![]() GOP Earmark Ban Shifts Clout Jonathan Weisman 2010īouchet said data was collected using both academic and traditional methods such as dredging and trawling, diving and deep-water nets which Panglao fishermen traditionally use. Lawmakers may still say how money is budgeted generally for activities such as dredging, but by banning earmarks - specific projects funded as a result of lawmakers ' requests - they won ' t be able to direct cash to individual districts or states. Sixty thousand cubic yards of silt and sand is to be removed in the inner-harbor dredging, which is expected to cost about $2 million. Tim Havens, longtime president of the anti- dredging group CEASE, cited the shortcomings in calling the dredging a "miserable failure." It's a pure case of data dredging, which is when statisticians take a huge compilation of data and manipulate the numbers to include only those which verify some hypothesis they set out to prove. The dredging was a test run for the far larger Phase 2 of the cleanup, which regulators want to start in 2011. Stories of Great Inventors Fulton, Whitney, Morse, Cooper, Edison Hattie E. Negative brainwaves cannot be easily tested, and therefore the deflection causes a fallacy.He invented a mill for sawing marble, a machine for spinning flax, another for scooping out earth, called a dredging machine, and several kinds of canal boats. The air conditioning unit hypothesis can be tested very easily, simply by switching it off, and was a result of experimental flaw. ![]() This is part of the normal scientific process, and is part of refining the research design rather than trying to move the goalposts.Īd hoc analysis is only a problem when a non-testable ad hoc hypothesis is added to the results to justify failure and deflect criticisms. This is switched off when the experiment is running and they retest the hypothesis. Whilst attempting to eliminate any potential confounding variables, they discover that the air conditioning unit is faulty, transmitting vibrations through the lab. Imagine, for example, that a research group was conducting an experiment into water turbulence, but kept receiving strange results, disproving their hypothesis. The insanely stupid Water4Gas scam works along the same principles – when researchers pointed out that the whole idea revolves around the principle of perpetual motion, they invented another ad hoc hypothesis to explain where the ‘money saving’ energy came from.Īd hoc analysis is not always a bad thing, and can often be part of the process of refining research. This, of course, is impossible to prove and so the ad hoc analysis conveniently removes the pseudo-science from the debate. Often, astrologers presented with contrary evidence will blame the results upon some ‘unknown’ astrological phenomenon. Every time that scientific research debunks the theory, the adherents move the goal posts, inventing some other underlying reason to explain the results. The idea of biorhythms, where the body and mind are affected by deep and regular cycles unrelated to biological circadian rhythms, has long been viewed with skepticism. This ad hoc analysis would need the brain waves of the onlookers to be also tested and eliminated, moving the goalpost and creating a fallacy. ![]() This is simply trying to deflect criticism and failure by throwing out other, completely random reasons. Upon finding that the experiment did not give positive results, they blame the negative brain waves given out by others. The oft-quoted example of an ad hoc analysis is of a paranormal investigator investigating psychic waves, under scientific conditions. The research needs to be redesigned or refined before the hypothesis can be tested again.Īmongst pseudo-scientists, an ad hoc hypothesis is often appended, in an attempt to justify why the expected results were not obtained.Īn often quoted example of an ad hoc analysis is of a paranormal investigator investigating psychic waves, under scientific conditions. The scientific method dictates that, if a hypothesis is rejected, then that is final.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |