Embracing more rigorous scientific methods would mean getting science right more often than we currently do. But the way we value and reward scientists makes this a challenge.
Academic rigour, journalistic flair
Articles on Scientific method
Displaying 41 - 60 of 83 articles
There’s a big difference between science and pseudoscience. But if people don’t understand how science works in the first place, it’s very easy for them to fall for the pseudoscience.
Large-scale natural experiments such as oil spills, tsunamis and climate change are things you wouldn’t want to do on purpose. But that doesn’t mean they’re not scientifically useful experiments too.
How flawed citation practices can perpetuate scientific ideas even before they’ve been fully established as true.
It’s easy to attribute the wrong cause to a mysterious phenomenon. But science has some tools to help you avoid these attribution errors.
Science explains how people are changing our natural systems, but we need to recognize the importance – and power – of emotions and the spiritual world in charting a course to the future.
Diverse threads of the vast interrogation of nature we call science are coming together in a rich and mutually informative intellectual tapestry.
Scientists build on knowledge gained and published by others. How can we know which findings to trust?
Relying on computer modelling can be dangerous: in 1999 NASA lost a space probe because of a silly error in the control software.
Where once scientists used to be solitary creatures, today science is a highly collaborative affair, and the latest research in ecology is no exception.
Scientists being wrong is not a bug or a glitch – it’s a feature of science and mistakes can actually lead to new, deeper discoveries.
Everyone loves a study that turns one of our favourite vices into a health benefit. Before you reach for a Mars bar or a Dairy Milk, let’s take a step back.
Peer review is not infallible, but it’s central to how science works. In this extract from Peter Doherty’s new book, The Knowledge Wars, he explains how it works in practice.
Sometimes pure curiosity driven research can yield wondrous knowledge and practical benefits, as was the case with the large blue butterfly.
If we want the best possible research, it’s not just the journal articles that ought to be openly available to all, but the data behind them as well.
Deep disagreements within science might seem to undermine its authority, but they only underscore how science really works.
Some activists use open records requests to bully researchers – distracting them from their actual work and silencing others who don’t want to draw attention.
The pseudoscience, conspiracy theory and woo spreading across the world wreaks havoc on those that buy into it.
Another retracted paper in the social sciences underscores the need for greater vigilance and reflection upon the causes of scientific fraud.
Academic papers are often cherry picked to support our prevailing views. We need to be careful to acknowledge the complexities of many issues explored by science.
Top contributors
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Senior Lecturer in Philosophy and Education; Curriculum Director, UQ Critical Thinking Project, The University of Queensland
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Associate Professor, School of Earth, Atmosphere and Environment, Monash University
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ARC DECRA Fellow, UNSW Sydney
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Senior Lecturer in Philosophy, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau
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Associate Professor of Physics, Union College
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Professor in Philosophy, The University of Queensland
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Professor, School of Biosciences & School of Historical and Philosophical Studies, The University of Melbourne
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Professor, School of Psychology, University of Sydney
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Laureate Professor, The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity
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Associate Professor in Astronomy, Monash University
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Deputy Vice-Chancellor Academic Quality and Professor of Molecular Biology, UNSW Sydney
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Professor of Management & Organizations; Professor of Environment & Sustainability; Professor of Sustainable Enterprise at the Ross School of Business and School of Environment and Sustainability, University of Michigan
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Laureate Professor of Mathematics, University of Newcastle
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University Distinguished Professor and Department Head of Statistics, Texas A&M University
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Senior research fellow, RMIT University
