Posted on 05/10/2018 9:09:20 AM PDT by DeweyCA
I first remember being taught the basics of the Scientific Method in fourth grade (late 60s) and it was beaten into me all the way through my Masters program in Physics (mid 80s). Even in the 80s nincompoops were publishing garbage about Global Cooling using junk science and bad statistics.
I think it really became prevalent in the mid to late 90s.
| Science = Reproducable Not Reproducable = Not Science |
Good article. I have read something like this before, and I am also quite familiar with John Ionnnaitis and his work on the failure of replicating much scientific work. Journals are not interested in publishing “null tests.” They are not nearly as “sexy” as studies that purport to have discovered some amazing new insight. People forget that scientists are “fallen” people, just like the rest of us. As such, they are susceptible to the same temptations of pursuing fame and fortune as the rest of us.
“Many studies can’t be replicated, study says.”
Used to have a subscription.
I saw this first hand in 1967. I was a lab technician in a products research lab. The company required “blind” testing before approval of any new product introduction. A very sweet food product was being advocated by a product manager and I got assigned to the “blind” panel set up. They used church groups to insure no contact between the product people and the actual subjects. The study was cancelled twice and went forward only when it was assigned to a large, mostly black church. I later learned that women of color are about twice as likely to prefer “very sweet” to “somewhat sweet.” Hence rigging of the “blind” test.
The product was well liked by the church ladies, was introduced with much fanfare, but ended up a complete flop.
So, even private industry has been rigging the statistics for a very long time.
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