SCIE 326 UNIT 1-8 FOR MIDTERM

• | Page

SCIE 326 UNIT 1-8 FOR MIDTERM

FINAL EXAM COMPLETE GUIDE

EXAM WITH ACTUAL QUE STIONS

AND ANSWERS ATHABASCA

UNIVERSITY

Question 1: State significant differences between the

scientific and religious approaches to the world.

CORRECT ANSWER : 1. Science attempts to bring

coherence to our experiences; religion attempts to infuse our experiences with meaning

• Science is statements about sensory information;

religion is statements which we cannot perceive with our senses

• Science is public and conveyed in terms which can be

precisely defined. Religion is often private and difficult to express in well-defined terms.

• Science results are tentative. Religion are generally not

tentative or subject to revision

• | Page

Question 2: Contrasting the scientific and religious senses

of the word "meaning," as described in Chapter 9 of What Science Is

CORRECT ANSWER : 1. The main difference comes

from context and contemplation.

• The text uses an example of a wooded bank of a creek.

Scientific observer could see an ecosystem but a mystic observer could see a created sacred beauty.

• Meaning in Science can be based on data or facts from

the observed and understood. Religion may be based on the existential.

• Science is sensory information. Religion is

transcendent and may not be located in any time, space or matter.

• Science does not want to give life significance.

Religion does.

Question 3: Discuss a question of public concern

involving some aspect of science or technology

• | Page

CORRECT ANSWER : 1. Climate change comes to

mind. Rising temperatures, decreasing ice, rising oceans.

2. Two sides of public concern: some country's

government leaders working towards energy efficient ways to combat climate change and other country leaders refusing to acknowledge the issue.

• The general public is often split on this issue too. Some

deny research and some believe in the research.

• Talk about both sides.

Question 4: Give examples from your own life of times

when you have acted in accordance with the three moral qualities that are involved in the inductive attitude

CORRECT ANSWER : 1. Intellectual courage - to be

ready to revise any one of our beliefs.

• Intellectual honesty - to be willing to change a belief

when there is a compelling reason to change it

• Wise restraint - not to change beliefs capriciously,

without good reason.-Give an example of each.

• | Page

Question 5: Find at least six cases from newspapers,

magazines or television in which an unsubstantiated overt or covert appeal to science is used to sell a product

CORRECT ANSWER : Find at least six cases from

newspapers, magazines or television in which an unsubstantiated overt or covert appeal to science is used to sell a product

Question 6: List three main themes treated in the book

Prisons We Choose to Live Inside. How do these themes relate to public misunderstandings of science

CORRECT ANSWER: 1. Society - Society as a whole

has shown repeatedly that it will follow the masses despite adequate evidence to the contrary. If scientific information is misinterpreted and spread; others will follow and believe it if the source is considered likeable or trustworthy.