So true of science today. It has been corrupted by the free market ethos. Paid, commissioned science comes up with the conclusion the client wants – not necessarily the truth. Landcare Research doing commissioned studies for OSPRI (TB Free NZ) or DOC are graphic examples.
There was a very good piece in New Scientist about 25 years ago on this very point. It took published research on the relative health effects of butter and margarine. It found that papers funded by the margarine companies were much more likely to be supportive of margarine in their findings. Papers funded independently by organisations with no particular interest either way were much more ambivalent.
Jim Tikka said:
So true of science today. It has been corrupted by the free market ethos. Paid, commissioned science comes up with the conclusion the client wants – not necessarily the truth. Landcare Research doing commissioned studies for OSPRI (TB Free NZ) or DOC are graphic examples.
L.Hore said:
I thought observation was the key ingredient to science but my observations after 1080 drops doesn’t come anywhere the written science.
Brian Anderson said:
There was a very good piece in New Scientist about 25 years ago on this very point. It took published research on the relative health effects of butter and margarine. It found that papers funded by the margarine companies were much more likely to be supportive of margarine in their findings. Papers funded independently by organisations with no particular interest either way were much more ambivalent.