FYS-1177 Midterm Exam
Directions: provide clear and thorough explanations for each word or concept below grounding your response in the content
covered in the course. Scoring is as follows:
10 points = clear and thorough explanation grounded in course content.
8 points = clear explanation grounded in course content, but maybe missing some detail.
6 point = basic explanation, but may not be grounded in course content or missing considerable detail.
0 points = no answer, or explanation does not make sense in terms of the goals of the course.
1. DIKW Chain:
Data: raw facts, sensory factual
information : data that has meaning, organized or categorized in some sort of way
knowledge: information that’s available for problem solving
wisdom: ethical considerations for applying information/knowledge
The DIKW chain is a model of the knowledge generation process in which data leads to information, information leads to
knowledge, and wisdom sets the boundaries on the use of knowledge.
2. 3 Sources of Information:
Yourself: Our senses deceive us, memory is limited, attention is selective, logic is flawed. But, it’s easy and sometimes it is
all we have.
Communication artifacts: They are recorded and thus reusable and reviewable, so it becomes easier to check the veracity
of information, but it becomes outdated quickly, gives a false sense of credibility, too many artifacts and it’s difficult to
access quality artifacts.
Other people: We all have social networks, but we don’t necessarily have high quality social networks, so the information
that we’re exposed to via social networks is constrained by the quality of our social networks.
3. Evidence Types:
Self-reported: cheap, easy, and fast. But people lie, it can be biased and self-serving, people might not have a clear
understanding of their thoughts on a topic.
Opinion: Everybody has an opinion, sometimes it’s all we have. But they can be biased, and they’re very difficult to verify.
Triangulation: Multiple sources of evidence. It’s the best type of evidence because there is corroboration between the
different types of evidence, but it’s expensive, time consuming, and may not be possible.
Physical: Hard to refute, tangible, but it’s not always available, and it’s subject to interpretation and it can be faked.
Empirical: evidence based on observation. It can be replicated. But, it’s only as good as the trained observer.
4. Logical Fallacies:
Ignorance: nobody knows, because nobody knows the answer, and “I’ve thought about it, so my answer is better than
yours.”
Red Herring: Going off onto a tangent and based on that tangent, they claim that they are right. A=B, C=D, thus A=D
Slippery Slope: There are a series of events that will lead to a certain consequence but there’s no support that that series
of events actually leads to that consequence.
2 types of fallacies: logical fallacies about the argument itself, and logical fallacies about the person.
5. Tolmin’s Model of Argumentation:
Starts with a claim. You must support the claim using some kind of evidence. You need to warrant the evidence to show
how well it actually supports the claim. Qualifiers, which is the confidence level that people have of the claims they are
making, based on the evidence. The rebuttal, which is the boundary conditions on when the claim is true, or not true.
6. Source Credibility:
Related to RAVEN
Reputation: people’s qualifications to speak about that topic
Ability to see: Are people actually in a position to know what happens
Vested interest: Do people have anything at stake in the decision that’s made
Expertise: People have the knowledge or experiences to speak about a topic knowledgeably
Neutrality: Whether the source is biased or not.
Source credibility is especially important in establishing a warrant between a claim and the evidence.
7. Information & Privacy:
In order to get access to information, in order to have access to technology, we have to sacrifice our rights to privacy.
Can people get information about you without your consent?
Can you be uniquely identified as an individual?
8. Information & Democracy:
Media: Watchdogs. Is the media providing people with the best quality information?
People: the decision makers. For people to make good decisions, they have to have access to the best quality information.
Government: The government has to release certain information, but it manages to get around that in the interests of
“security”.
9. Stumbling Blocks to Intercultural Communication:
Stereotypes: taking a characteristic of a group and applying it to an individual (logical fallacy)
Language barrier: Communication is restricted to the degree that people share sign and symbol systems.
Nonverbals: Communication is restricted to the degree that people share nonverbal sign and symbol systems.
Cultural shock/high anxiety: You’re more likely to make mistakes in unfamiliar situations.
Assumption of similarities: The false assumption that all people are the same/human. People are human, but in different
ways.
Categorizing: Judging a book by its cover. We take the standard of our culture and judge other people by those standards.
10.
Memetics:
Similar to genetics. Like the DNA of information.
Replication: information is replicated
Variation: There are certain variations that happen as information flows.
Natural selection: the idea that certain information survives and certain information disappears. The most useful/relevant
information survives.
Your Name: ____________________________________________________
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