An Introduction to Critical Thinking and Creativity - always yours

248 SOLUTIONS TO EXERCISES
SOLUTIONS FOR CHAPTER 16
16.1
16.2
SOLUTIONS FOR CHAPTER 17
17.1.a Readers of Playboy (and those willing to be interviewed) might not be representative
of the male population as a whole. One might wonder whether these subjects are more
likely to exaggerate when being interviewed.
17.1.b This inference is not unreasonable if the sample is a representative one. But this
might not always be true—the soup might need stirring after ingredients have just been
added.
17.1.C Not a good argument. It confuses the relative increase in risk (the 100% in the first
sentence) with the absolute risk (the second one).
17.1.d The sample is not as representative as one might like, since the men were interviewed
outside a toy shop on a Sunday. They were more likely to be family-minded people.
17.1.e There are many reasons why students skip lectures, such as time-tabling issues. But
the other problem with the argument that has to do with statistics is that no information is