CRITICAL THINKING AND SCIENTIFIC METHODOLOGY

Question 1

HOW DO WE CRITICALLY THINK?

Answer 1

Ask key questions and state them clearly
Gather and access relevant information
Test solutions and conclusions and find alternatives.
Communicate results clearly

Question 2

WHAT ARE THE THREE MAIN TYPES OF INQUIRY

Answer 2

→ descriptive inquiry: describing what is already there, it does not involve the manipulation of variables, it is merely just observation

→ Comparative inquiry: it is taking what you observe and finding links, correlations, and patterns, however correlation does not always mean causation! Humans often succumb to this because we are good at recognizing patterns.

→ experimentation

Question 3

SCIENTIFIC REASONING

Answer 3

→ inductive reasoning (OPTT): is not considered logically valid, works from the bottom up, often follows the pattern: observation → pattern → tentative hypothesis → theory

→ deductive reasoning (THOC): is considered logically valid, works from the top down and follows the pattern: theory → hypothesis → observation → confirmation

Question 4

VARIABLES

Answer 4

→ independent: the variable that you manipulate
→ dependent: the variable that changes based on the independent variable
→ controlled (confounding): variable remained constant and unchanged throughout the experiment

Question 5

TYPE I AND II ERRORS

Answer 5

→ type I: false positive: rejecting null hypothesis when it was true
→ type II: false negative: not rejecting null hypothesis when it is false

Question 6

DIFFERENT TYPES OF BIAS

Answer 6

→ selection bias: researcher actively selecting participants

→ participation bias: individuals volunteering to be part of the study

→ confirmation bias: looking for answers you want to be true and selectively choosing evidence

→ funding bias: who is paying for the study, do they have a desired outcome?

→ publication bias: not publishing work because results did not reach what was expected