“The Ultimate Protection Against Research Error And Bias Is Supposed To Come From The Way Scientists Constantly Re-Test Each Other’s Results.” To What Extent Would You Agree With This Claim In The Natural Sciences And The Human Sciences?

Páginas: 7 (1747 palabras) Publicado: 11 de noviembre de 2012
“The ultimate protection against research error and bias is supposed to come from the way scientists constantly re-test each other’s results.” To what extent would you agree with this claim in the natural sciences and the human sciences?
The reason why experts continue to re-test their studies lays in the fact that we as human beings are never fulfilled with the results that have been reachedbecause of the bias of the researcher himself or that which exist in the different cultures where the study was carried out. This usually happens because of an unreachable perfection that we as humans will never achieve. This fault will always lead to research errors, and thus the retesting of them is necessary. In order to evaluate this statement there will be a thorough analysis of how re-testingprotects research from bias and research errors in the areas of natural and social sciences. The extent to which this claim is true for natural sciences is indefinite because in the case of the laws that have been proven to be absolute (ej. F=ma) the retesting still goes on to find the exception, but in the case of theories who’s results have not been absolute then the retesting continues untilthere are no exceptions to be found. In the case of social sciences the extent to which the claim we parted from is true is up to the point when we reach a change in different perspectives between individuals. Within this perspective its important to take into account if bias and research errors affect the scientific facts as well as if re-testing results protects scientific evidence from theresearch error and bias. A last essential question to take into account is if there are different approaches that affect natural and social sciences with their respective bias and research errors in their research.
I would define research error as the lack of exactitude when trying to prove a scientific fact. I executed a lab with the objective to test the movement of an object in the air, theresults of such a test, were not exact because I didn’t take into account the resistance of the air. In addition the tools that I used were inaccurate, for example, the ruler didn’t measure beyond centimeters so I would have to estimate the gap between millimeters, making the results less than a hundred percent accurate. On the other hand I would define bias as what we prefer over something or someoneelse based on our knowledge on the subject or the previous experience we’ve had. For instance when I see an old truck I instantly think that it has an obsolete suspension, that the engine is old and as a result the car is going to be very slow, but that is just what my bias’s influence. What I’m not aware of is the fact that the engine might have had been checked recently and it’s suspensionrecently renewed. Due to this I also find that bias has a string connection with our judgment. According to the Webster dictionary “bias is prejudice (which supports my connection) in favor of or against one thing, person, or group compared with another, usually in a way considered to be unfair” (Webster Dictionary parr. 1). Research error on the other hand occurs because of sampling, which is definedas, “the deviation of the selected sample from the true characteristics, traits, behaviors, qualities or figures of the entire population” (Castillo parr. 1).
The scientific method has multiple steps to follow but you must modify your hypothesis until you can prove it and it has no exceptions and your results become a law. In the XVI Galileo Galilei stated the law of gravity saying that objectsaccelerate more with greater weight and about 20 years after that Newton proved him wrong. He stated that objects increase velocity with the same acceleration no matter their weight with the exception of the effect that air resistance has on the object; therefore changing its acceleration. This supports my previous statement that re-tests does protect scientific facts from research error and bias...
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