Review the key ideas from Lessons 6-10, then test yourself with 10 multiple-choice questions and 3 short-answer questions.
Quick Review
Focus: A claim is scientific when it can be tested and could, in principle, be shown to be false. Real science rests on measured evidence over anecdote, on peer review and reproducibility, and on being self-correcting when better evidence arrives. Pseudoscience imitates science but cannot be falsified and refuses to change.
Key terms: Testable, Falsifiable, Self-correcting
Focus: Pseudoscience thrives in ads, influencer posts and clickbait, where the goal is to persuade and sell rather than to prove. Watch for red flags such as testimonials instead of trials, "clinically proven" with no named study, miracle results, and fear words like "toxins". Fact-check by tracing a claim to its original source.
Key terms: Testimonial, Red flag, Fact-checking
Focus: Accurate numbers can still be drawn to mislead. Common tricks include a truncated y-axis that exaggerates small differences, cherry-picking a window of data, misleading averages dragged by an outlier, and percentages with no base. Defend yourself by checking the axes, the sample, the source and what has been left out.
Key terms: Truncated axis, Cherry-picking, Misleading average
Focus: You can judge any claim with a framework of questions: Is it falsifiable? Is there peer-reviewed evidence? Has it been replicated? Does it cherry-pick? Is the mechanism plausible? Does it shift the goalposts or self-correct? A claim being new or unpopular does not make it pseudoscience, dodging the tests does.
Key terms: Framework, Falsifiability, Replication
Focus: A large dataset is described by volume (number of records), variety (different things measured) and velocity (speed new data arrives). Each row is a record and each column is a variable, with metadata describing units and how the data was gathered. Large datasets reveal patterns but can still be biased by how they are collected.
Key terms: Volume, Variety, Velocity
Multiple Choice (10 questions)
1. Which feature is the most important sign that a claim is scientific?
2. An old scientific idea is later proven wrong by better evidence and is replaced. This shows that science is:
3. An advert says a product is "clinically proven" but names no study you can read. This is best described as:
4. What is the single most useful first step when fact-checking a dramatic health claim in an ad?
5. A bar chart uses correct numbers but starts its vertical axis at 95 instead of 0, making a small difference look huge. This trick is called:
6. Nine workers earn $50,000 each and the boss earns $950,000. Which statement is true about describing a typical wage?
7. A seller says: "If the crystal does not work, it means your negative energy was too strong." This reveals that the claim is:
8. A new cancer drug is in clinical trials and has not yet been proven to work. Using the claim-check framework, this is best described as:
9. In a weather dataset, "variety" describes:
10. A fitness app collects step counts only from people who own an expensive smartwatch, then claims to describe how active all Australians are. The main problem is:
Short Answer (3 questions)
Put what you have reviewed to the test! Jump through the checkpoint questions in game form.
Play GameTick the box when you have finished the questions and played the game.