The scientific method revealed!!
Henry Farrell posts on a tongue-in-cheek article in PS: Political Science in Politics. As Chris Lawrence observes, the highlight of the short essay is a footnote explaining the scientific method: The scientific method consists of five steps: 1. Carefully examine the data and take note of any clear-cut patterns therein. 2) For each such pattern, ...
Henry Farrell posts on a tongue-in-cheek article in PS: Political Science in Politics. As Chris Lawrence observes, the highlight of the short essay is a footnote explaining the scientific method:
Henry Farrell posts on a tongue-in-cheek article in PS: Political Science in Politics. As Chris Lawrence observes, the highlight of the short essay is a footnote explaining the scientific method:
The scientific method consists of five steps:
1. Carefully examine the data and take note of any clear-cut patterns therein. 2) For each such pattern, formulate a hypothesis you can test statistically. 3) To avert suspicion, throw in a couple of extra hypotheses that you know are wrong. 4. Using the data from Step 1, tests these hypotheses statistically. 5. Based on the results of Step 4, proclaim that your main hypotheses have been upheld.
It’s funny because, all too often, it’s true.
Daniel W. Drezner is a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and co-host of the Space the Nation podcast. Twitter: @dandrezner
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