Science Fictions: How Fraud, Bias, Negligence, and Hype Undermine the Search for Truth

by Stuart Ritchie

Trying to correct for bias in science by injecting an equal and opposite dose of bias only compounds the problem, and potentially invites a vicious cycle of ever-increasing division between different ideological camps. Not only that but the suggestion that scientists should feel proud to let their ideological views impinge on their research seems to offend against both the Mertonian norms of disinterestedness (since it involves allowing non-scientific concerns to encroach on research) and universalism (since it might involve holding scientific arguments to a different standard depending on the political affiliation of their source). The reason that Gerry McCartney decided to declare his Socialist Party membership on his paper about Margaret Thatcher is because it would have been embarrassing – given the paper’s scientific conclusions, which were very much in line with Socialist Party ideology – if it had come out after publication. Even where they’re not as directly relevant to the study as in that case, scientists should regard merging their political beliefs with their science with the same sense of embarrassment.