Asking the Right Questions

<h2>Table of Contents</h2> <div class="c-header-numbers-with-list_container"> <ul> <li>Preface</li> </ul> <ol> <li><strong>The Benefit and Manner of Asking the Right Questions</strong> <ul> <li>The Noisy, Confused World We Live In</li> <li>Experts Cannot Rescue Us, Despite What They Say</li> <li>The Necessity of Relying on Our Mind</li> <li>Critical Thinking to the Rescue</li> <li>The Sponge and Panning for Gold: Alternative Thinking Styles</li> <li>Weak-Sense and Strong-Sense Critical Thinking <ul> <li>The Importance of Practice</li> </ul></li> <li>Critical Thinking and Other People <ul> <li>Primary Values of a Critical Thinker</li> </ul></li> <li>Keeping the Conversation Going <ul> <li>Creating a Friendly Environment for Communication</li> </ul></li> <li>Writing and Speaking as Critical Thinkers</li> </ul></li> <li><strong>What Are the Issue and the Conclusion?</strong> <ul> <li>Kinds of Issues</li> <li>Searching for the Issue</li> <li>Searching for the Author’s or Speaker’s Conclusion</li> <li>Clues to Discovery: How to Find the Conclusion</li> <li>Practice Exercises</li> <li>Sample Responses</li> </ul></li> <li><strong>What Are the Reasons?</strong> <ul> <li>Initiating the Questioning Process</li> <li>Words That Identify Reasons</li> <li>Keeping the Reasons and Conclusions Straight <ul> <li>Reasons First, Then Conclusions</li> </ul></li> <li>Writing and Speaking as Critical Thinkers</li> <li>Practice Exercises</li> <li>Sample Responses</li> </ul></li> <li><strong>What Words or Phrases Are Ambiguous?</strong> <ul> <li>The Confusing Flexibility of Words</li> <li>Locating Key Terms and Phrases</li> <li>Checking for Ambiguity</li> <li>Determining Ambiguity</li> <li>Context and Ambiguity</li> <li>Ambiguity, Definitions, and the Dictionary</li> <li>Limits of Your Responsibility to Clarify Ambiguity</li> <li>Writing and Speaking as Critical Thinkers</li> <li>Practice Exercises</li> <li>Sample Responses</li> </ul></li> <li><strong>What Are the Value and Descriptive Assumptions?</strong> <ul> <li>General Guide for Identifying Assumptions</li> <li>Value Conflicts and Assumptions</li> <li>From Values to Value Assumptions</li> <li>Typical Value Conflicts</li> <li>The Communicator’s Background as a Clue to Value Assumptions</li> <li>Consequences as Clues to Value Assumptions</li> <li>More Hints for Finding Value Assumptions</li> <li>The Value of Knowing the Value Priorities of Others</li> <li>Values and Relativism</li> <li>Identifying and Evaluating Descriptive Assumptions</li> <li>Illustrating Descriptive Assumptions</li> <li>Common Descriptive Assumptions</li> <li>Clues for Locating Assumptions</li> <li>Writing and Speaking as Critical Thinkers</li> <li>Practice Exercises</li> <li>Sample Responses</li> </ul></li> <li><strong>Are There Any Fallacies in the Reasoning?</strong> <ul> <li>A Questioning Approach to Finding Reasoning Fallacies</li> <li>Evaluating Assumptions as a Starting Point</li> <li>Discovering Other Common Reasoning Fallacies</li> <li>Looking for Diversions</li> <li>Sleight of Hand: Begging the Question</li> <li>Summary of Reasoning Errors</li> <li>Expanding Your Knowledge of Fallacies</li> <li>Practice Exercises</li> <li>Sample Responses</li> </ul></li> <li><strong>The Worth of Personal Experience, Case Examples, Testimonials, and Statements of Authority as Evidence</strong> <ul> <li>Fact or Opinion?</li> <li>The Need for Dependable Evidence</li> <li>Sources of Evidence</li> <li>Personal Experience as Evidence</li> <li>Case Examples as Evidence</li> <li>Testimonials as Evidence</li> <li>Appeals to Authority as Evidence</li> <li>Practice Exercises</li> <li>Sample Responses</li> </ul></li> <li><strong>How Good Is the Evidence: Personal Observation and Research Studies?</strong> <ul> <li>Personal Observation as Evidence</li> <li>Biased Surveys and Questionnaires</li> <li>Research Studies as Evidence <ul> <li>General Problems with Research Findings</li> </ul></li> <li>Generalizing From the Research Sample</li> <li>Generalizing From the Research Measures</li> <li>When You Can Most Trust Expert Opinion <ul> <li>Research and the Internet</li> </ul></li> <li>Writing and Speaking as Critical Thinkers</li> <li>Practice Exercises</li> <li>Sample Responses</li> </ul></li> <li><strong>Are There Rival Causes?</strong> <ul> <li>When to Look for Rival Causes</li> <li>The Pervasiveness of Rival Causes</li> <li>Detecting Rival Causes</li> <li>The Cause or a Cause</li> <li>Multiple Perspectives as a Guide to Rival Causes</li> <li>Confusing Causation with Association</li> <li>Confusing “After This” with “Because of This”</li> <li>Explaining Individual Events or Acts</li> <li>Evaluating Rival Causes</li> <li>Rival Causes and Your Own Communication <ul> <li>Exploring Potential Causes</li> </ul></li> <li>Practice Exercises</li> <li>Sample Responses</li> </ul></li> <li><strong>Are Any Statistics Deceptive?</strong> <ul> <li>Unknowable and Biased Statistics</li> <li>Confusing Averages</li> <li>Measurement Errors</li> <li>Concluding One Thing, Proving Another</li> <li>Deceiving by Omitting Information</li> <li>Using Statistics in Your Writing</li> <li>Practice Exercises</li> <li>Sample Responses</li> </ul></li> <li><strong>What Significant Information Is Omitted?</strong> <ul> <li>The Benefits of Detecting Omitted Information</li> <li>The Certainty of Incomplete Reasoning</li> <li>Questions That Identify Omitted Information</li> <li>But We Need to Know the Numbers</li> <li>The Importance of the Negative View</li> <li>Omitted Information That Remains Missing</li> <li>Writing and Speaking as Critical Thinkers</li> <li>Practice Exercises</li> <li>Sample Responses</li> </ul></li> <li><strong>What Reasonable Conclusions Are Possible?</strong> <ul> <li>Dichotomous Thinking: Impediment to Considering Multiple Conclusions</li> <li>Grey Thinking: Two Sides or Many?</li> <li>Productivity of If-Clauses</li> <li>The Liberating Effect of Recognizing Alternative Conclusions</li> <li>Summary</li> <li>Practice Exercises</li> <li>Sample Responses</li> </ul></li> <li><strong>Speed Bumps Interfering with Your Critical Thinking</strong> <ul> <li>The Discomfort of Asking the Right Questions</li> <li>Thinking Too Quickly</li> <li>Stereotypes</li> <li>Mental Habits That Betray Us <ul> <li>Halo Effect</li> <li>Belief Perseverance</li> <li>Availability Heuristic</li> <li>Answering the Wrong Question</li> </ul></li> <li>Egocentrism</li> <li>Wishful Thinking: Perhaps the Biggest Single Speed Bump on the Road to Critical Thinking</li> <li>Final Words</li> </ul></li> </ol> <h4 class="h5">Index</h4> </div>