Make a list of 10 measuring instruments you use every day. Order them from the most valid to the least valid. Order them from the most precise to the least precise. Order them from the most consistent to the least consistent.
Make a list of 5 phenomena that you do not currently know how to measure, but which you think should be measureable. Pick one of them and think of a way to measure it.
In the following passages, identify the premises and conclusion(s). Then identify whether the argument relies on evidence from observation, testimony, or measurement. Finally, using the concepts we have discussed in this chapter, identify some questions that need to be considered in deciding whether the argument’s premises are acceptable. Be as specific as you can.
a. The roast is probably done. I just took out the thermometer and it read 150 degrees Fahrenheit, and the cookbooks says that a roast is done when it reaches 145 degrees Fahrenheit. It also smells like it is starting to burn.
b. It is safe to go into the water. The city tested the water yesterday and the level of potentially infectious chemicals was very low.
c. The new standardized math test is really accurate. We used it on several students from grade three and they all got the same score.
d. You have heard the witness testify that she saw the defendant enter the bank on the time of the crime. And you have been presented with ballistics evidence proving that the defendant’s gun was used in the shooting. You have no choice but to find the defendant guilty.
e. Our new American Motors sedan is the safest car in America. It scored a record 98.79 overall safety rating in our crash tests, the highest of any car we have ever manufactured. Just watch what happens in this video of a head-on car crash. See how the airbags inflate in time to prevent serious injury. This shows that the car is as safe as can be.
f. Beauty Derm skin lotion removes 87.95% of wrinkles. Our clinical tests show it.
g. South Park High School is the best school in the city. Its students recently scored higher than every other student in the city on the new standardized tests.
