require people to volunteer responses

we report measurements on only one or two individuals or the sample size is not mentionaled

N< 30 generally

inadequate sample

unknown sample size

Look at the last decimal place reported.

Could differences that small be accurately measured?

If not:

The passage uses a comparative term (greater than, faster than, brigh than, etc) but only one is named.

Using a mean in a skewed distribution.

- ones with no natural upper limit

-distributions that reflect social and cultural norm, rather than laws of nature

i.e. income, consumption, social behaviors

We are interested in the rate of occurrences of x.

But the passage only describes the number of occurrences of x.

We are trying to compute some sort of fraction (often a rate or percent)

In one place we use one number as the denominator, then later we use some different number.

We are interested in how much each individual has or requires.

We use an average to summarize the central tendency of a sample.

But the passage contains no indication of how much the values spread out around that average.

In a falacy the conclusion is a claim that X causes Y.

The premises do not justify the conclusion.

the differences arise not because of factor X, but simply because the groups that are compared were different to begin with.

In a falacy the conclusion is a claim that X causes Y.

The premises do not justify the conclusion.

After X happens, Y happens

Hence X causes Y