Journal

Name of Program: The Choice: Do you really have to go to College?

Time and Day of viewing: March 7, 2013 at 2.01 PM.

Logical Fallacy: Correlation not causation

Paraphrase of quote of the logical fallacy: ‘Academically Adrift,’ which is a book on undergraduate education indicates that even 45 percent of students do not show improvements in important areas as critical thinking, complex reasoning and written communication (Stephens 1).

Explanation

This type of fallacy often occurs when one reasons that the presence of two things is an indication that one causes the other. The reasoning could be in the sense that If A and B exists, then it is the presence of A that has caused B. In the statement paraphrased as a logical fallacy, the author attributes improvements in critical thinking, complex reasoning and written communication to time spent in a college. Thus, the fact that 45 percent of those who have not been to college do not show improvements in these areas is used to make a case against college education. In essence, the argument that the author makes is that education in somebody necessarily leads to improvements in those key skills. The reality, however, is that this is not always the case.

For one, a blanket reference to ‘Academically Adrift’ without a thorough look at its methodology is likely to give a misleading view that there is a college education did not have and positive influence on the sample population. Scientific analyses demands one must examine any methodological limitations in the variables before accepting their relationships.  Differences in methodologies or analysts will often produce different results. This explains the need to examine the relevant variables for potential methodological shortcomings. Such shortcomings must then be adjusted or eliminated to make any attributions of correlation to be reliable. For example, the study quoted may have taken measurements regarding critical thinking, complex reasoning and written communication in a way that could not help in establishing correlation. It could well be the case that the 45 percent of the students mentioned in the study had some specific features that inhibited their improvements in the key skills outlined as opposed to the fact that a college education did not help them.

In addition, other confounding factors may be responsible for the observed correlation or lack of correlation between college education and improvements in the mentioned key skills. It could well be the case that improvements in key skills such as critical thinking, complex reasoning and writing communication can not explain the observed relationship between time spent in college and those key skills. The actual relationship between the two could ultimately prove to be far more complex than what the study had looked at. Other factors such as early schooling of the students may have an influence on their ability to benefit from college education in a manner as to improve in the relevant key skills. Besides, the quality of education offered at different colleges is not always the same. Thus, a student at an Ivy League college is likely to get a relatively higher level of education than those who have only attended community colleges.

Work Cited

Stephens, Dale J. “The Choice: Do You Really Have to go to College?”The New York Times 7     March 2013.Accessed 8 March 2013, from   http://www.thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/03/07/do-you-really-have-to-go-to-        college/?hp

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