Experimenter's regress

Last updated

In science, experimenter's regress refers to a loop of dependence between theory and evidence. In order to judge whether evidence is erroneous we must rely on theory-based expectations, and to judge the value of competing theories we rely on evidence. Cognitive bias affects experiments, and experiments determine which theory is valid. This issue is particularly important in new fields of science where there is no community consensus regarding the relative values of various competing theories, and where sources of experimental error are not well known.

Contents

In a true scientific process, no consensus does exist and no consensus can exist as the process is conducted scientifically in the pursuit of knowledge. If any party involved in the process stands to personally lose or gain from the result, the process will be flawed and unscientific.

In a true scientific process, a theory is formed after a scientist - amateur or professional - has observed a phenomenon and has asked "why?" as a result. The theory is the answer the scientist creates using logic and reason to explain the phenomenon. The scientist then focuses on how to conduct experiments to test the theory incrementally and the theory is either proven to be true or false through repeatable and legitimate experimentation. Legitimate scientific experiments conducted by the person who formulated the theory seek to prove the theory false rather than prove it true specifically to counter the effects of bias.

If experimenter's regress acts a positive feedback system, it can be a source of pathological science. An experimenter's strong belief in a new theory produces confirmation bias, and any biased evidence they obtain then strengthens their belief in that particular theory. Neither individual researchers nor entire scientific communities are immune to this effect: see N-rays and polywater.

Experimenter's regress is a typical relativistic phenomenon in the Empirical Programme of Relativism (EPOR). EPOR is very much concerned with a focus on social interactions, by looking at particular (local) cases and controversial issues in the context in which they happen. In EPOR, all scientific knowledge is perceived to be socially constructed and is thus "not given by nature".

In his article Son of seven sexes: The Social Destruction of a Physical Phenomenon, Harry Collins argued that scientific experiments are subject to what he calls "experimenter's regress". [1] The outcome of a phenomenon that is studied for the first time is always uncertain and judgment in these situations, about what matters, requires considerable experience, tacit and practical knowledge. When a scientist runs an experiment, and a result comes out of this, he can never be sure whether this is the result he'd expected. The result looks good because he knows the experiment he conducted was right or that the results are wrong. The scientist, in other words, has to get the right answers in order to know that the experiment is working, or to know that the experiment is working, to get the right answer.

Experimenter's regress occurs at the "research frontier" where the outcome of research is uncertain, for the scientist is dealing with "novel phenomena". Collins puts it this way: "usually, successful practice of an experimental skill is evident in a successful outcome to an experiment, but where the detection of a novel phenomenon is in question, it is not clear what should count as a 'successful outcome' – detection or non detection of the phenomenon" (Collins 1981: 34). In new fields of research where no paradigm has yet evolved and where no consensus exists as what counts as proper research, experimenter's regress is a problem that often occurs. Also in situations where there is much controversy over a discovery or claim due to opposing interests, dissenters will often question experimental evidence that founds a theory. [2]

Because for Collins, all scientific knowledge is socially constructed, there are no purely cognitive reasons or objective criteria that determine whether a claim is valid or not. The regress must be broken by "social negotiation" between scientists in the respective field. In the case of Gravitational Radiation, Collins notices that Weber, the scientist who is said to have discovered the phenomenon, could refute all the critique and had "a technical answer for every other point" but he was not able to convince other scientists and in the end he was not taken seriously anymore. [2]

The problems that come with "experimenter's regress" can never be fully avoided because scientific outcomes in EPOR are seen as negotiable and socially constructed. Acceptance of claims boils down to persuasion of other people in the community. Experimenter's regress can always become a problem in a world where "the natural world in no way constrains what is believed to be". Moreover, attempts to falsify a claim, by replicating an experiment, are hard and problematic for it involves tacit knowledge (i.e. unarticulated knowledge), matters of time and money and replication of exact similar conditions, which is hard. Tacit knowledge can never be fully articulated or translated into a set of rules.

Some commentators have argued that Collins's "experimenter's regress" is foreshadowed by Sextus Empiricus' argument that "if we shall judge the intellects by the senses, and the senses by the intellect, this involves circular reasoning inasmuch as it is required that the intellects should be judged first in order that the intellects may be tested [hence] we possess no means by which to judge objects" (quoted after Godin & Gingras 2002: 140). Others have extended Collins's argument to the cases of theoretical practice ("theoretician's regress"; Kennefick 2000) and computer simulation studies ("simulationist's regress"; Gelfert 2011; Tolk 2017).

See also

Related Research Articles

In science and history, consilience is the principle that evidence from independent, unrelated sources can "converge" on strong conclusions. That is, when multiple sources of evidence are in agreement, the conclusion can be very strong even when none of the individual sources of evidence is significantly so on its own. Most established scientific knowledge is supported by a convergence of evidence: if not, the evidence is comparatively weak, and there will probably not be a strong scientific consensus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Empirical research</span> Research using empirical evidence

Empirical research is research using empirical evidence. It is also a way of gaining knowledge by means of direct and indirect observation or experience. Empiricism values some research more than other kinds. Empirical evidence can be analyzed quantitatively or qualitatively. Quantifying the evidence or making sense of it in qualitative form, a researcher can answer empirical questions, which should be clearly defined and answerable with the evidence collected. Research design varies by field and by the question being investigated. Many researchers combine qualitative and quantitative forms of analysis to better answer questions that cannot be studied in laboratory settings, particularly in the social sciences and in education.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Observation</span> Active acquisition of information from a primary source

Observation in the natural sciences is an act or instance of noticing or perceiving and the acquisition of information from a primary source. In living beings, observation employs the senses. In science, observation can also involve the perception and recording of data via the use of scientific instruments. The term may also refer to any data collected during the scientific activity. Observations can be qualitative, that is, only the absence or presence of a property is noted, or quantitative if a numerical value is attached to the observed phenomenon by counting or measuring.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scientific method</span> Interplay between observation, experiment and theory in science

The scientific method is an empirical method for acquiring knowledge that has characterized the development of science since at least the 17th century It involves careful observation, applying rigorous skepticism about what is observed, given that cognitive assumptions can distort how one interprets the observation. It involves formulating hypotheses, via induction, based on such observations; the testability of hypotheses, experimental and the measurement-based statistical testing of deductions drawn from the hypotheses; and refinement of the hypotheses based on the experimental findings. These are principles of the scientific method, as distinguished from a definitive series of steps applicable to all scientific enterprises.

Confirmation bias is the tendency to search for, interpret, favor, and recall information in a way that confirms or supports one's prior beliefs or values. People display this bias when they select information that supports their views, ignoring contrary information, or when they interpret ambiguous evidence as supporting their existing attitudes. The effect is strongest for desired outcomes, for emotionally charged issues, and for deeply entrenched beliefs. Confirmation bias is insuperable for most people, but they can manage it, for example, by education and training in critical thinking skills.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Experiment</span> Scientific procedure performed to validate a hypothesis

An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs when a particular factor is manipulated. Experiments vary greatly in goal and scale but always rely on repeatable procedure and logical analysis of the results. There also exist natural experimental studies.

Hindsight bias, also known as the knew-it-all-along phenomenon or creeping determinism, is the common tendency for people to perceive past events as having been more predictable than they were.

In social psychology, group polarization refers to the tendency for a group to make decisions that are more extreme than the initial inclination of its members. These more extreme decisions are towards greater risk if individuals' initial tendencies are to be risky and towards greater caution if individuals' initial tendencies are to be cautious. The phenomenon also holds that a group's attitude toward a situation may change in the sense that the individuals' initial attitudes have strengthened and intensified after group discussion, a phenomenon known as attitude polarization.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harry Collins</span> British sociologist of science (born 1943)

Harry Collins, FLSW, is a British sociologist of science at the School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University, Wales. In 2012 he was elected a Fellow of the British Academy. In 2013, he was elected a Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales.

Computational science, also known as scientific computing, technical computing or scientific computation (SC), is a division of science that uses advanced computing capabilities to understand and solve complex physical problems. This includes

Belief bias is the tendency to judge the strength of arguments based on the plausibility of their conclusion rather than how strongly they support that conclusion. A person is more likely to accept an argument that supports a conclusion that aligns with their values, beliefs and prior knowledge, while rejecting counter arguments to the conclusion. Belief bias is an extremely common and therefore significant form of error; we can easily be blinded by our beliefs and reach the wrong conclusion. Belief bias has been found to influence various reasoning tasks, including conditional reasoning, relation reasoning and transitive reasoning.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scientific modelling</span> Scientific activity that produces models

Scientific modelling is an activity that produces models representing empirical objects, phenomena, and physical processes, to make a particular part or feature of the world easier to understand, define, quantify, visualize, or simulate. It requires selecting and identifying relevant aspects of a situation in the real world and then developing a model to replicate a system with those features. Different types of models may be used for different purposes, such as conceptual models to better understand, operational models to operationalize, mathematical models to quantify, computational models to simulate, and graphical models to visualize the subject.

The following outline is provided as a topical overview of science; the discipline of science is defined as both the systematic effort of acquiring knowledge through observation, experimentation and reasoning, and the body of knowledge thus acquired, the word "science" derives from the Latin word scientia meaning knowledge. A practitioner of science is called a "scientist". Modern science respects objective logical reasoning, and follows a set of core procedures or rules to determine the nature and underlying natural laws of all things, with a scope encompassing the entire universe. These procedures, or rules, are known as the scientific method.

Evidence for a proposition is what supports the proposition. It is usually understood as an indication that the supported proposition is true. What role evidence plays and how it is conceived varies from field to field.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Criticism of science</span> Critical observation of science

Criticism of science addresses problems within science in order to improve science as a whole and its role in society. Criticisms come from philosophy, from social movements like feminism, and from within science itself.

The decline effect may occur when scientific claims receive decreasing support over time. The term was first described by parapsychologist Joseph Banks Rhine in the 1930s to describe the disappearing of extrasensory perception (ESP) of psychic experiments conducted by Rhine over the course of study or time. In its more general term, Cronbach, in his review article of science "Beyond the two disciplines of scientific psychology" referred to the phenomenon as "generalizations decay." The term was once again used in a 2010 article by Jonah Lehrer published in The New Yorker.

Motivated reasoning is a cognitive and social response in which individuals, consciously or unconsciously, allow emotion-loaded motivational biases to affect how new information is perceived. Individuals tend to favor evidence that coincides with their current beliefs and reject new information that contradicts them, despite contrary evidence.

Causal inference is the process of determining the independent, actual effect of a particular phenomenon that is a component of a larger system. The main difference between causal inference and inference of association is that causal inference analyzes the response of an effect variable when a cause of the effect variable is changed. The study of why things occur is called etiology, and can be described using the language of scientific causal notation. Causal inference is said to provide the evidence of causality theorized by causal reasoning.

An argument from authority, also called an appeal to authority, or argumentum ad verecundiam, is a form of argument in which the mere fact that an influential figure holds a certain position is used as evidence that the position itself is correct. While it is not a valid form of logical proof, it is a practical and sound way of obtaining knowledge that is generally likely to be correct when the authority is real, pertinent, and universally accepted.

References

  1. ↑ H.M. Collins (1981). "'Son of seven sexes', The Social Destruction of a Physical Phenomenon". Social Studies of Science. 11 (1): 33–62. doi:10.1177/030631278101100103. S2CID   145126667.
  2. 1 2 Koertge, Noretta (1998). A house built on sand : exposing postmodernist myths about science. Oxford University Press. pp.  151–165. ISBN   978-0195117264.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.