Prayer Study
Science or Not?
Author(s)
Abstract
In this case, students read a news article about a study of the effects of intercessory prayer on cardiac patients published in the Archives of Internal Medicine. After reading the case and discussing the questions in small groups, students evaluate the study for its scientific validity and defend their reasoning. The case was developed to teach non-science majors in an introductory biology course about the scientific method. It could be adapted for courses in the allied health and rehabilitation fields, and perhaps for courses in sociology, psychology, and religious studies.
Objectives
- Describe why science is distinct from other ways of knowing.
- Explain that science is defined by its method and describe the essential parts of the scientific method (hypothesis testing, collecting and analyzing evidence, and making conclusions).
- Identify the independent, dependent, and controlled variables in a study.
- Identify the control group and the experimental group in a study.
- List the assumptions made by researchers in a study.
- Use skeptical thinking to analyze a news story about a study.
- Identify missing information that would be essential or helpful in making an objective assessment.
- Analyze reports of studies in the news media as "pseudoscience," "junk science," or "anti-science."
Keywords
Prayer; scientific method; experimental design; pseudoscienceTopical Areas
Scientific argumentation, Scientific method, Science and the mediaEducational Level
High school, Undergraduate lower divisionFormat
PDFType / Methods
Discussion, Journal ArticleLanguage
EnglishSubject Headings
Biology (General) | Psychology | Sociology |
Date Posted
09/03/03Teaching Notes
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Comments
Alexis Grosofsky
grosofsk@beloit.edu
Associate Professor
Department of Psychology
Beloit College
Beloit, WI
01/24/2005
The case was very well-received. Students appreciated being able to learn more about what is and isn’t science by working with a concrete example. I modified the flow chart that helps students distinguish science vs. pseudoscience, junk science and antiscience (e.g., it seemed that “anecdote” should not be listed as part of the methods of science).
Editor’s Note: You can access the modified version in either PDF or editable XLS format.
-----------------------------Kathy Gallucci
gallucci@elon.edu
Biology
Elon University
Elon, NC
01/26/2018
Anecdotes are often used as evidence, especially by nonscientists. The goal is to recognize anecdotes as weak evidence, which are often used to attract attention to an issue. -----------------------------