This article is about unreliable scientific findings. For the newspaper column, see Ben Goldacre. "Bad science" usually refers either to substandard scientific methods or to findings that have been arrived at by such methods. Occasionally what is meant by "bad science" is something equivalent to pseudoscience or junk science. The term is also sometimes applied ironically to research that, even if conducted in a scientific way, appears to have been inspired by a false assumption or a trivial question and concerns matters that look humorous when depicted as science. Ben Goldacres humourous byline photo Ben Goldacre is an London-based British journalist and doctor. ...
A typical 18th century phrenology chart. ...
Junk or bunk science is a term used to describe purportedly scientific data, research, analyses or claims which are perceived to be driven by political, financial or other questionable motives. ...
Good and bad
Starting just with the restricted sense of science as a process for accumulating knowledge, good science and bad science can be objectively measured in terms of efficiency of knowledge acquisition. Upon expanding consideration to technological and social changes made possible by science, science can be subjectively measured in terms of consequences for people that are either good or bad. Cultural evolution is the structural development (change) of a society over time. ...
In many cases there is considerable debate about what constitutes good and bad science, particularly if some aspect of science benefits some people while harming others.
Good science "Good science" is generally characterized by careful observations, often aided by tools and devices that extend the powers of the human senses. Observation is an activity of a sapient or sentient living being (e. ...
Senses are the physiological methods of perception. ...
Much scientific investigation is organized by processes that can be used for testing hypotheses. Many scientific efforts utilize carefully orchestrated experiments that are designed to carefully expose a limited number of particular phenomena to close observation. "Good science" is characterized by objectivity. Individual observers must give fair and unbiased reports of observed phenomena. Look up Hypothesis in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...
In the scientific method, an experiment (Latin: ex- periri, of (or from) trying) is a set of observations performed in the context of solving a particular problem or question, to support or falsify a hypothesis or research concerning phenomena. ...
In science, the ideal of objectivity is an essential aspect of the scientific method, and is generally considered by the scientific community to come about as a result of strict observance of the scientific method, including the scientists willingness to submit their methods and results to an open debate by...
This article does not cite any references or sources. ...
A phenomenon (plural: phenomena) is an observable event, especially something special (literally something that can be seen from the Greek word phainomenon = observable). ...
Within many scientific disciplines objectivity must also have a social dimension through which many independent observers can all make and reproduce the same observations. In experimental sciences, experiments must usually be shown to be reproducible before the scientific community accepts the results. Even then skepticism is still exercised because people can be misled in their belief that a particular observation is telling us a particular fact about the world. In the scientific method, an experiment (Latin: ex- periri, of (or from) trying) is a set of observations performed in the context of solving a particular problem or question, to support or falsify a hypothesis or research concerning phenomena. ...
This article is about the psychological term. ...
A unifying feature of good science is consilience between the various scientific sub-disciplines. Consilience is achieved when it is possible to understand chemistry through physics and biology through chemistry and psychology through biology. It is efficient for scientific investigation to divide into specialized sub-disciplines, but these divisions are just for human convenience; scientific knowledge should be a unified whole that reflects the fundamental unity of the physical universe. Look up consilience in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...
For other uses, see Chemistry (disambiguation). ...
This is a discussion of a present category of science. ...
Biology studies the variety of life (clockwise from top-left) E. coli, tree fern, gazelle, Goliath beetle Biology (from Greek: βίος, bio, life; and λόγος, logos, knowledge), also referred to as the biological sciences, is the study of living organisms utilizing the scientific method. ...
Psychology (from Greek: ψυχή, psukhē, spirit, soul; λόγος, logos, knowledge) is both an academic and applied discipline involving the scientific study of mental processes and behavior. ...
Many scientific efforts are oriented around reductionism, the attempt to explain complex phenomena in terms of the interacting components of the system. "Good science" also strives to maintain certain ethical standards. As a human endeavor, science must be integrated into human society and measured against existing ethical standards. If "good science" is done with care, it is open to critical evaluation, is honest, unbiased and deals with the undesirable deleterious consequences that arise out of scientific knowledge. Descartes held that non-human animals could be reductively explained as automata — De homines 1622. ...
Ethics is a general term for what is often described as the science (study) of morality. In philosophy, ethical behavior is that which is good or right. ...
Versions of bad science Bad Science often lacks objectivity and involves misapplications of the tools of science to start with a preconceived belief and filter one's observations so as to try to support that belief. Scientists should be self-critical and try to disprove their hypotheses by all available means. In science, the ideal of objectivity is an essential aspect of the scientific method, and is generally considered by the scientific community to come about as a result of strict observance of the scientific method, including the scientists willingness to submit their methods and results to an open debate by...
Bad science is often biased either by unrecognized preconceptions or by unreported personal affiliations and agendas. As mentioned above, good science often involves reductionism, but reductionism can fail. This article does not cite any references or sources. ...
Since good science strives to provide the simplest possible explanations of phenomena (Occam's razor), greedy reductionism is a common feature of bad science. Greedy reductionism is a derogatory label applied to failed efforts in reductionism where it is incorrectly claimed that a simple set of processes can account for or explain some other complex process or set of phenomena. For the House episode, see Occams Razor (House episode) Occams razor (sometimes spelled Ockhams razor) is a principle attributed to the 14th-century English logician and Franciscan friar William of Ockham. ...
Greedy reductionism is a term coined by Daniel Dennett, in the book Darwins Dangerous Idea, to distinguish between acceptable and erroneous forms of reductionism. ...
At the other extreme, bad science can result when it is assumed that the methods of reductionistic analysis will fail to explain certain phenomena, so attempts at reductionism and consilience are not even attempted.
Common forms of bad science Pseudoscience: Pseudoscience generally adopts the guise of science, but fails to utilise one or more of the required elements of good science such as skepticism. For example, creation science starts with a conclusion drawn from divine revelation and interprets data with the assumption that divine revelation cannot be wrong. The process may or may not be apparent to the casual observer in any particular account. Bad science is often unethical and offensive to widely accepted social standards that are expected to apply to all human conduct. A typical 18th century phrenology chart. ...
Creation science is the attempt to find scientific evidence that would justify a literal interpretation of the Biblical account of creation. ...
Cargo cult science: The term was coined by Richard Feynman to describe "scientific research" that seems to rigorously follow the forms of good science while ignoring or abusing the underlying principles. Cargo cult science is a term used by Richard Feynman in his 1974 Caltech commencement address to describe work that has the semblance of being scientific, but is missing a kind of scientific integrity, a principle of scientific thought that corresponds to a kind of utter honesty. The speech is...
This article is about the physicist. ...
Scientific misconduct: This term encompasses fabrication (the deliberate use of false data) and plagiarism (the unattributed use of another researcher's data.) Scientific misconduct is the violation of the standard codes of scholarly conduct and ethical behavior in professional scientific research. ...
Bad science judgments Science can also be judged to be bad when it results in deleterious consequences. Some philosophers of science insist that science and scientists must take direct responsibility for regulating the search for knowledge and its practical applications. Science is widely judged to be bad when it is practiced and applied for selfish gain and without correction of deleterious side-effects. Philosophy of science is the study of assumptions, foundations, and implications of science, especially in the natural sciences and social sciences. ...
Common misconceptions See also: List of scientific misconceptions This is a list of uncontroversial, undisputed clarifications to common misconceptions. ...
There are many common misconceptions about how the world works that persist (in text books, on web sites, etc.) long after they have been proven false. These include:
- Gyroscopic effect of wheels on bicycle and motorcycle balance.[2][3][4]
- Coriolis effect on sink, tube, and even toilet draining.[5]
The lift force, lifting force or simply lift is a mechanical force generated by solid objects as they move through a fluid. ...
A simplified mathematical model of bike and rider Bicycle and motorcycle dynamics is the science of the motion of bicycles and motorcycles. ...
In the inertial frame of reference (upper part of the picture), the black object moves in a straight line. ...
hello--~~~~fake <gallery> poos[[kill]] </gallery> For other uses, see Cloud (disambiguation). ...
References Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
is the 354th day of the year (355th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...
Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
is the 216th day of the year (217th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...
Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
is the 216th day of the year (217th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...
Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
is the 354th day of the year (355th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...
Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
is the 354th day of the year (355th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...
See also The Annals of Improbable Research (AIR) is a monthly magazine devoted to scientific humour, in the form of a satirical take on the standard academic journal. ...
Antiscience is a position critical of science and the scientific method. ...
Flying frog. ...
Irving Langmuir coined the phrase pathological science in a talk in 1953 Pathological science is the process in science in which people are tricked into false results . ...
A typical 18th century phrenology chart. ...
(For the weblog entitled Not Even Wrong, see Peter Woit) A scientific concept is said to be not even wrong if it is not falsifiable in the Popperian sense, or if it is not well-enough formed to be used to make specific predictions about the physical world. ...
Scientific method is a body of techniques for investigating phenomena, acquiring new knowledge, or correcting and integrating previous knowledge. ...
Scientific misconduct is the violation of the standard codes of scholarly conduct and ethical behavior in professional scientific research. ...
The Skeptical Inquirer is a magazine of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP) dedicated to debunking pseudoscience. ...
Voodoo Science, another term for pseudoscience, was popularized in a book of the same title (ISBN 0195147103) written in 2001 by Robert L. Park. ...
External links | 
Feeds |
Contact