Prob2303 wrote:
Hi Sajjad1994,
Can you please give a brief summary of the passage and the explanation for Q1?
SummaryThe passage discusses the problem of scientific studies with errors, which can harm individual reputations and the field's image. It notes public perceptions of malice, emphasizing the need to show such incidents don't imply wrongdoing but are part of a healthy scientific process. The importance of hypothesis testing and replication is highlighted, using a metaphor of weeding out specious findings in a thriving garden through scientific natural selection.
Official Explanation
1. The author of the passage would most likely defend which of the following scenarios as instances of “healthy science”?
Difficulty Level: Very Hard
Explanation
The author of the passage argues that erroneous findings will be eventually corrected via the process of “scientific natural selection,” or being subjected to scrutiny. “The very practices of hypothesis testing and scientific replication are in place precisely to redress such concerns,” the author writes.
The first statement is incorrect, since there is no such scrutiny—no one else will read the researcher’s logbook.
The third statement is incorrect because the scientist tweaks his data deliberately—this is more like the “fraudulent practices” described earlier in the passage than the “healthy science” described later—and because no scrutiny takes place.
Answer: B