Slashdot Mirror
How To Better Verify Scientific Research
Hugh Pickens DOT Com writes "Michael Hiltzik writes in the LA Times that you'd think the one place you can depend on for verifiable facts is science but a few years ago, scientists at Amgen set out to double-check the results of 53 landmark papers in their fields of cancer research and blood biology and found only six could be proved valid. 'The thing that should scare people is that so many of these important published studies turn out to be wrong when they're investigated further,' says Michael Eisen who adds that the drive to land a paper in a top journal encourages researchers to hype their results, especially in the life sciences. Peer review, in which a paper is checked out by eminent scientists before publication, isn't a safeguard because the unpaid reviewers seldom have the time or inclination to examine a study enough to unearth errors or flaws. 'The journals want the papers that make the sexiest claims,' Eisen says. 'And scientists believe that the way you succeed is having splashy papers in Science or Nature — it's not bad for them if a paper turns out to be wrong, if it's gotten a lot of attention.' That's why the National Institutes of Health has launched a project to remake its researchers' approach to publication. Its new PubMed Commons system allows qualified scientists to post ongoing comments about published papers. The goal is to wean scientists from the idea that a cursory, one-time peer review is enough to validate a research study, and substitute a process of continuing scrutiny, so that poor research can be identified quickly and good research can be picked out of the crowd and find a wider audience. 'The demand for sexy results, combined with indifferent follow-up, means that billions of dollars in worldwide resources devoted to finding and developing remedies for the diseases that afflict us all is being thrown down a rathole,' says Hiltzik. 'NIH and the rest of the scientific community are just now waking up to the realization that science has lost its way, and it may take years to get back on the right path.'"
...except about something like catastrophic anthropogenic global warming :)
It's so funny that the left wing can be so insightful about certain things, but then engage in utter, mind blowing hypocrisy counter to their rational, reasoned argument.
The answer in this case is simple - make every damn scientific paper start with an intro section called "necessary and sufficient falsifiable hypothesis statement". Too much speculative navel gazing and fuzzy study setup leaves the room open to fiction writing, rather than cold hard scientific scrutiny.
Remember, first and foremost, science is a way for us to prove ourselves *wrong* - it's a way of knocking down ideas, and only grudgingly giving acceptance to the ones that survive the contest. The best scientists ruthlessly try to find every possible hole in their ideas, rather than glossing over contradictory evidence or alternatives.