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Week 13 · Module overview

Week 13 — Science and Explanation

Critical Thinking Free sample edition

Welcome to your Week 13 Start Here page.

Why this matters

A nursing student asked whether a new remedy beats a placebo and a mechanic weighing which fault best explains a car's clues both need the same habit: ask what would prove a claim wrong, and what it was compared with, before trusting it.

In plain language

This week is about how to tell whether a claim about the world has been tested. A hypothesis (a proposed explanation still being tested) earns trust when it makes a prediction (what you should see if it is true) that could have failed and did not. A fair test compares a group that got a treatment with a control group (a group that did not), so that you can see what would have happened anyway. When several explanations compete, you choose the one that fits the evidence best and then keep testing it. You also learn the warning signs of claims that only look scientific.

  • Already covered: Week 4 taught the valid and invalid forms, Week 10 controlled comparisons, and Week 12 checking sources.
  • This week: testability, controls, the best explanation, and the burden of proof.
  • How they connect: a test's logic is Week 4's forms at work.
  • Where we're going next: Week 14, Bias and Decision-Making.

Focus

What would test this claim, and how much has it really been tested?

By the end of this module, you should be able to:

  • [ ] judge whether a claim is testable
  • [ ] read a failed test as modus tollens and a passed one as support
  • [ ] explain what a control group, a placebo, and blinding add
  • [ ] pick the best of rival explanations and spot the appeal to ignorance

To-do

Plan your week

  1. Read Chapter 13 (about 45 minutes), then the lecture and slides.
  2. Work the lecture tutorial (60–90 minutes) and the practice set (about 20 minutes).
  3. Do the Argument Workshop (about 90 minutes), the discussion, and the assignment.
  4. Take the quiz.

This week's checkpoint: explain why the 12 testimonials prove little once both trial groups reach 85 percent.

You've got this

Take it in order, and ask your instructor if a step snags.

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