‘Publish or Perish’ and the Small Sample-Size Problem

Science has progressed much by using the experimental method, because it allows us to control many of the important variables including they key independent variable, and it allows us to randomly assign subjects to the treatment or control group, so we can control for confounding variables. I will give a short intro to the experimental...

Why Do Scientists Engage in Fraud, and What Can We Do About It?

In the last few years many cases of scientific fraud have been uncovered. Fraud is defined as: “Wrongful or criminal deception intended to result in financial or personal gain” by the Oxford Dictionary. In the case of scientific papers several forms of fraud are imaginable, such as deliberately citing other sources wrongly in the theory...

Will History Become History?

Leiden, a.d. XV Kal. Iun. MMDCCLXIX A.U.C., For the umpteenth time there is a discussion going on in The Netherlands about whether the course History should be abolished on schools. Even though I am a history freak myself, I have worked as a research assistant for several historical research projects and I read several history books...

Kuhn and Popper: Reuniting the Giants

Leiden, a.d. VIII id. Dec. MMDCCLXVIII A.U.C., In the modern philosophy of science there are two giants, Kuhn and Popper. Popper argued that we can only gain knowledge by refuting theories, and not through confirming them. The most famous example is the black swan. You have a theory that all swans are white, and you...