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11:374:279 Lecture 8: 9_19 Dessler Reading Notes

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School
Rutgers University
Department
Environmental Policy, Institutions, and Behavior
Course
11:374:279
Professor
Schoolman

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Document Summary

Policy debates are fundamentally an argument over action. 2. 1 justification for action: positive and normative statements. A positive claim concerns the way things are: it says that something is true about the world. It might concern some state affairs, a trend over time, or a casual relationship that explains why something happens. What is essential to positive claims is that they concern how things are, not how they should be. All scientific claims and all scientific questions are positive. A normative claim concerns evaluation: not how things are, but how they should be. It says that something is good or bad, right or wrong, desirable or undesirable, just or unjust, and so on. With few exceptions, statements or questions that include the words. If a positive question is sufficiently well posed- meaning all the terms in it are defined clearly and precisely enough- it has right and wrong answers. A well-posed positive claim is either true or false.

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Related Questions

Samantha and Dave are expecting their first child. They areexcited for the baby to arrive, but they are nervous as well. Willthe baby be healthy? Will they be good parents? In addition tothese big concerns, it seems like there are a million decisions tobe made. Will Samantha breastfeed or will they use formula? Willthey buy a crib or let the baby sleep in their bed?

Samantha goes online to try to find some answers. She finds awebsite from an author who writes books on parenting. On this site,she reads an article that argues that children should not be givenmany of the standard childhood vaccines, including the measles,mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine.

The article claims that the MMR vaccine has been proven tocause autism and gives examples of three children who came downwith autism-like symptoms shortly after their first MMR vaccinationat one year of age. The author believes that the recent increase inthe incidence of children diagnosed with autism-spectrum disordersis due to the fact that the number of vaccinations given inchildhood has increased.

Samantha is concerned. She does not want to create lifelongchallenges for her child. Besides, aren’t diseases like measles,mumps, and rubella basically eradicated by now? Why should she riskthe health of her baby by injecting him with vaccines for diseasesthat are a thing of the past?

Once baby James is born, Samantha brings him to thepediatrician’s office. Dr. Rodriguez says James needs some shots.Samantha is reluctant, and shares what she has read online. Dr.Rodriguez assures Samantha that the study that originally claimed alink between the MMR vaccine and autism has been found to befraudulent, and that vaccines have repeatedly been demonstrated tobe safe and effective in peer-reviewed studies.

Although Samantha trusts her doctor, she is not fullyconvinced. What about the increase in the number of children withautism and the cases where symptoms of autism appeared after MMRvaccination?

Samantha has a tough decision to make, but a betterunderstanding of science can help her. In this chapter, you willlearn about what science is (and what it is not), how it works, andhow it relates to human health.

As you read this chapter, think about the followingquestions:

What do you think about the quality of Samantha’s onlinesource of information about vaccines compared to Dr. Rodriguez’ssources?
Do you think the arguments presented here that claim that theMMR vaccine causes autism are scientifically valid? Could there bealternative explanations for the observations?
Why do you think diseases like measles, polio, and mumps arerare these days and why are we still vaccinating for thesediseases?
We have looked many topics thus far in biology, and have learned how to think critically. As the last assignment, a right of passage into applying scientific principles to the outside world, you will write a paper over a controversial topic in biology. You will approach the matter from a scientific perspective. This means you will have to read scientific journal articles.How to approach a topic and the information you should include:1) What is currently known about the subject? (requires research: must be actual scientific articles not webpages, philosophical diatribes, or some shady article you found in wikipedia)2) What areas of the topic are not well understood, or needs further research? (make sure you really do your homework, don't accept wide ranging statements made on politically driven websites)2) Discuss where the controversy arises when the science meets society. Why does the topic really matter to the advancement of the human race? If it doesn't matter than why is it so politically charged, and why not discuss something that does matter?Bonus (10 points):Design a project or a company that could be involved in improving other peoples lives based on the information you discovered above.Be creative. Make something new and innovative. Post your ideas in the discussion board under the abstract of your paper. See instructions for submission in this folder.

1. Scarcity in economics means: we do not have sufficient resources to produce all the goods and services we want. the wants of people are limited. there must be poor people in rich countries. shortages exist in nearly all markets. You like to read Vogue and Sports Illustrated. You have only $5 to spend, so you only buy Sports Illustrated. The statement that best represents this economic concept is: resources are scarce. the real cost of something is what you must give up to get it. positive economics explains how the economy actually works. economic models are used to answer “what if” questions. . If the state government allocates additional spending on education, the opportunity cost is: zero. the dollar amount of the additional spending. considered only if additional taxes need to be raised to fund the spending. measured in terms of the best alternative use for that money. For a student that owns his or her own home and doesn't plan to live in the dorm the cost of going to college is: tuition and the cost of housing. tuition, the cost of housing, and the cost of books. tuition, the cost of books, and forgone income. forgone income only. Keynesian economics stressed: the importance of total spending. the self-correcting power of free markets. the long run. that the Depression should run its course to bring down the high cost of living. The economic policy that uses changes in government spending and taxes to affect the overall spending in the economy is known as: a tax-and-spend policy. monetary policy. fiscal policy. free-trade policy. When building a model, economists: simplify reality in order to highlight what really matters. attempt to duplicate reality in all of its complexity. ignore the facts and instead try to determine what the facts should be. are careful to avoid the scientific method. Which is a normative statement? The minimum wage has not kept pace with inflation. The minimum wage is an important tool in fighting poverty and should be increased. The minimum wage can create higher unemployment for teens and unskilled workers. A higher minimum wage is expected to increase the price of a fast-food cheeseburger. Which is an example of a positive statement? The poverty rate should be 4%. A high rate of economic growth is a more important economic goal than a low rate of unemployment. The federal government pays for 46% of U.S. health care costs. Everyone in the country should be covered by national health insurance. Economists may disagree about policies because they: may approach the issue using the same sets of values. may use different economic models. enjoy disagreeing with each other. only consider issues in positive economics.