Lecture 2 Flashcards
What is the point of saying that something is science
Science is the most trustworthy source of basic and applied knowledge in many situations
Calling a practice scientific signals that it deserves our trust
Does calling something science make a concrete difference
e.g. Healthcare providers, insurance, gov authorities and patients need guidance on which cures to trust as safe and effective
Economic policy making politicians, CEOS and investors need guidance on which interventions and predictions to trust as robust, non-overly risky, and profitable
Educators, school administrators, families and students need guidance on which subjects to trust as sources of knowledge and insight
non scientific practices
do not aim at generating knowledge in the same ways science does
Their practitioners do not claim or pretend they are doing something
Pseudo-scientific practices
Are not scientific and do not produce any genuine knowledge
Their proponents deceptively pretend that they are generating basic and applied knowledge
science is a practice that
socially and institutionally organized
Aimed at producing knowledge
About natural phenomena
A scientific activity or project
Aims to provide natural explanations of naturla phenomena (naturalism)
Puts forward ideas that can be tested with empirical evidence (empirical investigation, falsifiability)
Updates ideas based on available evidence (evidentialism)
Would abandon any idea that was thoroughly refuted (openness to falsification)
Employs mathematical tools appropriately when they are useful (mathematical techniques)
INvolves the broader scientific community (social and institutional structure)
are scientists always right? no!
Scientists are not infallible oracles
In scientific and everyday reasoning, evidence for or against a given hypothesis is always of varying strength and uncertain to some degree
In science and everyday life, we can rely on methods and institutions designed to produce and warrant trustworthy evidence relevant to what we should believe
Various scientific fields have recently experienced a replicability crisis
Is there a replicability crisis
52% yes significant
38%yes slight
7% dont know
3% nah we chilling
Replicabile studies
Can be performed again
Produce the same or sufficient similar results as the original study
Why replicate a study
Limits the role of luck and error
increases confidence a hypothesis is true
Helps science to self correct
Type 1 vs type 2 error
Type 1 error is false positive
Type 2 error is false negative
why do many results fail to replicate
Fraud
Questionable research practices
Incentive structure and organization of science institution (reward quantity and speed of publications…)
P hacking
Checking statistical significance of results before deciding whether to collect more data
The ability of science to self-correct depends on
The social and institutional conditions, in which science takes place
examples of social institutional conditions that influence self-correction
Funding
Publishing
Open datasets and tools
Diversify science // access to education
