Answer:
A fact: A fact is a truth. A fact is a statement of truth that can be verified and is able to be proven as true.
An opinion: An opinion is a statement that reflects an author's or the speaker's point of view, beliefs, perspective, personal feelings, and values; opinions cannot be verified and proven to be true or false like a fact can be verified and proven to be true; however, a person's opinion can be supported or refuted when a critical thinker and a critically thinking reader of a text scrutinizes and critically evaluates the author's opinions, point of view, beliefs, perspective, personal feelings and values, and these opinions are based on documented valid and reliable facts.
Empirical data and information: Evidence of a fact that entails and includes the use of one's five senses.
The five senses: Vision, hearing, smelling, which is referred to as the olfactory sense, tasting, which is referred to as the gustatory sense, and the sense of touch, which is the tactile sense.
The scientific method and scientific inquiry: The scientific method and scientific inquiry include a hypothesis or hypotheses which seek to find out about the relationships between and among the variables under study when a research study is being conducted.
A hypothesis: An educated guess about the relationship of variables in a research study
A null hypothesis: A null hypothesis is accepted when the research does not accept or refute the research hypothesis.
A bias: A bias, simply defined, is the tendency of a human being to have a positive tendency, inclination or proclivity for something or a negative tendency against something. Other words that describe a bias are a predilection, an inclination, a preference, and a prejudgment for or against something.
Groupthink bias: This bias occurs when members of a group want high levels of cohesiveness, consecutiveness, agreement and harmony within the group and they do not want a lack of harmony and conflict. The tendency for groupthink occurs as a part of human nature.
Confirmation bias: This bias, simply stated, is a person's predilection and tendency to support, favor and accept thoughts and things that are consistent and congruent with their preexisting thoughts, beliefs, and opinions.
Overconfidence bias: This bias is manifested when a person is biased towards their own perspective and view because they believe that they and they alone are the expert.
The halo effect bias: This bias is characterized with a person's inclination to blindly accept the thoughts, views, and perspectives of another person, including an author of a text, because of some characteristic or trait of that person even though that person's traits and characteristics have little or nothing to do with the perceived expertise that a person thinks that they have.
The horn effect bias: The opposite of the halo effect of bias is the horn effect of bias. This bias is characterized with a person's inclination to blindly reject the thoughts, views, and perspectives of another person, including an author of a text, because of some characteristic or trait of that person even though that person's traits and characteristics have little or nothing to do with the lack of expertise that a person thinks that they have.
