IANS -- Ch 9 and 10

"That is to say, research is often dismissed in media accounts on ad hominem grounds, because of the researcher's convictions or his funding source" (152). Chapter 9 in It Ain't Necessarily So looks at how peer reviewed journals are not... Read More

Nevertheless, for all of its flaws, what Churchill said of democracy can also be said applied to peer review: it is the worst system for judging research, except for all of the other alternatives that have ever been tried. (161... Read More

"a scientific jury of peers,...is only human; it can have biases of its own, and it can fail to weigh all the evidence impartially" (149) IANS Exactly. How do we know that the reviewers may have the exact opposite views... Read More

IANS readings chapter 9: "CLAIMS THE SOUND TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE, HEADLINES THAT PROMISE A QUICK FIX, DIRE WARNINGS OF DANGER ABOUT A SINGLE PRODUCT OR REGIMEN, SIMPLISTIC CONCLUSIONS DRAWN FROM A COMPLEX STUDY," and "ADVICE BASED ON STUDIES... Read More

So, in conclusion to our IANS readings, we learn what happens to the public when our news stories are published, that it is very difficult to be accurate with scientific findings, statistics are bad, we shouldn't cast a play where politicians... Read More