Step 1: State the Claim
Step 2: Examine the Evidence for the Claim
Step 3: Consider the Alternative Hypotheses
Step 4: Rate, According to the Criteria of Adequacy, Each Hypothesis
1: Being placed in the Free Choice Group for this assignment, we had some flexibility when choosing a claim. Group members each contributed either a Conspiracy Theory claim or a Supernatural Topic claim. Most leaned towards the Conspiracy Theory, specifically surrounding the assassination of JFK. It was determined that the following claim would be the focus of our investigation of claims: Lee Harvey Oswald did not act alone in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy2: Upon choosing a claim, members were asked to contribute at least one source of outside research in the form of an interview, expert testimony, case study and/or journal article from a credible publication. Plenty of information was easily available, but members were reminded to scrutinize the kind of information they were gathering for this assignment.
3: After analyzing the available resources, it was concluded that the evidence could support an alternative hypothesis.
4: Lastly, both hypotheses were rated according to the criteria of adequacy found in chapter 6 of the textbook. Each hypothesis was compared based on testability, fruitfulness, scope, simplicity and conservatism. In the end, the results were compared to determine if either the claim or one of the two possible hypotheses were more accurate.
