EXERCISE 10: Errors in Sampling
Identify the fallacy that occurs in each passage.
These will be fallacies from the Errors in Sampling category: Hasty Generalization, Uncharacteristic Sample, False Analogy, and Uncontrolled Factors.
1. You wouldn't expect a pack of wolves to allow a jackal or a hyena to hunt with them, would you? Well, then why should you expect the American people to put up with uncontrolled immigration from the Third World?
2. The food at that Thai restaurant is terrible. I've ordered the hot and sour soup several times, and I've always found it to be thin, watery and flavorless.
3. Blue collar workers are disillusioned with the Democratic party. I talked to someone down at the steel mill just the other day, and he said he would never vote Democratic again.
4. In order to find out how many people wash their hands after using a public restroom, we observed hand-washing behavior in both a men's room and a women's room at the Sports Arena during a game. We used the men's restroom on the second level and the women's restroom on the third level, next to the cotton candy vendor. Our results indicate that 80% of women wash their hands, but only 22% of men. Clearly women are much more fastidious than men.
5. In Vanuatu people have built a religious cult around an American serviceman named John Frum, who may have been stationed there during World War II. Supposedly, he promised to return some day, bringing wealth and prosperity. It just goes to show that all religions are silly.
WELCOME EXPLANATION OF PRINCIPLES TABLE OF FALLACIES EXERCISES INDEX