Asking the Right Questions

Used in a variety of courses in various disciplines, Asking the Right Questions helps students bridge the gap between simply memorizing or blindly accepting information, and the greater challenge of critical analysis and synthesis. Specifically, this concise text teaches students to think critically by exploring the components of arguments--issues, conclusions, reasons, evidence, assumptions, language--and on how to spot fallacies and manipulations and obstacles to critical thinking in both written and visual communication. 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.Chapter 1: The Benefit and Manner of Asking the Right Questions Chapter 2: Speed Bumps Interfering with Your Critical Thinking Chapter 3: What Are the Issue and the Conclusion? Chapter 4: What Are the Reasons? Chapter 5: What Words or Phrases Are Ambiguous? Chapter 6: What Are the Value and Descriptive Assumptions? Chapter 7: Are There Any Fallacies in the Reasoning? Chapter 8: How Good Is the Evidence: Intuition, Personal Experience, Case Examples, Testimonials, and Appeals to Authority? Chapter 9: How Good Is the Evidence: Personal Observation, Research Studies, and Analogies? Chapter 10: Are There Rival Causes? Chapter 11: Are the Statistics Deceptive? Chapter 12 What Significant Information Is Omitted? Chapter 13: What Reasonable Conclusions Are Possible?