Text

Science Fictions: How Fraud, Bias, Negligence, and Hype Undermine the Search for Truth

---

Science is how we understand the world. Yet critical flaws in peer review, statistical methods, and publication procedures have rendered a shocking number of scientific studies useless-or worse, badly misleading. Drawing on surprising new data from "meta-science" (the science of how science works), Science Fictions documents the errors that have distorted our knowledge on issues as varied as cancer biology, nutrition, genetics, immigration, education, and extraterrestrial life. Stuart Ritchie's own work challenging an infamous psychology experiment helped spark what's now widely known as the "replication crisis," the realization that many supposed scientific truths cannot be relied upon. Now, he reveals the very human biases, mistakes, and deceptions that undermine the scientific endeavor: from contamination in science labs to the secret vaults of failed studies that nobody gets to see; from outright cheating with fake data to the more common but still ruinous temptation to exaggerate mediocre results for a shot at scientific fame. Yet Science Fictions is far from a counsel of despair. Rather, it's a defense of the scientific method against the pressures and perverse incentives that lead scientists to bend the rules. By illustrating the ways that science goes wrong, Ritchie gives us the knowledge we need to spot dubious research, and points the way to reforms that might save science from itself.

---

Availability

Detail Information

Series Title

-

Call Number

501 RIT s

Publisher

: Metropolitan Books., 2020

Collation

353 pgs.; 24.5 cm

Language

English

ISBN/ISSN

9781250222695

Classification

501

Content Type

text

Media Type

unmediated

Carrier Type

other (unmediated)

Edition

-

Subject(s)

Philosopy and Theory of Nature Sciences
Research Methods
Critical Thinking
Research Integrity
Bias

Specific Detail Info

-

Statement of Responsibility

Stuart Ritchie

Other version/related

File Attachment

Comments

---

You must be logged in to post a comment