Chapter 13

In Toulmin's structure of argument, a word or phrase that indicates the level of likelihood that a claim is strong is the

A) Qualifier

Accuracy as an element of credibility of evidence means that what a source of information says and does are in agreement, and accuracy means that the evidence has no error.

A) True

The basic structure of an argument in formal logic is called a syllogism.

A) True

The credibility of evidence refers to its believability as determined by consistency and accuracy.

A) True

"The National Anthem is sung by more than 50 million people each year" is an example of

A) a questionable statistic

"Studies show" is a perfectly acceptable citation of evidence to support a claim.

B) False

A syllogism is a form of informal logic.

B) False

An ad hominem attack and an ad hominem fallacy are really the same thing.

B) False

An argument is the thought process of drawing conclusions from evidence.

B) False

Fallacies relate to persuasive speeches but are not relevant for informative speeches.

B) False

Grounds in the Toulmin model of argument represent the backing for the warrant.

B) False

Fredericka states in her speech that "35% of the world's children live in poverty." As credible support for her claim that poverty is a serious global catastrophe, this statistic as cited is

B) Incomplete

In Toulmin's model of argument, backing supports the

B) Warrant

John Jacobs, astrophysicist, claims that earthquakes can be predicted. This is an example of

B) an expert quoted out of his field

A margin of error of 4% means that the poll is never off by more than 4% from the actual results if the entire population were surveyed.

B) false

The American Tobacco Institute claims that e-cigarettes are perfectly safe. This source for the claim is

B) inherently biased due to the profit motive

Your latest issue of Cosmopolitan includes a survey of readers on jealousy. You are asked to mail in your responses, and 19,000 responses are received. The results appear in the next issue. The results cannot validly be generalized to a population beyond the readership of Cosmo because

B) the sample is self-selected

When three states reinstituted capital punishment, the number of murders went down. In two states where capital punishment was repealed, murder rates went up. "Capital punishment obviously deters murder" is a fallacious claim based on this evidence because

D) A and B

An argument or "train of reasoning" includes which of the following?

D) All of the above

The credibility of a statistic used to support a claim in a speech is enhanced by citing

D) All of the above

You are asked by a speaker to accept her point of view because most people already do, as indicated on several national surveys using random samples of more than 1,000 subjects. She has committed a fallacy called

D) ad populum

You claim that county supervisor Reynolds is corrupt, and you provide convincing evidence to support this claim. Reynolds, however, accuses you of being biased without providing any evidence. This illustrates

D) all of the above