Not just the money...it’s the ease of data generation that draws so many in.
Lazy scientists can pick and choose data to come to a conclusion that is stated openly in the government grant because the grant application says the conclusion will be reached with the proper amount of money.
Yeah, but it’s funny how much “research” is necessary to “study” something that has already been “settled”.
When all you’re doing is computer modeling its cheap & easy to do a study. Going out and gathering new physical data is hard, sometimes uncomfortable, time consuming & expensive. So much easier to use data someone else gathered and statistically massage it a different way.
Another thing I have noticed, very few people scientists included are very well trained in statistics! Statistical models are based on assumptions about the system you are measuring, one incorrect assumption & the model can be wildly in accurate. So always use “models” with care & humility!
One famous statistician once said “ Models are always wrong but sometimes useful!”