Identify any instances of pseudoreasoning in the following passage either by naming them or, where they seem not to conform to any of the patterns described in the text, by giving a brief explanation of why the pseudoreasons are irrelevant to the point at issue.
“The San Jose Mercury News made some explosive and unsubstantiated charges in articles earlier this year suggesting the Central Intelligence Agency helped start the crack epidemic in the United States. The CIA has often behaved scandalously over the years, but no one, including the Mercury News, has produced credible evidence the CIA organized or took part in drug dealing by the Contras or that the rebels flooded Los Angeles with drugs to finance their war against the Sandinistas.” —New York Times
Answer
For each of the following investigations:
a. Identify the causal hypothesis at issue.
b. Identify what kind of investigation it is.
c. Describe the control and experimental groups.
d. State the difference in effect (or cause) between control and experimental groups.
e. Identify any problems in either the investigation or the report of it, including but not necessarily limited to uncontrolled variables.
f. State the conclusion you think is warranted by the report.