Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction: reasons for studying critical thinking -- Scientific method and the behavior of scientists -- Rhetoric -- Searching the dental literature -- Logic: the basics -- Introduction to abductive and inductive logic: analogy, models & authority -- Inductive logic: hypothesis and causation -- Quacks, cranks and abuses of logic -- Probability and statistics: pt. 1, discrete variables -- Probability and statistics: pt. 2, continuous variables -- Measurement -- Errors of measurement -- Presentation of results -- Reliability, sensitivity, and specificity of diagnostic tests and measurements -- Research strategies -- Observaton -- Correlation -- Experimentation -- Experimental design -- Some more on statistical inference -- Judgment.