xkcd #3101: Good Science
xkcd #3101: Good Science
Title text:
If you think curiosity without rigor is bad, you should see rigor without curiosity.
Transcript:
[Miss Lenhart is standing in front of a whiteboard with some scribbles on it.]Miss Lenhart: I'm supposed to give you the tools to do good science.
[Miss Lenhart is now standing in front of Jill and Cueball, who are seated at classroom desks.]Miss Lenhart: But what are those tools?Miss Lenhart: Methodology is hard and there are so many ways to get incorrect results.Miss Lenhart: What is the magic ingredient that makes for good science?
[Miss Lenhart headshot.]Miss Lenhart: To figure it out, I ran a regression with all the factors people say are important:[A list, presented in a sub-panel that Miss Lenhart is pointing to:]Outcome variable:
- correct scientific results
Predictors:
- collaboration
- skepticism of others' claims
- questioning your own beliefs
- trying to falsify hypotheses
- checking citations
- statistical rigor
- blinded analysis
- financial disclosure
- open data[presumably the list goes on, as it runs off the visible part of the panel]
[Another Miss Lenhart headshot.]Miss Lenhart: The regression says two ingredients are the most crucial:
- genuine curiosity about the answer to a question, and
- ammonium hydroxide
[Miss Lenhart, standing, and Jill, seated at desk]Jill: Wait, why did ammonia score so high? How did it even get on the list?Miss Lenhart: ...and now you're doing good science!
Source: https://xkcd.com/3101/