Model 7 - Notes

Question 1

How can a claim be tested?

Answer 1

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Question 2

– validity

Answer 2

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Question 3

– reliability

Answer 3

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Question 4

– accuracy of the procedure, including random and systematic error

Answer 4

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Question 5

● Sample selection

Answer 5

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Question 6

● Sample sizes

Answer 6

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Question 7

● Advertising with evidence-based claims

– health claims on food packaging

Answer 7

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Question 8

● Advertising with evidence-based claims

– claims about the efficacy of a product

Answer 8

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Question 9

● Placebos

Answer 9

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Question 10

● Double-blind trials

Answer 10

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Question 11

● Control groups

Answer 11

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Question 12

● Societal and economic

– predicting variations in climate

Answer 12

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Question 13

● Societal and economic

– suggesting remedies for health conditions

Answer 13

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Question 14

● Societal and economic

– manipulating statistical data

Answer 14

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Question 15

● Correlation can be misinterpreted as causation.

 the Hawthorne effect

Answer 15

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Question 16

● Correlation can be misinterpreted as causation.

 1991 study that linked hormone replacement therapy to coronary heart disease

Answer 16

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Question 17

● Correlation can be misinterpreted as causation.

 the Mozart Effect on child development

Answer 17

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Question 18

● scientific debate and how it is portrayed in the mainstream media

Answer 18

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Question 19

● ‘hypothesis’

Answer 19

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Question 20

● ‘belief’

Answer 20

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Question 21

● ‘law’

Answer 21

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Question 22

● compare the difference in reporting between a peer-reviewed journal article and a scientific article published in popular media

Answer 22

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Question 23

● conflicts of interest can result in scientific evidence being suppressed, misinterpreted or misrepresented and discuss measures to counteract such conflicts:
– tobacco industry and lung cancer

 

Answer 23

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Question 24

● conflicts of interest can result in scientific evidence being suppressed, misinterpreted or misrepresented and discuss measures to counteract such conflicts:
– fossil fuel industry and climate change

Answer 24

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Question 25

● conflicts of interest can result in scientific evidence being suppressed, misinterpreted or misrepresented and discuss measures to counteract such conflicts:
– commercial industries researching products for market
– asbestos mining and lung cancer

Answer 25

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Question 26

● conflicts of interest can result in scientific evidence being suppressed, misinterpreted or misrepresented and discuss measures to counteract such conflicts:
– asbestos mining and lung cancer

Answer 26

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Question 27

● describe the halo effect and, using examples, explain how the influence of positive perceptions can result in the rejection of valid alternative perspectives, including but not limited to:
– celebrities endorsing products or viewpoints
– popular brand companies making misleading advertising claims

Answer 27

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Question 28

● pseudo-scientific

– astrology

Answer 28

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Question 29

● pseudo-scientific

– numerology

Answer 29

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Question 30

● pseudo-scientific

– iridology

Answer 30

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Question 31

● analyse the scientific debate surrounding ‘publication’ and discuss the implications of scientists’ need to ‘publish or perish’

Answer 31

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Question 32

● evaluate the increasing volume of scientific papers being published and assess the feasibility of science to effectively manage, review, replicate and validate investigations, for example:
– Pons and Fleischmann’s cold fusion announcement in 1989

Answer 32

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Question 33

● evaluate the increasing volume of scientific papers being published and assess the feasibility of science to effectively manage, review, replicate and validate investigations, for example:

– Alex Smolyanitsky’s falsified scientific paper using the pseudonyms Maggie Simpson and Edna Krabapple, accepted for publication in 2014

Answer 33

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Question 34

● evaluate the increasing volume of scientific papers being published and assess the feasibility of science to effectively manage, review, replicate and validate investigations, for example:

– Tom Spears’ nonsense journal submission accepted for publication in 2013

Answer 34

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Question 35

● analyse the benefits of peer review in relation to the advancement of science

Answer 35

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Question 36

● discuss the impact of fake science journals on the public perception of science

Answer 36

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