Making Arguments In Science
Dr. Peggy Brickman
&
Dr. Sarah Jardeleza
Prior to this class you were asked to
answer the following questions:
1. Give an example of a scientific field of study.
2. Explain what is done in a scientific field that
makes it science.
3. Give an example of pseudoscience:
4. For your pseudoscience example, explain what is
done in this field that makes it pseudoscience:
5. If you were to read a media article about science,
what is the most important factor influencing
your categorizing it as science vs.
pseudoscience?
Answers for Scientific Fields of Study
Microbiology
2%
Horticulture
Cognitive 2%
Science Genetics
2%
2%
Not answered
Doctor
Natural Science
5%
2%
2%
Pharmacy
2%
Ecology
2%
Chemistry
27%
Astronomy
2% Herpetology
2%
Marine Biology
2%
Psychology
4%
Entomology
4%
Geology
7%
Biology
34%
Characteristics of scientific fields of study?
•
•
•
•
•
•
e.g. = biology, engineering, bioinformatics, etc.
tangible, research-based, scientific method,
published by reputable sources/peer-reviewed
experimentation, observations, hypotheses,
controlled variables, reproducibility, innovative,
testable, collecting data, using surveys, etc.
What is pseudoscience?
• How can you be sure that what you use to make
decisions is actually science and not
pseudoscience?
• What is the difference between the two?
• How can knowing the difference and being able to
distinguish between the two help you to be a better
informed consumer and citizen?
Answers to Pseudoscientific Fields of Study
Political Science
Fortune Telling Scientology
Etymology
2%
2%
2%
2%
Emriotic cell research Homepoathy
2%
2%
Earth Flat
2%
Red circles = science
No circles = pseudoscience
Yellow circles = neither
science nor pseudoscience
Parapsychology
2%
Extra terrestrials/aliens
10%
Astrology
44%
Biorhthyms
2%
Acupuncture
2%
Eugenics
2%
Alchemy
8%
Phrenology
6%
Paranormal activity
Creation
Freudian Psychoanalysis
Psychology 2%
Science
2%
4%
4%
Characteristics of pseudoscientific fields of study?
• e.g. = numerology, acupuncture, astrology, etc.
• Based on assumptions, beliefs, and correlations not
supported by evidence or experimentation methods
• Biased/opinionated, not duplicated or quantifiable.
• The underlying mechanism is not investigated
• But, in some cases, experiments are conducted.
How would you know if the results were proven
scientifically? (words in the article, source of article,
peer-review, credentials of author)
How does this issue affect your lives?
• According to a recent Pew survey, 61% of American
adults look online for health information
• Misinformation/information for everyday decisions
– Are all types of fish safe to eat?
– Should you get vaccinated?
– Do all chemotherapy treatments work the same way?
– Should you take oral birth control?
• Could lead to bias or superstition without knowing
all necessary data
• Could you be spreading misinformation just talking
to your friends and family?
Project #1: Assignment Testing Claims
• You will pick an example you have seen in the media which
made some claim (e.g. nutritional supplement, diet
treatment, bioengineered food, sugar substitute, current food
fad, etc. that relates to biomolecules in your body.
1. Step 1: Agree on a topic by the end the class today
2. Step 2: Each of you will need to go online and search for
sources on that topic.Each of your should bring in a printed
annotated bibliography of 5 sources (Websites, articles,
references) to the next class. We will have a science librarian
on site to help you refine your searches.
3. Step 3: You will then use the best of these different sources
associated to your topic to complete a rough draft.
Example: Aspartame: The Silent Killer
•
Aspartame is an artificial sweetener that has been used in food and drinks all over the world
since 1974 when first approved by the FDA, and has been studied extensively since its first
synthesis in 1965. There are many who claim the artificial sweetener aspartame is very
dangerous. Dr. Janet Hull claims that there are over 92 different health risks associated with
aspartame, including blindness, tinnitus, seizures, depression, high blood pressure, nausea,
irritability, and brain tumors. With over 200 studies on aspartame, it is one of the most
studied food additive in history. When the FDA first approved aspartame it stated that "Few
compounds have withstood such detailed testing and repeated, close scrutiny, and the
process through which aspartame has gone should provide the public with additional
confidence of its safety." Since then the FDA approved aspartame 26 times in a 23 year
period. There has been no definitive study that has led the majority of the scientific
community to think that aspartame as any adverse side affects. The 92 health issues that Dr.
Hull had listed have never been proved through any test or experiment. Even the Senior
Medical Advisor for the Multiple Sclerosis Foundation Dr. David Squillacote says that the
claims of it causing MS is completely unfounded and continues to cite multiple studies that
refute all of deleterious claims about aspartame. 200 mg is average amount of aspartame in
a regular soft drink. Normal men have been given up to 10,000 mg of aspartame with no
side affects. Even infants have been given equally massive amounts of aspartame and
suffered no side effects. Furthermore when aspartame breaks down due to high
temperatures it has been suspected that its components are carcinogenic but no study has
ever shown this to be true. Aspartame is a perfectly safe artificial sweetener.
Making a Scientific Argument
• Claim: statement/hypothesis you are asking
another person to accept
• Evidence: grounds for your claim, your source or
data that lend support or refute the claim
• Warrant: justification that shows the validity for
your claim and provides an explanation (why do the
data/source you have supplied mean your claim is
true? Are your data/source contestable,
substantive, reliable, are they relevant?)
Making a Scientific Argument
• Claim: statement/hypothesis you are asking
another person to accept
– Identify (underline) the claim from the Aspartame piece
• Evidence: grounds for your claim, your source or
data that lend support or refute the claim
• Warrant: justification that shows the validity for
your claim and provides an explanation (why do the
data/source you have supplied mean your claim is
true? Are your data/source contestable,
substantive, reliable, are they relevant?)
Making a Scientific Argument
• Claim: statement/hypothesis you are asking
another person to accept
• Evidence: grounds for your claim, your source or
data that lend support or refute the claim
– Identify (underline) the evidence in the aspartame piece.
• Warrant: justification that shows the validity for
your claim and provides an explanation (why do the
data/source you have supplied mean your claim is
true? Are your data/source contestable,
substantive, reliable, are they relevant?)
Making a Scientific Argument
• Claim: statement/hypothesis you are asking
another person to accept
• Evidence: grounds for your claim, your source or
data that lend support or refute the claim
• Warrant: justification that shows the validity for
your claim and provides an explanation (why do the
data/source you have supplied mean your claim is
true? Are your data/source contestable,
substantive, reliable, are they relevant?)
– Identify (underline) the warrant in this example
Example: Aspartame: The Silent Killer
•
Aspartame is an artificial sweetener that has been used in food and drinks all over the world
since 1974 when first approved by the FDA, and has been studied extensively since its first
synthesis in 1965. There are many who claim the artificial sweetener aspartame is very
dangerous. Dr. Janet Hull claims that there are over 92 different health risks associated with
aspartame, including blindness, tinnitus, seizures, depression, high blood pressure, nausea,
irritability, and brain tumors. With over 200 studies on aspartame, it is one of the most
studied food additive in history. When the FDA first approved aspartame it stated that "Few
compounds have withstood such detailed testing and repeated, close scrutiny, and the
process through which aspartame has gone should provide the public with additional
confidence of its safety." Since then the FDA approved aspartame 26 times in a 23 year
period. There has been no definitive study that has led the majority of the scientific
community to think that aspartame as any adverse side affects. The 92 health issues that Dr.
Hull had listed have never been proved through any test or experiment. Even the Senior
Medical Advisor for the Multiple Sclerosis Foundation Dr. David Squillacote says that the
claims of it causing MS is completely unfounded and continues to cite multiple studies that
refute all of deleterious claims about aspartame. 200 mg is average amount of aspartame in
a regular soft drink. Normal men have been given up to 10,000 mg of aspartame with no
side affects. Even infants have been given equally massive amounts of aspartame and
suffered no side effects. Furthermore when aspartame breaks down due to high
temperatures it has been suspected that its components are carcinogenic but no study has
ever shown this to be true. Aspartame is a perfectly safe artificial sweetener.
Where’s the warrant?
• Issues:
1. We can’t tell if the evidence supports or refutes the
claim unless the warrant is explicitly stated to explain,
“Why do the data/source supplied mean the claim is
true? Is the data/source substantive, reliable,
relevant?”
2. We can’t evaluate the quality of the evidence without
knowing the exact source.
3. How can we evaluate the quality of a source?
How can we find out if sources are “good”?
• Let’s brainstorm about this and write our ideas up
on the “board”…
– established scholarly journal (peer-reviewed!)
– up-to-date information
– verifiable from other sources, backed up with other data
– is the person (author) an expert?
– unbiased
– research and data to back it up
– Transparency
– not vague/detailed/specifics involved
CRAP Test (My favorite test!)
•
•
•
•
Currency
Reliability
Authority
Purpose (Point of View)
http://www.workliteracy.com/the-crap-test
CRAP Test (My favorite test!)
• Currency
– How recent is the information?
– How recently has the website been updated?
– Is it current enough for your topic?
• Reliability
• Authority
• Purpose (Point of View)
http://www.workliteracy.com/the-crap-test
CRAP Test (My favorite test!)
• Currency
• Reliability
– What kind of information is included in the resource?
– Is content of the resource primarily opinion? Is it
balanced?
– Does the creator provide references or sources for data
or quotations?
• Authority
• Purpose (Point of View)
http://www.workliteracy.com/the-crap-test
CRAP Test (My favorite test!)
• Currency
• Reliability
• Authority
– Who is the creator or author?
– What are the credentials?
– Who is the publisher or sponsor?
– Are they reputable?
– What is the publisher’s interest (if any) in this
information?
• Purpose (Point of View)
http://www.workliteracy.com/the-crap-test
CRAP Test (My favorite test!)
•
•
•
•
Currency
Reliability
Authority
Purpose (Point of View)
– Is this fact or opinion?
– Is it biased?
– Is the creator/author trying to sell you something?
– Are there advertisements on the website?
http://www.workliteracy.com/the-crap-test
Helpful Websites to decide CRAP!
• Crap Detection 101 http://www.sfgate.com/cgibin/blogs/rheingold/detail?entry_id=42805
• Detecting Bull chapter descriptions & Introduction
http://www.detectingbull.com/toc.htm
• No Website Author Listed? Use this! http://www.easywhois.com/
• Is the doctor or Ph.D. really an expert in this
field?http://chronicle.com/stats/productivity/
• Is this a scam, a hoax or is someone deceiving me?
(Snopes.com : FactCheckED.org : Factcheck.org)
• Questioning Video (http://questioning.org/jun09/video.html)
• Download Health Check on Google Taskbar
http://scienceroll.com/2009/05/20/health-information-online-how-to-check-thequality/
• Health on the Net Honor Code https://www.hon.ch/
Search good Science and how to cite…
• Google Scholar (okay, but be sure to check CRAP)
• Web of Science http://apps.isiknowledge.com.proxyremote.galib.uga.edu/WOS_GeneralSearch_input.do?product=WOS&search_mode
=GeneralSearch&SID=2EJhLMBi2HA7h1JahPD&preferencesSaved=) also available
on Galileo through UGA Library site
• Library and science journals or books (science
library is very close to this building!)
http://www.libs.uga.edu/)
• Citation Format Instructions http://library.osu.edu/help/researchstrategies/how-do-i-cite-references/cse-citation-guide/) – use this to cite
references for all your group projects! More in class on Friday with our science
librarian.