Explain how these are examples of bad science

• A psychologist wants to study the eating habits of a population of New Yorkers who have freckles and are between the ages of eighteen and forty-five. The amount of melanin that makes the pigmentation of freckles is thought to be related to hunger hormone levels. Her sample includes 20 white, dark-haired males who are college juniors because they are the ones who answered her ad in the school newspaper. The men keep a food journal for two weeks. She counts the number of freckles the men have on their foreheads only and generalizes the number to the rest of their bodies. She concludes that the more freckles on a person's body, the more carbohydrates a person eats.

• A psychologist wants to study the relationship between balding and length of marriage. At the local mall on a random Saturday, he stops bald men who are with a female. He asks how long they have been married. He then measures the size of their scalp with his tape measure and subtracts the area that still has hair. He is able to stop 14 bald men that day. He finds that length of marriage correlates with baldness, meaning that balder men stay married longer. Therefore, products such as Rogaine should not be sold because baldness actually causes longer and happier marriages. With our divorce rate so high, we should encourage balding.

• A psychologist working with a local Los Angeles daycare conducts an experiment to find out whether toddlers are happier in warm weather or cool weather. She was able to get 22 moms to participate, but 5 were not consistent. She might operationally define happiness as "the number of smiles per hour." She has moms record the number of smiles at home in July and the number of smiles in December. She compares the numbers and discovers that toddlers smile more in December. Therefore, toddlers are happier in cool weather.

• A researcher wants to study levels of confidence in people at Long Beach City College. Researcher Marvin is incredibly good-looking. Everyone says so. He stands outside the library on Saturdays mornings and interviews people leaving the library. While wearing a fitted dress shirt that brings out his stunning blue eyes, he asks them various questions that come to mind like how they feel that day, how many dates they have been on, and how many friends they have. Of the 10 people who stopped to talk with him, he learned that community college students in California have lots of confidence.

• A new medication proves that it can make dogs live longer. The researcher, a vet named Dr. Luis Frankl, has injected two dogs with this medication. Both dogs are still alive at 14 and 15 years old respectively. Dr. Frankl hopes that clinics will be begin stocking the injections and that they are given to older dogs to extend their lives.