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Message: <blockquote data-quote="dragonlordofpoondari" data-source="post: 3670232" data-attributes="member: 42088">Big undulating flag. In fact, social scientists are uniquely equipped to conduct these interview-based studies since that is precisely the kind of research in which they specialize. It is what they go to graduate school to train for, and it is part and parcel of the social scientist's career.As far as biologists go, population ecologists & bioinformatitions tend to be good at statistics, but I've encountered an alarming number of PhDs at the upper echelon of biology (we're talking Howard Hughes Labs, Academy members' labs, top graduate/medical schools etc) who can barely calculate standard deviation. Some of them can't even calculate molarity to mix up their own solutions!!! That was what, freshman chemistry? Sad but true. [RANT FOLLOWS]What's more, I won't go into the amount of faked data I've seen published in top journals because the stakes are so damned high in biology (I'm talking about money, here, folks). I wish this was hyperbole, but the funding system in science today almost encourages faking data if your repuation and lab budget and survival depend on it. Funding is based on big ideas, big phenotypes, and following through to make the big discoveries ... instead of negative results which are a normal and healthy part of practicing good science.Even if a paper comes out of a Nobel laureate's lab, you can't trust it until the experiments are repeated by an impartial 3rd party. Unfortunately, double-checking the experiments of others doesn't garner kleos (honor) like doing your own cutting edge research. It is just not sexy research and therefore not a huge priority. So faked data often won't get caught for years. Ug.At least the scientific method is noble in intent ...[/RANT]My point here? Don't believe everything you read ... even if it's coming from a very reputable source. Politics are everywhere.</blockquote>

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