Thursday, January 10, 2013

Overly Honest Methods

I'm so happy to see the hilarious #OverlyHonestMethods Twitter hashtag has gone viral, as evidenced by recent coverage by Huffington PostThe TelegraphScientific Americanio9, and Boing Boing.

Newsy Science points out the potential "troubling" side of being overly honest...


I understand the potential for controversy when questionable scientific practices verge on the side of being deceptive or otherwise demonstrate a lack of integrity. Yet I think more good than bad can come out of airing out some of the silly and honest aspects, albeit sarcastically, about how real science is done. If anything, it reminds us that scientists are humans too.  It's comforting to know that we all get lazy, take shortcuts or unintentionally make mistakes sometimes.

A perfect experiment is an impossibility, and part of being a good scientist and researcher is knowing how to identify and avoid, or at least acknowledge, all the messy complications and difficulties that come with experimental work.

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