All these projects seem beneficial. I hadn’t heard of any of them, so thanks for pointing them out. It’s useful to frame this as “research on research,” in that it’s subject to the same challenges with reproducibility, and with aligning empirical data with theoretical predictions to develop a paradigm, as in any other field of science. Hence, I support the work, while being skeptical of whether such interventions will be useful and potent enough to make a positive change.
The reason I brought this up is that the conversation on improving the productivity of science seems to focus almost exclusively on problems with publishing and reproducibility, while neglecting the skill-building and internal-knowledge aspects of scientific research. Scientists seem to get a feel through their interactions with their colleagues for who is trustworthy and capable, and who is not. Without taking into account the sociology of science, it’s hard to know whether measures taken to address problems with publishing and reproducibility will be focusing on the mechanisms by which progress can best be accelerated.
Honest, hardworking academic STEM PIs seem to struggle with money and labor shortages. Why isn’t there more money flowing into academic scientific research? Why aren’t more people becoming scientists?
The lack of money in STEM academia seems to me a consequence of politics. Why is there political reluctance to fund academic science at higher levels? Is academia to blame for part of this reluctance, or is the reason purely external to academia? I don’t know the answers to these questions, but they seem important to address.
Why don’t more people strive to become academic STEM scientists? Partly, industry draws them away with better pay. Part of the fault lies in our school system, although I really don’t know what exactly we should change. And part of the fault is probably in our cultural attitudes toward STEM.
Many of the pro-reproducibility measures seem to assume that the fastest road to better science is to make more efficient use of what we already have. I would also like to see us figure out a way to produce more labor and capital in this industry. To be clear, I mean that I would like to see fewer people going into non-STEM fields—I am personally comfortable with viewing people’s decision to go into many non-STEM fields as a form of failure to achieve their potential. That failure isn’t necessarily their fault. It might be the fault of how we’ve set up our school, governance, cultural or economic system.
All these projects seem beneficial. I hadn’t heard of any of them, so thanks for pointing them out. It’s useful to frame this as “research on research,” in that it’s subject to the same challenges with reproducibility, and with aligning empirical data with theoretical predictions to develop a paradigm, as in any other field of science. Hence, I support the work, while being skeptical of whether such interventions will be useful and potent enough to make a positive change.
The reason I brought this up is that the conversation on improving the productivity of science seems to focus almost exclusively on problems with publishing and reproducibility, while neglecting the skill-building and internal-knowledge aspects of scientific research. Scientists seem to get a feel through their interactions with their colleagues for who is trustworthy and capable, and who is not. Without taking into account the sociology of science, it’s hard to know whether measures taken to address problems with publishing and reproducibility will be focusing on the mechanisms by which progress can best be accelerated.
Honest, hardworking academic STEM PIs seem to struggle with money and labor shortages. Why isn’t there more money flowing into academic scientific research? Why aren’t more people becoming scientists?
The lack of money in STEM academia seems to me a consequence of politics. Why is there political reluctance to fund academic science at higher levels? Is academia to blame for part of this reluctance, or is the reason purely external to academia? I don’t know the answers to these questions, but they seem important to address.
Why don’t more people strive to become academic STEM scientists? Partly, industry draws them away with better pay. Part of the fault lies in our school system, although I really don’t know what exactly we should change. And part of the fault is probably in our cultural attitudes toward STEM.
Many of the pro-reproducibility measures seem to assume that the fastest road to better science is to make more efficient use of what we already have. I would also like to see us figure out a way to produce more labor and capital in this industry. To be clear, I mean that I would like to see fewer people going into non-STEM fields—I am personally comfortable with viewing people’s decision to go into many non-STEM fields as a form of failure to achieve their potential. That failure isn’t necessarily their fault. It might be the fault of how we’ve set up our school, governance, cultural or economic system.