Reading: Chapter 12 "What Significant Information is Omitted?" in Asking the Right Questions.
Part 1 Significant Information
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1. Why is it important to think about omitted information?
2. Even if the author or speaker is not trying to be deceptive and to provide complete information, what are three reasons that the reasoning may still be incomplete?
3. Look at the list in the textbook "Clues for Finding Common Kinds of Significant Information." Think about your own life and describe an example of how you have used questions like this to make a better decision.
Click the link to read "Don't blame drunkenness on the beer vendor."
4. What does Mitch Albom think is the only way to stop people from leaving the stadium drunk?
5. Evaluate the editorial by asking questions a through g (from page 174 in the textbook). Explain your answer. It will help to search the web for more information about the subject.
a. Which segments of society do not benefit from a proposed action? Who loses? What do the losers have to say about it?
b. How does the proposed action affect the distribution of power?
c. Does the action influence the extent of democracy in our society?
d. How does a particular action affect how we view the world: What we think, how we think, and what we know and can know?
e. What are the action's effects on our health?
f. How does the action influence our relationships with one another? With the natural environment?
g. Will the action have a slow, cumulative impact?
The cost of college textbooks has been rising and students are looking for alternatives to the campus bookstore. You will research the cost of a textbook. You can choose the Asking the Right Questions textbook or any textbook you are interested in. Shop for the textbook online and create a database of your findings using Excel. Excel can be used as a simple database program as long as you have a limited number of records (rows) and do not need to print complicated reports.
1. Start Excel. Enter the textbook title in cell A1
2. Put your name in cell A2
3. Enter the column labels below across row 3. Make the column wider or wrap the text (press Alt+Enter while typing) so all text shows.
| Seller | Price | Shipping | URL | Edition | Condition |
4. Use online textbook sellers to find 8 different copies of the textbook for sale (new, used or rental). Enter the data into the worksheet.
5. Sort the rows of book information (records) in descending order by price.
6. Use a function to calculate the Average for the Price and Shipping
7. (2 points) Use a function to calculate the Median for the Price
8. (4 points) Format the worksheet to look attractive.
Merge and center the title
Use appropriate number formats.
Add at least one border.
9. A filter is used to display only those rows (records) that meet criteria you specify. Select the Price values. Click the Filter button in the Data tab of the Ribbon. Click the drop-down arrow that appears next to the first value. Click the Number Filters option in the menu. Click Below Average. In Excel 2003, go to the Data menu, Filter, Autofilter to find the filtering options (see http://www.edumax.com/excel-2003-filtering.html or use the Excel Help).
Save the workbook as Nov20 (with the filter still applied). Upload the workbook to Tasks, Tests and Surveys.