Research group seeks to expose weaknesses in science

[Snowdrop]

Thought it might be of interest.

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/201...ience-and-they-ll-step-some-toes-if-they-have

Excerpt:
Metaresearchers investigate how scientists operate, and how they can slip off the rails. "We've seen things that we felt were not OK," Wicherts says. "The first way to deal with it, that's our conviction, is to study these things." They're motivated by the desire to make science better, although Van Assen is drawn to the detective work. "What I like most is to solve puzzles," he says. By scrutinizing the problems, metaresearchers aim to help scientists do more robust research. Thanks to a €2 million grant from the European Research Council (ERC), for example, the Tilburg group is starting to build software that could help researchers explore data with less risk of bias.

 

[Trish]

Interesting, but it seems a pity they focus so heavily on using computer programs to analyse data. The problems with so many studies happen at a much earlier stage than the data - like the choice of inappropriate measures like the Chalder Fatigue questionnaire. It produces numbers that can be crunched by a computer, but those numbers are meaningless, or at best highly misleading.

 

[Snowdrop]

I agree. Perhaps as time goes on they might connect with another small group dedicated to digging out those types of issues for a more comprehensive critique. I just hope there is momentum here for this sort of thing.