Exam 2: Evaluating Scientific Claims

Although it seems contradictory,real science does not intend to "prove" a hypothesis to be true.This is because

When determining whether a claim about a new cleansing juice diet is scientific or pseudoscientific,which of the following is NOT a helpful question to ask yourself?

Therapeutic touch (TT)is a type of "energy" medicine that involves the practitioner moving his or her hands over the energy field of the patient,without actually touching the patient,but redirecting the energy field to heal the patient.If a researcher were to design a survey of TT practitioners and their patients to determine the validity of TT,which of the following questions would NOT be helpful in determining the validity of the survey?

Which of the following examples indicates a situation where the researcher is MOST likely to have a possible bias regarding his or her work?

You discover that a holistic treatment called "ear candling" involves putting the end of a wax-coated cloth cone (a "candle")into your ear and lighting it on fire,letting it burn to within about four inches of your face,and then repeating with a new candle.This process is supposed to remove tension,anxiety,and stress from your body.Which of the following statements or questions would be MOST helpful in scientifically evaluating these claims?

A scientist publishes a paper in a peer-reviewed journal; this paper is later retracted.Which of the following (if found to be true)is NOT a legitimate reason for the retraction?

A research team funded by a pharmaceutical company is studying the adaptation of grasshopper mice to the neurotoxic venom of scorpions in an attempt to determine how the mice's adaptation could be used as a possible solution to pain management in humans.This is an example of ________ research.

The graph below illustrates the predicted number of meningitis cases with or without herd immunity after the initiation of the meningitis vaccination program in the United Kingdom in 1999.Write a short paragraph comparing the observed number of cases to the predicted number of cases.Assess the predictive value of the model used to generate the graph and how this relates to the prediction of the number of cases that would exist without herd immunity.

Which of the following would NOT be a situation where your own scientific literacy would be helpful in decision-making?

The MMR vaccine became available in the late 1960s.In the early 1970s,organizations began recording the number of people with autism.The incidence of autism has increased 20- to 30-fold since that time.The number of children immunized with the MMR vaccine has also increased since that time.This rise in the rate of autism with the increased use of vaccines is a ________.