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And that pressure to get positive results is extra high right at the beginning of scientists careers, when they should be learning best practices! They do a big
by 2spicy_thrwaway 8y ago
And that pressure to get positive results is extra high right at the beginning of scientists careers, when they should be learning best practices! They do a big project for their doctorate and if it turns out poorly, they can be screwed. There's their chance to move on with their careers flying out the window. Maybe the already had their next gig lined up, but it's time to put that on hold :( Or, maybe if we just make an extra assumption, or twist and turn the data just this way, using this model and these covariates... Oh! Here's something significant! Here's your PhD welcome to science.
- danieltillett 8y agoThe pressure doesn't stop at any stage in your scientific career. It is bad at the PhD stage (get results or no PhD), at the postdoc stage (get results or no tenure track position), at the tenure track stage (get results or no tenure), tenured (get results or no grants). About the only point you can actually slow down enough to care about quality is at the emeritus stage, but even then if you don't produce your lab will be moved into a broom cupboard.
- Fomite 8y agoOne of the things I make my students do is to try and design projects so that a myriad of answers are all potentially interesting, such that the likelihood of getting a result is high, but the particulars of the research are responsible for what that result is.
- danieltillett 8y agoYes I used to do something similar. All my students had two projects - one was high risk, but if it succeeded glory, the other boring, but no matter the result, publishable.