Science and Honesty


[Chapter 1 Objectives]

 BHS -> Mr. Stanbrough -> Physics -> About Science -> this page


A primary requirement for a scientist is honesty. The public tends to think of scientists as existing in an "ivory tower" - but there is no ivory tower, and scientists are just people, like everyone else.

Temptations abound for scientists, just like everyone else. Experiments, even after weeks and months of effort, often don't return the results we expect, or sometimes don't even return any meaningful results at all. Theoretical investigations can run into dead ends after hundreds or even thousands of hours of intense effort. Yet, results are expected in our "publish or perish" scientific culture. Scientists want grants for research, tenure, and the respect of their peers. Scientists like new cars and nice vacations. The temptations to "tweak the results a little bit" can be enormous.

So what's the big deal if a scientist cheats a little bit to get some media attention, a promotion, a government grant? Isn't science "self-correcting?" Isn't this why scientific observations must be repeatable?

Well, it is a big deal. If a scientist publishes or announces a new result, other scientists depend on it being an honest report. Certainly other scientists will be skeptical of new results and certainly, if the result is important enough, scientists will begin to try to duplicate the result in their own labs. Are they looking for dishonesty? No. People make mistakes, and scientists are people. It is extremely easy to overlook something or make a mistake in a complex investigation, and this often happens.

Also, so many new results are published, that in practice, not all of them are repeated. A scientist may read the report of some experiment, and incorporate these results into her work. If the report is in error, the second scientist's work will suffer. Eventually, the problem will be discovered, but at a great cost in time or effort. Many of the reported cases of scientific dishonesty over the last twenty years or so have been in the area of medical research. During the years that it takes to get these cases straightened out, people get sick and die - perhaps needlessly. That's a really big deal.


[Chapter 1 Objectives]

 BHS -> Mr. Stanbrough -> Physics -> About Science -> this page


last update August 31, 2009 by JL Stanbrough