Background Video
What is the scientific method? And can we trust it?
What do YOU think? Do you trust science and scientists? If so, why?
In this session, we discuss how science works in general and some reasons we may find ourselves (dis)trusting science. We discuss issues surrounding the justification of knowledge and the scientific enterprise as well as the replication crisis in psychology (see below).
As preparation, please watch Naomi Oreskes’ TED talk “Why we should trust scientists” (ca. 20 minutes) to learn more about the scientific method(s) and her thoughts on whether this ensures the trustworthiness of science and scientists.
Required Reading
As discussed in the introductory session, the behavioral sciences, such as psychology, have been in the news in the past few years for the wrong reasons - think “replication crisis”! But what should we be doing to change the status quo? Read the paper by Munafò et al. (2017) (ca. 60 minutes) to learn about some possible solutions.
Munafò, M. R., Nosek, B. A., Bishop, D. V. M., Button, K. S., Chambers, C. D., Sert, du, N. P., et al. (2017). A manifesto for reproducible science. Nature Human Behaviour, 1, 1–9. http://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-016-0021
Session Slides