Calling Bullshit In the Age of Big Data

In this course we aim to teach you how to think critically about the data and models that constitute evidence in the social and natural sciences.

Our learning objectives are straightforward. After taking the course, you should be able to:

- Remain vigilant for bullshit contaminating your information diet.
- Recognize said bullshit whenever and wherever you encounter it.
- Figure out for yourself precisely why a particular bit of bullshit is bullshit.
- Provide a statistician or fellow scientist with a technical explanation of why a claim is bullshit.
- Provide your crystals-and-homeopathy aunt or casually racist uncle with an accessible and persuasive explanation of why a claim is bullshit.

We will be astonished if these skills do not turn out to be among the most useful and most broadly applicable of those that you acquire during the course of your college education.

Taught by Carl T. Bergstrom, UW Department of Biology, and Jevin West, UW Information School.