Critical Thinking With Data

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2016:

Estimated total time commitment of 170 hours

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Student Support and Engagement Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Overview, Learning Outcomes, Assessment and Generic Skills sections of this entry.

It is University policy to take all reasonable steps to minimise the impact of disability upon academic study, and reasonable adjustments will be made to enhance a student's participation in the University's programs. Students who feel their disability may impact on meeting the requirements of this subject are encouraged to discuss this matter with a Faculty Student Adviser and Student Equity and Disability Support: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/disability

This subject teaches students to become critical users of data-based evidence. Future journalists, political scientists, sociologists, lawyers, health professionals, psychologists, environmental scientists, business people, engineers, scientists and teachers will develop skills in identifying the strengths and weaknesses of arguments and reports based on quantitative evidence, and learn to evaluate reasoning that uses probabilistic ideas.

Data-based evidence is found in the media, in academic research and in many aspects of everyday life. The subject examines ways of judging the quality of quantitative information, and the strength of conclusions drawn from it, including concerns in establishing causality. It discusses how variability may be characterised and modelled in a wide variety of settings including public opinion, health, sport, legal disputes, and the environment. It covers good and bad ways of examining evidence in data. The subject deals with judging the likelihood of events, common pitfalls in thinking about probability, measuring risk in medical contexts and quantifying uncertainty in conclusions. It describes how data-based evidence can contribute to the accumulation of knowledge.

On completion of this subject students should be able to

• think critically about quantitative data in a broad range of contexts;

and should understand

• the principles behind collecting data as evidence (through controlled experiments, surveys and observational studies);
• how to examine the evidence in data (including graphical representation, summary measures, and the concepts of variation and modelling);
• how to think about and describe the uncertainty in data (including probability, risk and psychological influences affecting human judgements about risk);
• how to draw conclusions from the evidence in data (including confidence intervals, p-values and meta analysis);
• how to critically assess media reports based on quantitative data.

• Six short assignments: three written amounting to a total of up to 600 words and three 1 hour on-line assessments,both due at regular intervals throughout the semester (30%)
• 10 weekly on-line revision quizzes, made up of 10 multiple answer questions (5%)
• One 1200 word written assignment due at the end of semester (15%)
• A group project involving production of a poster and a 4-minute oral presentation due after mid-semester (10%)
• 2 hour written examination (40%)

None

This subject potentially can be taken as a breadth subject component for the following courses:

• Bachelor of Arts
• Bachelor of Biomedicine
• Bachelor of Commerce
• Bachelor of Environments
• Bachelor of Music
• Bachelor of Science
• Bachelor of Engineering

You should visit learn more about breadth subjects and read the breadth requirements for your degree, and should discuss your choice with your student adviser, before deciding on your subjects.

Students with a breadth of knowledge across disciplines must be able to understand and critically evaluate the methodologies and research findings based on data. This subject aims to provide students with these critical thinking skills. It will be important for any student wishing to develop generic research and problem-solving skills. The subject will expose students to the application of data-based evidence across a range of disciplines, and contribute to their developing interdisciplinary understanding.