The matter of facts : skepticism, persuasion, and evidence in science / Gareth Leng and Rhodri Ivor Leng.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Leng, G. (Gareth), author.

Leng, Rhodri Ivor, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Science--Methodology.

Science.

Evidence.

Empiricism.

Facts (Philosophy).

Research--Evaluation.

Research.

Communication in science.

Science publishing--Moral and ethical aspects.

Science publishing.

Physical Description:

xv, 360 pages : illustrations ; 21 cm

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Massachusetts : The MIT Press, [2020]

Summary:

"Modern science faces a series of problems that undermine confidence in its reliability. To solve these problems, we must reflect on what makes science work and what leads it astray. This book is about Science, its strengths and weaknesses. The papers that scientists write form a vast resource of evidence and theory that is doubling about every ten years, along with the number of scientists. The size of this resource makes it hard for it to be used effectively by scientists, and along with this are growing concerns about its integrity and reliability. This book looks at the scientific method, as currently applied and as understood philosophically by scientists, the social structure of science, and the structure of scientific communication through journals. It includes case studies of controversies, and looks at how fields develop over time"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

The norms of science, and its structure

Popper and Kuhn, and their conceptions of what science is

Laboratory life : Bruno Latour and rhetoric in science

Is the scientific paper a fraud? The place of hypotheses and their falsification

The birth of neuroendocrinology and the "stuff of legend" : a case study of paradigm change

The language of crisis and controversy, and the levers of paradigm change

Logical positivism : the flawed belief that the truth of scientific statements can be established by verification

Ambiguity of scientific terms and the construction of meaning

The totality of evidence : weighing different types of evidence

Exaggerated claims, semantic flexibility, and nonsense

Complexity and its problems for causal narratives

Publication and citation : a complex system

A case study of a field in evolution : oxytocin, from birth to behavior

Where are the facts?

Organized skepticism in science

Webs of belief : citation networks

Unintended consequences : publication and citation bias

High-impact papers : citation rates, citation distortions, and mis-citation

Are most research published research findings false? Weaknesses in the design of experiments and the analysis of their outcomes

Societal and economic impact of basic research

Lost in citation

Conviction, expectations, and uncertainty in science

Journals, impact factors, and their corrupting influence on science

The narrative fallacy : how a good story beats rigor and balance

Scholarship.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780262043885

0262043882

OCLC:

1119477662

Publisher Number:

99984327935