“This fascinating and kid-friendly book gives budding scientists and others an introduction to the tools and strategies needed to evaluate and understand scientific information ...” —School Library Journal Science affects every part of our lives. It can determine the foods we eat, the clothes we weareven the video games we play. But how do you tell the good science from the bad? Bite into Nibbling on Einstein’s Brain and learn some winning strategies for sorting the good from the misleading in science. Through playful scenarios and fascinating real-world examples, each chapter encourages critical thinking. You’ll find tips for spotting bad science, ideas for identifying reports that misrepresent facts, and ways to keep your own brain from muddling the science news you receive. Bursting with “Baloney Buster” information, quick “Your Turn” activities and playful new illustrations, this brightly redesigned edition, with recent examples of suspicious science, offers a fun approach to becoming a sharp-minded watchdog of reliable science.
Diane Swanson is the award-winning author of more than 70 factual books for children, including Turn It Loose: The Scientist in Absolutely Everybody. She lives in Victoria, BC.
Francis Blake is an illustrator whose work has appeared in magazines, books and advertising campaigns in North America, Europe and the Far East. He lives in London, England.
Beside wording question carefully, good researchers avoid asking poor questions through pretesting — trying out the questions on a sample of people similar to the test subjects. After a pretest, the researchers discuss the questions with the people who answered them. The object is to learn which questions were too hard, too confusing, or too limiting. That information helps the researchers pinpoint questions that should be reworded, dropped, or added.
Here are some examples of questions before pretesting and the changes that might result. Unfortunately, poor researchers seldom pretest their questions, so they don't catch problems before they carry out their studies.
Before Pretest:
Do you ever watch hockey and soccer on TV?
Problem:
Combining two questions.
After Pretest:
Do you ever watch hockey on TV? Do you ever watch soccer on TV?
Before Pretest:
Like most people your age, do you watch TV documentaries only rarely?
Problem:
Biased
After Pretest:
How often do you watch TV documentaries? - frequently? - occasionally? - rarely? - never?
Before Pretest:
About how much time do you spend watching TV in a normal week?
Problem:
No problem
After Pretest:
No change is needed
Before Pretest:
What impact has TV had on your family?
Problem:
Unanswerable. Respondent can't say how TV affects each individual
After Pretest:
Drop thequestion.
ALWAYS ASK: Were the questions pretested?
YOUR TURN: Try your own question pretest. Ask some of your friends the unanswerable question and the vague question in Baloney Buster #11, and see what kinds of responses you get. Then ask your friends why they had a tough time answering.
