Apologies for cross-posting.
The Philomathia Research Fellows at the University of Cambridge are
delighted to invite you to the second talk of the 2021-2022 Philomathia
Social Sciences Seminar Series, given by Dr Nicole Nelson, Associate
Professor in the Department of Medical History and Bioethics, University of
Wisconsin=E2=80=93Madison. To register, visit:
https://cam-ac-uk.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJAufuCrqjwpHNUTKqUEqGAnPEReRrxf=
EB6U
PHILOMATHIA SOCIAL SCIENCES
Title: What does it mean when experiments fail? Attending to
positionality in the =E2=80=98replication crisis'
Speaker: Dr Nicole Nelson (University of Wisconsin-Madison)
When: 17.00-18.30 (GMT)/11:00 am (CDT), Tuesday 26 October
Abstract:
The idea of replication=E2=80=94that one scientist should be able to get th=
e same
results as another if they follow the same methods=E2=80=94is central to th=
e
scientific method. While replication is straightforward in theory, it is
complicated in practice because an unexpected result can have many sources:
The second scientist may not have as much skill in the technique as the
first, the second experiment may be different in some small but important
way, a reagent might have an impurity, or the original results may have
been incorrect. This uncertainty is especially deep in cases where the
experiments are performed by students, who are by definition still learning
to conduct experiments. Drawing on a set of interviews with 37 graduate
students about their experiences of failing to replicate a result, we show
how students tend to resolve this uncertainty by blaming themselves rather
than questioning prior findings. These attributions of error are shaped by
their identities as students but intersect with other identities, and we
explore how race, class, and gender also appear in students=E2=80=99
narratives. This default towards dismissal has important implications for
understanding knowledge production in the biomedical sciences, where
students generate most experimental results in many fields. Recent reports
of low rates of replication in areas such as cancer biology have taken many
by surprise, but the interpretive framework we describe here helps explain
how high rates of irreproducibility may have been hiding in plain sight for
some time, disguised as student error. This framework also helps explain
the historical specificities of the emergence of the =E2=80=9Creproducibili=
ty
crisis,=E2=80=9D which was catalyzed by reports of failures to replicate fr=
om
industry scientists rather than academic laboratories.
Bio:
Nicole Nelson is Associate Professor in the Department of Medical History
and Bioethics, University of Wisconsin=E2=80=93Madison. Her research examin=
es
scientists=E2=80=99 assumptions about the natural world and how these assum=
ptions
shape scientific practice. In her book, Model Behavior, she explores how
animal behavior geneticists=E2=80=99 beliefs about the complexity of gene a=
ction
and of psychiatric disorders are reflected in their research with mouse
models. Her current project focuses on the =E2=80=9Creproducibility crisis,=
=E2=80=9D a
recent phenomenon where scientists have discovered that many established
findings are difficult or impossible to replicate on subsequent
investigation.
To register, visit:
https://cam-ac-uk.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJAufuCrqjwpHNUTKqUEqGAnPEReRrxf=
EB6U
We look forward to seeing you there,
Ignacia, Juan, Kasia and Debangana
Philomathia Research Fellows, University of Cambridge
Dr Ignacia Arteaga
Research Fellow and Affiliated Lecturer,
Department of Social Anthropology, University of Cambridge.
Research Fellow, Robinson College.
