• Question: Has Your Research Always Been Reliable?

    Asked by rhiaaannon to Claire, Greg, Jane, Jo, Nuruz, Vicki on 17 Jun 2010 in Categories: . This question was also asked by smeggs.
    • Photo: Greg FitzHarris

      Greg FitzHarris answered on 15 Jun 2010:

      Hi there,
      well, i think so. As i said to someone in IAS yesterday it does someotimes happen that scientists ‘disagree’ — meaning that they each do a set of experiments, but then arrive at different conclusions. But, that hasn’t happened to me… yet!

      And… just because a scientist has an idea the other scientists dont agree with, doesnt mean theyre wriong… there are plenty of occasions in history where a nutty idea turned out to be right…

    • Photo: Vicki Onions

      Vicki Onions answered on 15 Jun 2010:

      Hi Rhiaannon
      If by reliable, you mean is it always quaranteed to work – then thats a big fat no!! I seem to have a knack of messing most things up! (But in doing that i learn a lot of extra useful stuff i might not have done had things have worked first time!)
      If by reliable you mean can i be confident in the results i get, then generally yes! And this is all down to the people i work with and who help me. I tend to get quite a lot of help and advice when i plan my experiments from other people who have lots more experience than me and so when i do get things to work i can be confident the results are reliable

    • Photo: Jo Broadbent

      Jo Broadbent answered on 15 Jun 2010:

      Hi Rhiannon

      I hope so! There’s always a ‘margin of error’ in any research, so scientists take account of that in how they analyse their results. There’s always a risk of getting errors in your research by chance, so you have to plan your experiments very carefully to make that risk very small.

      Jo

    • Photo: Claire O'Donnell

      Claire O'Donnell answered on 16 Jun 2010:

      If you mean have people though my conclusions were sensible the yes, mostly. I think it’s great when someone takes what you have done and builds on it and you can see that you’ve provided one of the key bits of information that helped to understand or solve the problem

    • Photo: Jane Cleal

      Jane Cleal answered on 17 Jun 2010:

      Before I carry out a peice of work it has to be approved by others as a good thing to look at. When I am doing the research it is shown to others and they make suggestions to improve it. It is then checked by other scientists in our university. Before it is published (written up in a magazine for scientists) it is checked by scientists from other universities. This makes sure that the work is reliable.

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