Science for Business, Law and Journalism
This book is about the scientific method and critical thinking,
written for students and professionals in business, law and journalism.
I. The scientific method
Chapter 1. The need for making good choices
Chapter 2. A template for scientific inquiry
Chapter 3. How non-scientists use the scientific method
II. Models
Chapter 4. Models are the building blocks of science
Chapter 5. All models are false. But some are still useful
Chapter 6. Condom testing
Chapter 7. HIV infections and models of bank accounts
Chapter 8. Health effects of radiation
III. Data: Ensuring their accuracy
Chapter 9. Error is unavoidable
Chapter 10. Reducing the error: a template for ideal data
Chapter 11. Drug testing protocols ensure data accuracy
Chapter 12. DNA testing was not safeguarded against error
IV. Evaluation and interpretation
Chapter 13. Holes in the fabric of evaluation
Chapter 14. Correlations are hard to interpret
Chapter 15. Do electromagnetic fields cause cancer?
Chapter 16. Controls
Chapter 17. Prisoners of silence
Chapter 18. Experiments make the best controls
V. Impediments to scientific progress
Chapter 19. Flaws in our ability to see the answer
Chapter 20. Some problems are intrinsically difficult
Chapter 21. Biological correlates of being gay - biological determinism?
Chapter 22. Conflict and the corruption of science
Chapter 23. Deliberate bias: how conflict creates bad science