Exam 6: Performance Evaluation: Variance Analysis

Identify any fallacies in the following passage either by naming them or, where they seem not to conform to any of the patterns described in the text, by giving a brief explanation of why the fallacious reasoning is irrelevant to the point at issue. Reconstruction of a remark heard at a faculty meeting: "The quality of teaching performance cannot be measured. No matter what administrators at campuses around the country might say, teaching performance is simply not the kind of thing to which you can assign measurable variables and then compare a bunch of numbers at the beginning of a course and again at its end. That isn't the way it works."

Identify any fallacies in the following passage. DEVELOPER: "They're telling us to make changes to comply with the new water standards." DEVELOPER'S PARTNER: "That's nuts. We've already spent a ton of money on that place."

Identify any fallacies in the following passage either by naming them or, where they seem not to conform to any of the patterns described in the text, by giving a brief explanation of why the fallacious reasoning is irrelevant to the point at issue. I know it probably puts me in the unfashionable minority these days, but I really don't think much of Hank Williams's music. Ever since I learned that he drank a lot and took drugs, I've felt that way.

Identify any fallacies in the following passage either by naming them or, where they seem not to conform to any of the patterns described in the text, by giving a brief explanation of why the fallacious reasoning is irrelevant to the point at issue. Was the president guilty of sexual harassment as the Republicans said? Hey, give me a break! What's important is jobs, health care, and welfare reform.

Identify any fallacies in the following passage either by naming them or, where they seem not to conform to any of the patterns described in the text, by giving a brief explanation of why the fallacious reasoning is irrelevant to the point at issue. I just learned why all those theories about nonhumans building the Great Pyramids and the Easter Island statues and so on are full of baloney. The guy who wrote about them was once a hotel manager somewhere in Switzerland, and he was once convicted of embezzlement. No wonder those theories smelled fishy!

Identify any fallacies in the following passage. "Either we secure our borders, or illegals will be taking over the country. This, to me, is a no-brainer."

Identify any fallacies in the following passage either by naming them or, where they seem not to conform to any of the patterns described in the text, by giving a brief explanation of why the fallacious reasoning is irrelevant to the point at issue. Are you really going to believe her about librarians' salaries not being excessive? I'll have you know she herself is a librarian, or don't you think that matters?

Identify any fallacies in the following passage. "Honey, you are so understanding. Would you do the dishes this once?"

Identify any fallacies in the following passage either by naming them or, where they seem not to conform to any of the patterns described in the text, by giving a brief explanation of why the fallacious reasoning is irrelevant to the point at issue. You're worried that the very expensive diamond you want to purchase may not be worth the price, and the salesperson says: "We know diamonds here and we've examined this one very carefully. You can rest assured that it's worth every penny."

Identify any fallacies in the following passage either by naming them or, where they seem not to conform to any of the patterns described in the text, by giving a brief explanation of why the fallacious reasoning is irrelevant to the point at issue. "I don't believe we ought to believe the so-called 'admissions' of the Liggett and Myers Company. I think the only reason they're now agreeing with tobacco critics about the addictive powers of nicotine and the nicotine-level manipulation by the company is to get themselves off the hook and avoid bigger trouble, even if it means getting the other tobacco companies into bigger trouble."

Identify any fallacies in the following passage either by naming them or, where they seem not to conform to any of the patterns described in the text, by giving a brief explanation of why the fallacious reasoning is irrelevant to the point at issue. "Richard Nixon once said, 'Tip O'Neill's the most ruthless speaker in history.' Being called 'ruthless' by Nixon is like Ross Perot criticizing your haircut." -Sandy Grady, Knight-Ridder Newspapers

Identify any fallacies in the following passage. "After Sara got back from Cuba she raved about the wonderful health care there. Spare me. I know Sarah. She would praise a communist country even if people were dying in the streets."

Identify any fallacies in the following passage either by naming them or, where they seem not to conform to any of the patterns described in the text, by giving a brief explanation of why the fallacious reasoning is irrelevant to the point at issue. No, I do NOT believe that a murderer ought to be allowed to live. No way! Murderers have forfeited the right to live because anyone who murders another person has lost that right.

Identify any fallacies in the following passage either by naming them or, where they seem not to conform to any of the patterns described in the text, by giving a brief explanation of why the fallacious reasoning is irrelevant to the point at issue. From a defense attorney's closing remarks at a trial: "This young man isn't guilty of a crime. No, ladies and gentlemen, it's society that's guilty of a crime, a crime against the very person on trial here. The society that wants to send him to prison for half his life is the same society that produced the rotten neighborhood in which he was born and grew up, that saw to it that he got a fifth-rate education, that gave him pimps and drug dealers for role models, and that offered him the choice between street crime or jobs nobody else would take. This jury-you-can do something to right the wrong that has been done to this young man...."

Identify any fallacies in the following passage either by naming them or, where they seem not to conform to any of the patterns described in the text, by giving a brief explanation of why the fallacious reasoning is irrelevant to the point at issue. Of course that can't be a legitimate proposal. They're just trying to get the city council to pass a regulation that will stir up some business for them.

Identify any fallacies in the following passage either by naming them or, where they seem not to conform to any of the patterns described in the text, by giving a brief explanation of why the fallacious reasoning is irrelevant to the point at issue. One person, speaking to her friends before they attend a political fund-raising party: "Now listen, folks, before we go into this party. You should be prepared to hear all kinds of flattery as they butter you up before they try to pick your pockets. Remember, all they're after is your money."

Identify any fallacies in the following passage either by naming them or, where they seem not to conform to any of the patterns described in the text, by giving a brief explanation of why the fallacious reasoning is irrelevant to the point at issue. "Of course, watching television for too long causes brain damage. Can you prove that it doesn't?"

Identify any fallacies in the following passage either by naming them or, where they seem not to conform to any of the patterns described in the text, by giving a brief explanation of why the fallacious reasoning is irrelevant to the point at issue. Overheard somewhere and paraphrased: "The statistics that show you are better off wearing a seatbelt are completely flawed and can safely be ignored. Forcing people to use seatbelts, like making motorcyclists wear helmets, is just one more case of Big Brother infringing on personal liberty."

Identify any fallacies in the following two passages. Why are they different? Letter to the editor: "Your food section frequently features recipes with veal, and you say veal is a wholesome, nutritious dish. I disagree. Do you know how veal comes to be on your plate? At birth a newborn calf is separated from its mother, placed in a dark enclosure, and chained by its neck so that it cannot move freely. This limits muscular development so that the animal is tender. It is kept in the dark pen until the day it is cruelly slaughtered." -Cascade News

Identify any fallacies in the following passage either by naming them or, where they seem not to conform to any of the patterns described in the text, by giving a brief explanation of why the fallacious reasoning is irrelevant to the point at issue. From a letter to the editor: The Times editorial headed 'The Murder of Innocents' deplored the motive behind the Air India tragedy by posing the following question: 'What possible reason could there be for killing 329 innocents, so many of them children . . . ?' The writer then urges Americans never to accept some 'maniacal logic' that offers an excuse for such a heinous crime. "Below this editorial followed a second, which urged the governor to strike from a family-planning bill awaiting his signature a stipulation prohibiting state funding for any family-planning agency that provides abortions, or incentives or referrals to obtain them." "What an incongruous position-to condemn the murder of 80 innocent children in a plane over the Atlantic, but to condone the murder of 4,000 children nationwide per day in the womb." "Isn't this the very same 'maniacal logic' that permits constant slaughter under the guise of 'family planning,' a euphemistic term to obscure another form of 'murder of the innocents'?"