclusion?
171(1)
What Are the Reasons?
171(1)
What Words or Phrases Are Ambiguous?
172(1)
What Are the Value Conflicts and Assumptions?
172(1)
What Are the Descriptive Assumptions?
173(1)
Are There Any Fallacies in the Reasoning?
173(1)
How Good Is the Evidence?
174(1)
Are There Rival Causes?
175(1)
Are the Statistics Deceptive?
175(1)
What Significant Information Is Omitted?
175(1)
What Reasonable Conclusions Are Possible?
176(1)
Index177

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