swans white? Falsifiability or refutability of an assertion, hypothesis or theory is the logical ... Two meanings of falsifiability editor1 first H. editor1 last Seiffert editor2 first G. editor2 ... chose falsifiability as the name of this criterion. For example, the statement All swans are white ... possible. Falsifiability exploits this asymmetry of deductive logic with respect to universal and existential ... are meaningless if they cannot be verified or falsified, Popper claimed that falsifiability is merely ..., in contrast to falsifiability, and thus rationality, may be comprehensive i.e., have no logical ... rationalism. Falsifiability is an important concept within the creation evolution controversy , where proponents of both sides claim that Popper developed falsifiability to denote ideas as unscientific ... science. Falsifiability has even been used in court decisions in this context as a key deciding factor ... In work beginning in the 1930s, Popper gave falsifiability a renewed emphasis as a criterion of empirical ... of demarcation. Thus, Popper urged that verifiability be replaced with falsifiability ... it. ref Logic of Scientific Discovery , section 6, footnote 3 ref Use in courts of law Falsifiability ... Bricmont criticized falsifiability on the grounds that it does not accurately describe the way ... of other theories. Their discussion of Popper, falsifiability and the philosophy of science ... all because of their successes. Sokal and Bricmont 1997, 62f They further argue that falsifiability ... for science. Examples Original research date September 2007 Claims about verifiability and falsifiability ... of falsifiability by showing us where to look when attempting to criticise a theory. Economics ... of theories is necessarily incorrect . Popper considered falsifiability a test of whether theories are scientific ... of a theory is its falsifiability, or refutability, or testability. Karl Popper , Popper, CR, 36 ... Falsyfikacja pt Falseabilidade ro Falsificabilitate ru simple Falsifiability sk Falzifik cia ... more details
In philosophy , a razor is a device which allows one to shave away unlikely explanations for a phenomenon. ref See http wordsmith.org words ockhams razor.html Occam s razor at A.Word.A.Day ref Famous razors include Occam s razor when faced with competing hypotheses, select the one that makes the fewest assumptions Falsifiability Popper s falsifiability principle a theory can only be scientific if it is falsifiable Newton s flaming laser sword what cannot be settled by experiment is not worth debating Hanlon s razor assume incompetence over malice Some philosophers have proposed anti razors . Examples include Principle of plenitude See also Occam s razor Variations Variations of Occam s razor Razor References reflist philosophy stub Category Critical thinking ... more details
Wiktionary Falsification may refer to The act of disproving a proposition, hypothesis, or theory see Falsifiability Mathematical proof Falsified evidence Falsification of history, distortion of the historical record also known as Historical revisionism negationism cpuinfo falsification , a lowest common denominator technique to provide backwards compatibility in computing Forgery , the act of producing something that lacks authenticity with the intent to commit fraud or deception Self falsification, e.g., the Liar s paradox disambiguation de Falsifikation lt Falsifikacija ja ru ... more details
Multiple issues orphan November 2006 unreferenced February 2009 notability December 2011 A term coined by Karl Popper in his famous work The Logic of Scientific Discovery to denote what he regarded as the main problem of methodology and the philosophy of science , i.e. to explain and promote the further growth of scientific knowledge. To this purpose, Popper advocated his theory of falsifiability , testability and testing. See also Falsification DEFAULTSORT Growth Of Knowledge Category Philosophy of science Category Knowledge philosophy stub ... more details
Na ve empiricism is a term used in several ways in different fields. In the philosophy of science , it is used by opponents to describe the position, associated with some logical positivist s, that knowledge can be clearly learnt through evaluation of the natural world and its substances, and, through empirical means, learn truths . ref cite book author Thomas Ernst Uebel title Overcoming Logical Positivism from Within The Emergence of Neurath s Naturalism in the Vienna Circle s Protocol Sentence Debate pages 205 year 1992 publisher Rodopi ref The term also is used to describe a particular methodology for literary analysis . ref cite book author Michael McKeon title The Origins of the English novel pages 105 109 year 1986 publisher Johns Hopkins University Press ref See also Empiricism Falsifiability especially, Falsifiability Na.C3.AFve falsification Na ve falsification References reflist DEFAULTSORT Naive Empiricism Category Empiricism Category Epistemological theories Category Metatheory of science epistemology stub ... more details
Unreferenced date August 2007 Testability , a property applying to an empirical hypothesis , involves two components 1 the logical property that is variously described as contingency , defeasibility, or falsifiability , which means that counterexample s to the hypothesis are logically possible, and 2 the practical feasibility of observing a reproducibility reproducible series of such counterexamples if they do exist. In short, a hypothesis is testable if there is some real hope of deciding whether it is true or false of real experience. Upon this property of its constituent hypotheses rests the ability to decide whether a theory can be supported or falsified by the data of actual experience. If hypotheses are tested, initial results may also be labeled inconclusive. In engineering, this refers to the capability of an equipment or system to be tested. See also Confirmability Contingency controllability observability Scientific method Software testability Further reading portal box Philosophy of science Science Karl Popper Popper, K. R. 1968 The Logic of Scientific Discovery . London Hutchinson. Thomas Kuhn Thomas S. Kuhn 1962 The Structure of Scientific Revolutions Category Logic Category Philosophy of science Category Scientific terminology fr Testabilit nl Toetsbaarheid pt Testabilidade sv Testbarhet ... more details
Unreferenced date February 2007 About the closed circle argument books titled The Closed Circle The Closed Circle disambiguation For the concept in detective fiction, see closed circle of suspects . A closed circle argument is one that is falsifiability unfalsifiable . Psychoanalytic theory, for example, is held up by the proponents of Karl Popper as an example of an ideology rather than a science . A patient regarded by his psychoanalyst as in denial about his sexual orientation may be viewed as confirming he is homosexual simply by denying that he is and if he has sex with women, he may be accused of trying to buttress his denials. In other words, there is no way the patient could convincingly demonstrate his heterosexuality to his analyst. This is an example of what Popper called a closed circle The proposition that the patient is homosexual is not falsifiable. Closed circle theory is sometimes used to denote a relativism relativist , anti realism anti realist philosophy of science, such that different groups may have different self consistent truth claims about the natural world. philosophy stub Category Philosophical arguments Category Philosophy of science sv Cirkelresonemang ja ... more details
Pseudophysics is a body of pseudoscience pseudoscientific knowledge or practice using the language of physics or discussing issues related to or pertinent to physics. Pseudophysics possess many, if not all, of the traits of pseudoscience , including the lack of falsifiability falsifiable predictions , lack of peer review , or the blatant contradiction of well established theory and experimental results. As with pseudoscience, the distinction between pseudophysics and protoscience protoscientific theories of physics is not always clear cut. See also Hypothetico deductive method Statistical hypothesis testing Theoretical physics Mathematical physics Experimental physics List of pseudoscientific theories Crackpot index References http thisquantumworld.com ht content view 24 30 Mohrhoff, Ulrich , http arxiv.org abs quant ph 0305095 Is the end in sight for theoretical pseudophysics? in New Topics in Quantum Physics Research edited by V. Krasnoholovets and F. Columbus, Nova Publishers , 2006 . Paine, Michael,, Carl Sagan s http www.xenu.net archive baloney detection.html Baloney Detection Kit . Operation Clambake. 1998. Shermer, M http www.sciam.com article.cfm?articleID 000D743A CC5C 1C6E 84A9809EC588EF21&catID 2 Baloney Detection How to draw boundaries between science and pseudoscience, Part I , Scientific American 285 5 36 36 NOV 2001 Shermer, M http www.sciam.com article.cfm?articleID 000ADC77 B274 1C6E 84A9809EC588EF21 Baloney Detection How to draw boundaries between science and pseudoscience, Part II , Scientific American 285 6 34 34 DEC 2001 Category Pseudophysics fi N enn isfysiikka ... more details
Italic title Women, Fire, and Dangerous Things What Categories Reveal About the Mind is a non fiction book by the Cognitive linguistics cognitive linguist George Lakoff . The book, first published by the University of Chicago Press in 1987, puts forward a model of cognition argued on the basis of semantics . The book emphasises the centrality of metaphor , defined as the mapping of cognitive structures from one domain onto another, in the Cognition cognitive process . Women, Fire, and Dangerous Things explores the effects of Interface metaphor cognitive metaphors , both culturally specific and human universal, on the grammar per se of several language s, and the evidence of the limitations of the classical Logical positivism logical positivist or Analytic philosophy Anglo American School philosophical concept of the category usually used to explain or describe the scientific method . Lakoff s reliance on empirical scientific evidence, i.e. specifically falsifiability falsifiable predictions. Bibliography Cite book authorlink George Lakoff last Lakoff first George year 1987 title Women, Fire, and Dangerous Things Women, Fire, and Dangerous Things What Categories Reveal About the Mind location Chicago publisher University of Chicago Press isbn 0226468038 OCLC 318171096 References unreferenced date February 2011 Reflist Category 1987 books Category Cognitive science literature Category Linguistics books Book stub ... more details
Infobox Book name The Logic of Scientific Discovery title orig Logik der Forschung translator image image caption author Karl Popper illustrator cover artist Dibakar Das country language German language German series subject Philosophy of science genre publisher Mohr Siebeck pub date 1934 english pub date 1959 media type pages isbn ISBN 3 16 148410 X oclc 62448100 preceded by followed by The Logic of Scientific Discovery is a 1934 book by Karl Popper . It was originally written in German language German and titled Logik der Forschung . Then Popper reformulated his book in English language English and republished it in 1959. This forms the rare case of a major work to appear in two languages, both written and one translated by the author instead of being translated by another person. Sir Peter Medawar called it one of the most important documents of the twentieth century. ref cite web url http www.amazon.com logic scientific discovery Raimund Popper dp product description B0007EIGGY title The Logic of Scientific Discovery Editorial Reviews accessdate 2007 09 08 ref In it, Popper argued that science should adopt a methodology based on falsifiability , because no number of experiments can ever prove a theory, but a single experiment can contradict one. Popper holds that empirical theories are characterized by falsifiability. The German version is currently in print by Mohr Siebeck ISBN 3 16 148410 X , the English one by Routledge publishers ISBN 0 415 27844 9 . Notes Reflist External links http www.routledge.com popper works logic discovery.html English version publisher s web site http www.mohr.de German version publisher s web site http books.google.com books?id Yq6xeupNStMC&dq The Logic of Scientific Discovery&source gbs navlinks s Limited preview of the book with a table of contents , Google Books DEFAULTSORT Logic Of Scientific Discovery, The Category 1934 books Logik der Forschung, Die Category 1959 books Category Analytic philosophy literature Category Philosoph ... more details
Merge to Verificationism discuss Talk Verificationism Merger proposal date September 2011 Unreferenced stub auto yes date December 2009 The verification theory of meaning is a Philosophy philosophical theory proposed by the Logical Positivism logical positivists of the Vienna Circle . A simplified form of the theory states that a proposition s meaning is determined by the method through which it is Empiricism empirically verified. In other words, if something cannot be empirically verified, it is meaningless. For example, the statement It is raining is meaningless unless there is a way whereby one could, in principle, verify whether or not it is in fact raining. The theory has radical consequences for traditional philosophy as it, if correct, would render much of past philosophical work meaningless, for example metaphysics and ethics. It is important to note that the theory is meant to be applied only to synthetic claims i.e. claims about the world , rather than analytical ones. The statement of the theory itself was taken by Ayer to be an analytic claim. See also Fields of study and principles Epistemology The philosophical study of knowledge and belief Falsifiability The possibility that an assertion may be disproved Logical Positivism A philosophical school espousing verificationism Philosophy of science Verification principle That meaningful statements should be analytic, verifiable or falsifiable Schools and individuals A.J. Ayer 1910 1986 A British logical positivist Moritz Schlick 1882 1936 The German founding father of logical positivism Vienna Circle The group around Moritz Schlick at Vienna University from 1922 Philosophy of language Philosophy topics DEFAULTSORT Verification Theory Category Theories of language Category Epistemological theories Category Logical positivism Category Vienna Circle epistemology stub da Verifikationisme fr Th orie v rificationniste de la signification nl Verificatiebeginsel fi Verifikationistinen merkitysteoria ... more details
POV check date May 2010 A just so story , also called the ad hoc fallacy , is a term used in academic anthropology , biology biological sciences , social science s, and philosophy . It describes an unverifiable and Falsifiability unfalsifiable narrative explanation for a culture cultural practice, a biological trait, or behavior of humans or other animals. The use of the term is an implicit criticism that reminds the hearer of the essentially fictional and unprovable nature of such an explanation. Such tales are common in folklore and mythology where they are known as etiological myths &mdash see etiology Historical etiology . This phrase was popularized by the publication in 1902 of Rudyard Kipling s Just So Stories , containing fictional and deliberately fanciful tales for children, in which the stories pretend to explain animal characteristics, such as the origin of the spots on the leopard. ref http www.4literature.net Rudyard Kipling How the Leopard got his Spots Rudyard Kipling, How the Leopard got his Spots in JUST SO STORIES FOR LITTLE CHILDREN, 1902 ref Some hypotheses that have been labeled as just so stories by critics do indeed have some empirical support. ref Segerstrale, Ullica 2000 . Defenders of the Truth The Battle for Science in the Sociobiology Debate and Beyond . Oxford Oxford University Press. ref ref Alcock, John 2001 . The Triumph of Sociobiology . Oxford Oxford University Press. ref See also Factoid Pourquoi story References Reflist vocab stub Category Logic Category Evolutionary biology Category Figures of speech Category Anthropology Category Social sciences Category Evolutionary psychology fr Just so story ... more details
Unreferenced date July 2007 Psychological nominalism is the view advanced in Wilfrid Sellars paper Empiricism and Philosophy of Mind EPM that explains psychological concepts in terms of public language use. Sellars describes psychological nominalism as the view that all awareness of sorts, resemblances, facts, etc., in short, all awareness is a linguistic affair. Judging solely from the mention in EPM, Psychological Nominalism would seem to be a form of Verbal Behaviorism, which holds that ascriptions of psychological states are definitionally equivalent to predictions about behavior. For example, the verbal behavior Verbal Behaviorist holds that a statement like John is scared of thunderstorms is meaningful only insofar as it can be parsed into predictions concerning the sorts of things John is likely to say and or do in the event of a thunderstom i.e. John will say, or have a propensity to say, I am scared when he hears thunder or John will hide, or have a propensity to hide, his face when he sees lightning . Psychological Nominalism extends the Verbal Behaviorist s explanation of psychological states like fear, love, desire, thinking etc. to cognitive states being aware, knowing, etc. while denying the premise that falsifiability criteria can give statements their meaning. The Psychological Nominalist concedes that survival of mental terminology in natural language can be explained in terms of the practical utility of mental state ascriptions, but denies that this constitutes an analysis of the meaning of any particular mental state ascription because the Psychological Nominalist contends that the meaning of any term, mental or otherwise, is irreducibly bound with its usage. Thus, the Verbal Behaviorist fails to give a completely philosophically satisfying account of psychological statements because he fails to recognize that the linguistic statements are themselves meaningful in light of the kinds of behavior associated with them. Category Epistemological theori ... more details
Refimprove date January 2009 Conjectures and Refutations The Growth of Scientific Knowledge is a book by philosopher Karl Popper . Published in 1963 by Routledge , ref Karl R. Popper, Conjectures and Refutations The Growth of Scientific Knowledge , Routledge, 2003 ISBN 0415285941 ref it is a collection of his lectures and papers that summarised his thoughts on the philosophy of science . Popper suggested that all scientific theories are by nature conjectures and inherently fallible, and that refutation to old theory is the paramount process of scientific discovery. Should any new theory survive more of such refutations, it would have a higher verisimilitude and therefore, Popper concluded, closer to truth. Conjectures and Refutations is one of Karl Popper s most wide ranging and popular works, notable not only for its acute insight into the way scientific knowledge grows, but also for applying those insights to politics and to history. It provides one of the clearest and most accessible statements of the fundamental idea that guided his work not only our knowledge, but our aims and our standards, grow through an unending process of trial and error. Popper demonstrates how knowledge grows by guesses or conjectures and tentative solutions, which must then be subjected to critical tests. Although they may survive any number of tests, our conjectures remain conjectures, they can never be established as true. What makes Conjectures and Refutations such an enduring book is that Popper goes on to apply this bold theory of the growth of knowledge to a fascinating range of important problems, including the role of tradition, the origin of the scientific method, the demarcation between science and metaphysics, the body mind problem, the way we use language, how we understand history, and the dangers of public opinion. Throughout the book, Popper stresses the importance of our ability to learn from our mistakes. See also Falsifiability Instrumentalism Notes and references refl ... more details
The Parable of the Invisible Gardener is a tale told John Wisdom John Wisdom s it was later developed in the university debate, by Anthony Flew who made a few changes such as changing the gardeners to explorers. It is often used to illustrate the perceived differences between assertions based on faith and assertions based on scientific evidence , and the problems associated with falsifiability unfalsifiable beliefs. The main point of the parable is that religious believers do not allow anybody to falsify thier assertions, instead they simply change thier beliefs to suit the questioner. This is why for Flew religoius believers cause God to Die the death of a thousand qualifications The tale runs as follows blockquote Two people return to their long neglected garden and find, among the weeds, that a few of the old plants are surprisingly vigorous. One says to the other, It must be that a gardener has been coming and doing something about these weeds. The other disagrees and an argument ensues. They pitch their tents and set a watch. No gardener is ever seen. The believer wonders if there is an invisible gardener, so they patrol with bloodhounds but the bloodhounds never give a cry. Yet the believer remains unconvinced, and insists that the gardener is invisible, has no scent and gives no sound. The skeptic doesn t agree, and asks how a so called invisible, intangible, elusive gardener differs from an imaginary gardener, or even no gardener at all. blockquote In the later additions of Flew, there is the addition of infra red, and cameras and the garden clearing is surrounded by an electrified fence. The gardener therefore must not only be undetectable, but intangable. References Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, 1944 5, reprinted as Chap. X of Antony Flew, ed., Essays in Logic and Language, First Series Blackwell, 1951 , and in Wisdom s own Philosophy and Psychoanalysis Blackwell, 1953 . Philosophy and Psychoanalysis Blackwell, 1953 Philosophy of Religion Pojman ... more details
In spiritualism , paranormal literature, and some religion s, materialization also referred to as manifestation is the creation or appearance of matter from unknown sources. It is the transformation of something abstract or virtual into something concrete and tangible. The existence of materialization would contradict the generally accepted law of conservation of energy . History Accounts of materialization in Christianity include the biblical story of the multiplication of bread and fish by Jesus to feed a hungry crowd John 6 1 15 & Mark 6 35 44 and Genesis where everything came out of nothing. Contemporary Indian guru s Sathya Sai Baba and Swami Premananda claim to perform materializations and spontaneous vibuthi holy ash manifestations are reported by Baba s followers on his pictures at their homes and once in diwali a festival of hindus he transformed water into oil for lighting fire lamps diva . ref http www.saibabamiracles.com Sathya Sai Baba Miracles depicting photos of miracles associated with Sai Baba ref ref Mick Brown journalist Mick Brown The Miracle In North London. In The Spiritual Tourist. A Personal Odyssey Through the Outer Reaches of Belief. 1998, ISBN 1 58234 034 X, pp. 29 30 ref ref Prinella Pillay http www.thepost.co.za index.php?fSectionId 154&fArticleId 375687 Divine blessing It s a miracle, says family . In Post South African newspaper , 17 March 2004 ref ref The Sunday Times South Africa http farshores.org psai.htm House of Miracles . 24 March 2002 ref Scientific views The existence of materialization was not confirmed by laboratory experiments. Confirmation would Falsifiability falsify the generally accepted law of conservation of energy . However, in general relativity , energy is not conserved. Literature Nandor Fodor http www.victorzammit.com articles materialization.htm Materialization . In Encyclopedia of Psychic Science. London 1934 Erlendur Haraldsson & Joop Houtkoper Report on an Indian Swami Claiming to Materialize Objects The Valu ... more details
Unreferenced date December 2009 A false premise is an incorrect proposition that forms the basis of a logical syllogism . Since the premise proposition, or assumption is not correct, the conclusion drawn may be in error. However, the validity logical validity of an argument is a function of its internal consistency, not the truth value of its premises. For example, consider this syllogism, which involves an obvious false premise If the streets are wet, it has rained recently. premise The streets are wet. premise Therefore it has rained recently. conclusion This argument is logically valid, but quite demonstrably wrong, because its first premise is false one could hose down the streets, the local river could have flooded, etc. A simple deductive system logical analysis will not reveal the error in this argument, since that analysis must accept the truth of the argument s premises. For this reason, an argument based on false premises can be much more difficult to falsifiability refute , or even discuss, than one featuring a normal logical error, as the truth of its premises must be established to the satisfaction of all parties. Another feature of an argument based on false premises that can bedevil critics, is that its conclusion can in fact be true. Consider the above example again. It may well be that it has recently rained, and that the streets are wet. This of course does nothing to prove the first premise, but can make its claims more difficult to refute. This underlies the basic epistemology epistemological problem of establishing causal relationships . A false premise can also be a premise that is poorly or incompletely defined so as to make the conclusion questionable. The following joke from Plato and a Platypus Walk Into a Bar illustrates the point blockquote An old cowboy goes into a bar and orders a drink. As he sits there sipping his whiskey, a young lady sits down next to him. ... She says, I m a lesbian. I spend my whole day thinking about women. ... A ... more details
William Ray Overton September 19, 1939 &ndash July 14, 1987 was a judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas . Overton was born in Malvern, Arkansas . He received a Bachelor of Science B.S. Bachelor of Arts B.A. from the University of Arkansas in 1961, and an LL.B. from the University of Arkansas School of Law in 1964. He was in private practice of law in Little Rock, Arkansas from 1964 to 1979. Overton was nominated to the district court by President Jimmy Carter on March 7, 1979, to a new seat created by 92 Stat. 1629. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on May 10, 1979, and received his commission on May 11, 1979. Overton continued to serve on that court until his death in 1987. He is known for his ruling on Act 590 The Arkansas Balanced Treatment Act in McLean v. Arkansas , which was a law seeking to require the teaching of Creation Science in classrooms. This statute was advocated by its supporters as providing equal treatment of creation science as the Theory of Evolution in the science classrooms. When Judge Overton struck down the Act in 1982, he used the criteria that a scientific theory must be tentative and always subject to revision or abandonment in light of the facts that are inconsistent with, or falsify, the theory. A theory that is by its own terms dogmatic, absolutist and never subject to revision is not a scientific theory. In summary, he held that a scientific theory to be taught in schools must have the following properties It is guided by natural law It has to be explained by reference to natural law It is testable against the empirical world Its conclusions are tentative, i.e., are not necessarily the final word It is Falsifiability falsifiable . Sources FJC Bio 1819 Metadata see Wikipedia Persondata Persondata NAME Overton, William Ray ALTERNATIVE NAMES SHORT DESCRIPTION United States federal judge DATE OF BIRTH September 19, 1939 PLACE OF BIRTH Malvern, Arkansas DATE OF DEATH July 14, 1987 PLACE OF DEATH c ... more details
The Neogrammarians also Young Grammarians , German Junggrammatiker were a Germany German school of linguistics linguists , originally at the University of Leipzig , in the late 19th century who proposed the Neogrammarian hypothesis of the regularity of sound change . According to this hypothesis, a historical linguistics diachronic sound change affects simultaneously all words in which its environment is met, without exception. Verner s law is a famous example of the Neogrammarian hypothesis, as it resolved an apparent exception to Grimm s law . The Neogrammarian hypothesis was the first hypothesis of sound change to attempt to follow the principle of falsifiability according to scientific method . Today this hypothesis is considered more of a guiding principle than an exceptionless fact, as numerous examples of lexical diffusion where a sound change affects only a few words at first and then gradually spreads to other words have been attested. Other contributions of the Neogrammarians to general linguistics were The object of linguistic investigation is not the language system, but rather the idiolect , that is, language as it is localized in the individual, and therefore is directly observable. Autonomy of the sound level being the most observable aspect of language, the sound level is seen as the most important level of description, and absolute autonomy of the sound level from syntax and semantics is assumed. Historicism the chief goal of linguistic investigation is the description of the language change historical change of a language. Analogy if the premise of the inviolability of sound laws fails, analogy can be applied as an explanation if plausible. Thus, exceptions are understood to be a regular adaptation to a related form. Leading Neogrammarian linguists included Otto Behaghel Wilhelm Braune Karl Brugmann Berthold Delbr ck August Leskien Adolf Noreen Hermann Osthoff Hermann Paul Eduard Sievers Karl Verner Despite their strong influence in their time, the ... more details
Refimprove date January 2007 Fabrication , in the context of science scientific inquiry and academia academic research, refers to the act of intentionally falsifying research results, such as reported in a Academic journal journal article. Fabrication is considered a form of scientific misconduct , and is regarded as highly unethical. In some jurisdictions, fabrication may be illegal. The word falsifying used above should not be confused with the legitimate and essential activity of finding and sharing evidence that contradicts a hypothesis see falsifiability but is used in the sense of deliberately presenting known false information as Truth true with the intent to deceive. Neither should the concept be applied to a scientist or a group of scientists deceiving themselves this behaviour is sometimes called pathological science . Examples of activities which constitute fabrication include Outright synthesis of experimental data reporting experiments which were never conducted. Sometimes referred to as drylabbing . ref name Shapiro1992 citation last Shapiro first M.F. year 1992 title Data audit by a regulatory agency Its effect and implication for others journal Accountability in Research volume 2 issue 3 pages 219 229 doi 10.1080 08989629208573818 url http www.informaworld.com index 793939942.pdf pmid 11653981 ref Fudging , massaging , or outright manufacture of experimental data. Inappropriate, and statistically invalid, culling of experimental data, such as the intentional exclusion of experimental runs which contradict the hypothesis the scientist is trying to demonstrate, or excessive filtration of noise which suggests a correlation where none can be shown to exist. Intentional portrayal of interdependent events as independent. Ordering subordinates or research assistants to participate in any of the above. In addition, some forms of unintentional academic incompetence or malpractice can be difficult to distinguish from intentional fabrication. Examples of this i ... more details
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