Persuading Scientists

In many people's eyes, the ability for animals to be able to behave 'naturally' is essential for their welfare. However, animals do not necessarily want to do behaviour just because it is 'natural' or is seen in wild animals. Being chased by a predator is not necessarily good for welfare. Natural behaviour is important because it gives us a baseline for what animals might want to do but it cannot define good welfare on its own. It has to be validated in exactly the same way as other behavioural correlates of welfare, as either contributing to health or being what the animals want to do.

Utilizing a multi-paradigmatic approach in considering the scientific methodology of mainstream financial economics, and suggesting improvements, this book identifies eleven biases of the scientific methodology of mainstream financial economics, namely: intellectual bias, local bias, fad bias, ideological bias, automaticity bias, confirmation bias, cultural bias, stereotyping bias, under-productivity bias, homogeneity bias, and isolation bias.

The idea that there is a fundamental rift between researchers and practitioners should not come as a surprise to anyone familiar with the current literature, trends, and general feelings in the field of clinical psychology. Central to this scientist-practitioner gap is an underlying disagreement over the nature of knowledge - namely that while some individuals point to research studies as the foundation of truth, others argue that clinical experience offers a more adequate understanding of the causes, assessment, and treatment of mental illness. The Great Ideas of Clinical Science is an ambitious attempt to dig beneath these fundamental differences, and reintroduce the reader to unifying principles often overlooked by students and professionals alike. The editors have identified 17 such universals, and have pulled together a group of the most prolific minds in the field to present the philosophical, methodological, and conceptual ideas that define the state of the field. Each chapter focuses on practical as well as conceptual points, offering valuable insight to practicing clinicians, researchers, and teachers of any level of experience. Written for student, practitioner, researcher, and educated layperson, this integrative volume aims to facilitate communication among all mental health professionals and to narrow the scientist-practitioner gap.

With alarming stories drawn from the public record, McGarity and Wagner describe how advocates attempt to bend science or 'spin' findings. They reveal an immense range of tools available to shrewd partisans determined to manipulate research.

Read Journalist Zola Levitt’s fascinating interview with Dr. Moore, professor of natural science at Michigan State University and see how it can help you. Dr. Moore is a professor who dares to expose his students to both the creation and evolution models… then lets them draw their own conclusions about origins. Though he once used only evolution to explain the origin of the universe, after years of study he now asks some pointed questions: 1. Is it really scientific to call the evolution model a “theory” or a “hypothesis”? 2. How does it affect school children when evolution is taught as fact? 3. Does the way we believe about how man got here on earth make any difference in how we treat other people? 4. Is it really fair to say that the creation model is a purely religious or philosophical belief? Isn’t belief in evolution also a system of faith? A truly thought-provoking interview with a noted scientist.

Social theory can usefully be conceived in terms of four key paradigms: functionalist, interpretive, radical humanist and radical structuralist. The four paradigms are founded upon different assumptions about the nature of society and each generates distinctive theories, concepts and analytical tools. Finance theory is based on the functionalist paradigm and for the most part finance theorists are unaware of the philosophical tradition to which they belong. By relating finance to the four paradigms, Ardalan's work offers a concise understanding of the multifaceted nature of finance. He recommends theorists adopt a diversity of paradigms and discusses its benefits by application to the following phenomena: the development of academic finance, the mathematical language of academic finance, the mathematics of academic finance, money, corporate governance, markets, technology and education.