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Used in a variety of courses in various disciplines, Asking the Right Questionsnbsp; helps students bridge the gap between simply memorizing or blindly accepting information, and the greater challenge of critical analysis and synthesis.nbsp; Specifically, this concise text teaches students to think critically bynbsp;exploring the components of arguments--issues, conclusions, reasons, evidence, assumptions, language--and on how to spot fallacies and manipulations and obstacles to critical thinking in both written and visual communication.nbsp; It teaches them to respond to alternative points of view and develop a solid foundation for making personal choices about what to accept and what to reject.nbsp;

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• Preface(p. xi)
• Chapter 1 The Benefit and Manner of Asking the Right Questions(p. 1)
• The Noisy, Confused World We Live In(p. 1)
• Experts Cannot Rescue Us, Despite What They Say(p. 3)
• The Necessity Of Relying On Our Mind(p. 4)
• Critical Thinking to the Rescue(p. 4)
• The Sponge and Panning for Gold: Alternative Thinking Styles(p. 5)
• Weak-Sense and Strong-Sense Critical Thinking(p. 7)
• The Importance of Practice(p. 8)
• Critical Thinking and Other People(p. 9)
• Values and Other People(p. 9)
• Primary Values of a Critical Thinker(p. 10)
• Keeping the Conversation Going(p. 11)
• Creating a Friendly Environment for Communication(p. 13)
• Chapter 2 Speed Bumps Interfering with Your Critical Thinking(p. 14)
• The Discomfort of Asking the Right Questions(p. 14)
• Thinking Too Quickly(p. 15)
• Stereotypes(p. 15)
• Mental Habits That Betray Us(p. 16)
• Halo Effect(p. 16)
• Belief Perseverance(p. 17)
• Availability Heuristic(p. 18)
• Answering the Wrong Question(p. 18)
• Egocentrism(p. 19)
• Wishful Thinking: Perhaps the Biggest Single Speed Bump on the Road to Critical Thinking(p. 20)
• Chapter 3 What Are the Issue and the Conclusion?(p. 23)
• Kinds of Issues(p. 24)
• Searching for the Issue(p. 25)
• Searching for the Author's or Speaker's Conclusion(p. 26)
• Using This Critical Question(p. 27)
• Clues to Discovery: How to Find the Conclusion(p. 27)
• Critical Thinking and Your Own Writing and Speaking(p. 28)
• Narrowing Your Issue Prior to Writing(p. 28)
• Cluing Your Reader into Your Conclusion(p. 29)
• Practice Exercises(p. 29)
• Sample Responses(p. 30)
• Chapter 4 What Are the Reasons?(p. 33)
• Initiating the Questioning Process(p. 35)
• Words That Identify Reasons(p. 36)
• Kinds of Reasons(p. 36)
• Keeping the Reasons and Conclusions Straight(p. 37)
• Using This Critical Question(p. 38)
• Reasons First, Then Conclusions(p. 38)
• Critical Thinking and Your Own Writing and Speaking(p. 38)
• Exploring Possible Reasons before Reaching a Conclusion(p. 38)
• Identify Major Publications That Cover Your Issue(p. 39)
• Helping Your Readers Identify Your Reasons(p. 39)
• Practice Exercises(p. 40)
• Sample Responses(p. 41)
• Chapter 5 What Words or Phrases Are Ambiguous?(p. 43)
• The Confusing Flexibility of Words(p. 44)
• Locating Key Terms and Phrases(p. 45)
• Checking for Ambiguity(p. 46)
• Using This Critical Question(p. 47)
• Determining Ambiguity(p. 47)
• Context and Ambiguity(p. 49)
• Using This Critical Question(p. 49)
• Ambiguity, Definitions, and the Dictionary(p. 50)
• Ambiguity and Loaded Language(p. 51)
• Limits of Your Responsibility to Clarify Ambiguity(p. 52)
• Ambiguity and Your Own Writing and Speaking(p. 53)
• Keeping Your Eye Out for Ambiguity(p. 53)
• Practice Exercises(p. 54)
• Sample Responses(p. 55)
• Chapter 6 What Are the Value and Descriptive Assumptions?(p. 58)
• General Guide for Identifying Assumptions(p. 60)
• Value Conflicts and Assumptions(p. 60)
• From Values to Value Assumptions(p. 61)
• Typical Value Conflicts(p. 62)
• The Communicator's Background as a Clue to Value Assumptions(p. 63)
• Consequences as Clues to Value Assumptions(p. 63)
• More Hints for Finding Value Assumptions(p. 64)
• The Value of Knowing the Value Priorities of Others(p. 65)
• Using This Critical Question(p. 66)
• Values and Relativism(p. 66)
• Identifying and Evaluating Descriptive Assumptions(p. 66)
• Illustrating Descriptive Assumptions(p. 67)
• Common Descriptive Assumptions(p. 68)
• Clues for Locating Assumptions(p. 69)
• Avoiding Analysis of Trivial Assumptions(p. 71)
• Assumptions and Your Own Writing and Speaking(p. 71)
• Practice Exercises(p. 73)
• Sample Responses(p. 74)
• Chapter 7 Are There Any Fallacies in the Reasoning?(p. 76)
• A Questioning Approach to Finding Reasoning Fallacies(p. 78)
• Evaluating Assumptions as a Starting Point(p. 78)
• Discovering Other Common Reasoning Fallacies(p. 80)
• Looking for Diversions(p. 85)
• Sleight of Hand: Begging the Question(p. 87)
• Using This Critical Question(p. 87)
• Summary of Reasoning Errors(p. 88)
• Expanding Your Knowledge of Fallacies(p. 88)
• Practice Exercises(p. 88)
• Sample Responses(p. 90)
• Chapter 8 How Good Is the Evidence: Intuition, Personal Experience, Case Examples, Testimonials, and Appeals to Authority?(p. 92)
• The Need for Evidence(p. 93)
• Locating Factual Claims(p. 94)
• Sources of Evidence(p. 95)
• Intuition as Evidence(p. 96)
• Personal Experience as Evidence(p. 97)
• Case Examples as Evidence(p. 98)
• Testimonials as Evidence(p. 99)
• Appeals to Authority as Evidence(p. 100)
• Using This Critical Question(p. 102)
• Your Academic Writing and Evidence(p. 102)
• Practice Exercises(p. 103)
• Sample Responses(p. 104)
• Chapter 9 How Good Is the Evidence: Personal Observation, Research Studies, and Analogies?(p. 106)
• Personal Observation as Evidence(p. 106)
• Research Studies as Evidence(p. 107)
• General Problems with Research Findings(p. 108)
• Generalizing From the Research Sample(p. 112)
• Generalizing From the Research Measures(p. 114)
• Biased Surveys and Questionnaires(p. 115)
• Analogies as Evidence(p. 117)
• Identifying and Comprehending Analogies(p. 117)
• Evaluating Analogies(p. 118)
• When You Can Most Trust Expert Opinion(p. 120)
• Research and the Internet(p. 121)
• Practice Exercises(p. 122)
• Sample Responses(p. 123)
• Chapter 10 Are There Rival Causes?(p. 125)
• When to Look for Rival Causes(p. 126)
• The Pervasiveness of Rival Causes(p. 126)
• Detecting Rival Causes(p. 128)
• The Cause or a Cause(p. 128)
• Multiple Perspectives as a Guide to Rival Causes(p. 129)
• Rival Causes for Differences Between Groups(p. 129)
• Confusing Causation with Association(p. 131)
• Confusing "After This" with "Because of This"(p. 132)
• Explaining Individual Events or Acts(p. 133)
• Evaluating Rival Causes(p. 134)
• Rival Causes and Your Own Communication(p. 134)
• Exploring Potential Causes(p. 135)
• Practice Exercises(p. 136)
• Sample Responses(p. 137)
• Chapter 11 Are the Statistics Deceptive?(p. 139)
• Unknowable and Biased Statistics(p. 140)
• Confusing Averages(p. 141)
• Concluding One Thing, Proving Another(p. 143)
• Deceiving by Omitting Information(p. 144)
• Using Statistics in Your Writing(p. 144)
• Practice Exercises(p. 145)
• Sample Responses(p. 146)
• Chapter 12 What Significant Information Is Omitted?(p. 148)
• The Benefits of Detecting Omitted Information(p. 149)
• The Certainty of Incomplete Reasoning(p. 149)
• Questions That Identify Omitted Information(p. 151)
• But We Need to Know the Numbers(p. 151)
• The Importance of the Negative View(p. 153)
• Omitted Information That Remains Missing(p. 154)
• Using This Critical Question(p. 154)
• Practice Exercises(p. 155)
• Sample Responses(p. 156)
• Chapter 13 What Reasonable Conclusions Are Possible?(p. 158)
• Dichotomous Thinking: Impediment to Considering Multiple Conclusions(p. 159)
• Two Sides or Many?(p. 160)
• Productivity of If-Clauses(p. 161)
• The Liberating Effect of Recognizing Alternative Conclusions(p. 161)
• Summary(p. 162)
• Practice Exercises(p. 163)
• Sample Responses(p. 163)
• Final Word(p. 165)
• Index(p. 166)