1. This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Learn More.

LGBT News Unfortunate Example of Bad Science

Discussion in 'Current Events, World News, & LGBT News' started by greatwhale, May 28, 2015.

Thread Tools

Thread Tools

  1. greatwhale

    greatwhale
    Full Member

    Joined:
    Feb 12, 2013
    Messages:
    6,582
    Likes Received:
    413
    Location:
    Montreal
    Gender:
    Male
    Gender Pronoun:
    He
    Sexual Orientation:
    Gay
    Out Status:
    Out to everyone
    Some of you may have heard about a very flawed study on an important LGBT question:

    It turns out that there are some serious questions as to the study's validity:

    This situation unfortunately does an enormous disservice to the LGBT+ community; we have had our share of bullshit studies from homophobes, but this is ammunition against us and renders suspect any other pro-LGBT+ studies out there.

    The larger question, of course, is why the current research environment is so incentivized for the personal careerist aspirations of graduate or tenured scientists as opposed to finding the truth.

    This is nothing new, others have commented on the lamentable track record of a lot of what passes for published research; there is indeed something quite rotten in the state of academic research these days...
     
    #1 greatwhale, May 28, 2015
  2. RainDreamer

    RainDreamer
    Regular Member

    Joined:
    Jul 13, 2012
    Messages:
    1,323
    Likes Received:
    0
    I suddenly feel horrible about my research report that I just finished last week... I did kinda skip doing proper encoding of data and analysis and just write stuff off my general interpretation of what I have. It is not a published paper, and it is a qualitative research so I do have some slack, but still...

    In anycase, this feel like an overeager student that attempted too much and missed some important steps in protecting their credibility rather than malicious intent to obfuscate the truth. A very sad mistake, indeed.
     
    #2 RainDreamer, May 28, 2015
  3. Camel

    Camel
    Full Member

    Joined:
    Apr 25, 2015
    Messages:
    339
    Likes Received:
    2
    Location:
    United Kingdom
    Gender:
    Male
    Gender Pronoun:
    He
    Sexual Orientation:
    Gay
    Out Status:
    Out to everyone
    That is a very big question. Academic life is very cut throat at the moment, as funding is in very short supply. No one wants to rock boats. Equally, no one wants to 'find the truth'. Because if you did, funding would dry up completely. As the question would have been answered. So the aim must be to publish lots of papers which require further research to be undertaken.

    The funding imperatives are slightly different in STEM subjects than in the humanities (where I am), but in the humanities too, early career academics can't challenge orthodoxy if they want to still have a job when the current funding expires.
     
    #3 Camel, May 28, 2015
  4. Pret Allez

    Pret Allez
    Full Member

    Joined:
    Apr 19, 2012
    Messages:
    6,785
    Likes Received:
    67
    Location:
    Seattle, WA
    Gender:
    Female (trans*)
    Gender Pronoun:
    She
    Sexual Orientation:
    Bisexual
    Out Status:
    Some people
    If people are less likely to trust LGBTWTFBBQ research in the future, then they are committing a fallacy of inductive reasoning.
     
    #4 Pret Allez, May 28, 2015
  5. greatwhale

    greatwhale
    Full Member

    Joined:
    Feb 12, 2013
    Messages:
    6,582
    Likes Received:
    413
    Location:
    Montreal
    Gender:
    Male
    Gender Pronoun:
    He
    Sexual Orientation:
    Gay
    Out Status:
    Out to everyone
    It is the most common fallacy of all! Unfortunately, this also afflicts a great deal of research.
     
    #5 greatwhale, May 28, 2015
  6. Pret Allez

    Pret Allez
    Full Member

    Joined:
    Apr 19, 2012
    Messages:
    6,785
    Likes Received:
    67
    Location:
    Seattle, WA
    Gender:
    Female (trans*)
    Gender Pronoun:
    She
    Sexual Orientation:
    Bisexual
    Out Status:
    Some people
    Right, but I have a problem thinking that we need to change our behavior based on logical errors we anticipate the public will make.

    The new methodology just needs to be "original data must be sent with all papers."
     
    #6 Pret Allez, May 28, 2015
  7. greatwhale

    greatwhale
    Full Member

    Joined:
    Feb 12, 2013
    Messages:
    6,582
    Likes Received:
    413
    Location:
    Montreal
    Gender:
    Male
    Gender Pronoun:
    He
    Sexual Orientation:
    Gay
    Out Status:
    Out to everyone
    Valid point, however I am unclear as to what behaviours would need to change.

    A new methodology may include submission of all data, but this becomes a resource issue, it takes scads of time and specialized expertise to sift through all the data that a study can generate, I'm not saying it shouldn't be done, but perhaps there are better and more efficient ways of ensuring that a study is scientifically valid and significant enough to publish.
     
    #7 greatwhale, May 28, 2015
(You must log in or sign up to post here.)