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Unit 1:
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Interlude A
Unit 2:
Ch. 4
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Ch. 7
Ch. 8
Ch. 9
Interlude B
Unit 3:
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Interlude C
Unit 4:
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Interlude D
Unit 5:
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Ch. 25
Interlude E

Americans Love Competition — Is It Pushing Scientists Too Far?

4/6/2006 University of Michigan Health System

Instances of serious scientific misconduct are uncovered perhaps a dozen times a year. Is that all there is? A University of Michigan ethicist and his colleagues have just published a paper examining this question. The authors surveyed the people who know science best — its researchers.

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Active Reading Questions

  1. Science has a set of “rules” by which scientists approach problems. This set of “rules” is called the scientific method. Which of the following are components of the scientific method?
    a) making observations
    b) forming hypotheses about observations
    c) generating predictions from a hypothesis
    d) testing the predictions
    e) all of the above
  2. Hypotheses gain additional support when their predictions are tested again and again. This replication, or reproduction of results, may be carried out by the original scientists, but more often, other scientists try to repeat the experiments and gain the same results. The more reliably reproduced the results are, the closer the scientists are to finding the truth. According to the article, failure to reproduce results is one way scientists “misbehave.” Which of the following also contribute to scientists “misbehaving”?
    a) Failure to follow the “rules” of science or misapplication of the scientific method
    b) Incorrect analysis of the data from their experiments
    c) competition among scientists
    d) all of the above
  3. Professor Oops performs biological research on aphids at the National University of Arthropoda. Aphids are known to attack iris plants and kill them. Oops receives funding from the National Iris Society to find an organic pesticide to kill aphids on iris. He believes he has isolated a chemical from ladybug saliva that, in large doses, kills aphids without harming beneficial insects. In his initial study, two of his trials worked flawlessly, but one trial did not work at all. He assumes that the trial that did not work provided erroneous data and reports to the Iris Society that the chemical is effective against aphids. What hypothesis was Professor Oops working from? How did Professor Oops “misbehave” in doing these experiments?
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