Nontechnical survey helps to improve the ability to judge the quality of statistical evidence and to make better-informed decisions. Discusses common statistical pitfalls: unrealistic estimates, impro
Long before Snopes.com and Wikipedia, The Book of Common Fallacies set out to debunk popular beliefs and set the record straight. By tracking down the facts and citing experts in a multitude of fields
The idea that “states’ rights” restrain national power is riding high in American judicial and popular opinion. Here, Sotirios A. Barber shows how arguments for states’ rights, from the days of John C
This volume gives a theoretical account of the problem of analyzing and evaluating argumentative discourse. After placing argumentation in a communicative perspective, and then discussing the fallacie
In Economic Facts and Fallacies, Thomas Sowell exposes some of the most popular fallacies about economic issues in a lively manner that does not require any prior knowledge of economics. These fallacies include many beliefs widely disseminated in the media and by politicians, such as fallacies about urban problems, income differences, male-female economic differences, as well as economic fallacies about academia, about race, and about Third World countries.Sowell shows that fallacies are not simply crazy ideas but in fact have a certain plausibility that gives them their staying power--and makes careful examination of their flaws both necessary and important.
From one of America’s most distinguished economists, a short, brilliant, and revelatory book: the fundamental ideas people most commonly get wrong about economics, and how to think about the su
The testing of intelligence has a long and controversial history. Claims that it is a pseudo-science or a weapon of ideological warfare have been commonplace and there is not even a consensus as to whether intelligence exists and, if it does, whether it can be measured. As a result the debate about it has centred on the nurture versus nature controversy and especially on alleged racial differences and the heritability of intelligence - all of which have major policy implications. This book aims to penetrate the mists of controversy, ideology and prejudice by providing a clear non-mathematical framework for the definition and measurement of intelligence derived from modern factor analysis. Building on this framework and drawing on everyday ideas the author address key controversies in a clear and accessible style and explores some of the claims made by well known writers in the field such as Stephen Jay Gould and Michael Howe.
The testing of intelligence has a long and controversial history. Claims that it is a pseudo-science or a weapon of ideological warfare have been commonplace and there is not even a consensus as to whether intelligence exists and, if it does, whether it can be measured. As a result the debate about it has centred on the nurture versus nature controversy and especially on alleged racial differences and the heritability of intelligence - all of which have major policy implications. This book aims to penetrate the mists of controversy, ideology and prejudice by providing a clear non-mathematical framework for the definition and measurement of intelligence derived from modern factor analysis. Building on this framework and drawing on everyday ideas the author address key controversies in a clear and accessible style and explores some of the claims made by well known writers in the field such as Stephen Jay Gould and Michael Howe.
Economic Facts and Fallacies is designed for people who want to understand economic issues without getting bogged down in economic jargon, graphs, or political rhetoric. Writing in a lively manner tha
Economic Facts and Fallacies is designed for people who want to understand economic issues without getting bogged down in economic jargon, graphs, or political rhetoric. Writing in a lively manner tha
Economic Facts and Fallacies is designed for people who want to understand economic issues without getting bogged down in economic jargon, graphs, or political rhetoric. Writing in a lively manner tha
Paris here turns a critical eye to the field of psychiatry and recently popular treatment methodologies. He begins by exploring the origins of fads in common cognitive errors shared even by intelligen
