RE: RE: The Nuptial Gift
You are viewing a single comment's thread from:

RE: The Nuptial Gift

Words
354
Reading
2 min
5y

Can you agree, that what you learn as a young person is what later will shape and influence your (work) life. Like being a responsible scientist in the lab where no observer is needed.

There is no amount of training or upbringing that will get rid of the observer problem because in many instances we're not even aware of the problem. Even if you raise the perfect child. The only way to deal with the observer problem is at the scientific level. This means measuring and controlling what the observer is doing, then determining statistically if the observer somehow influenced the measurements.

In Psychology studies, good research takes into account the potential issues that arise because of experimenter biases and behaviors. But just imagine the complexity of any given experiment in which human participants are involved. When a participant arrives at the lab, you greet them, give them an introduction to the experiment, explain the procedures and potential dangers, answer questions, ask them to sign forms like informed consent, calibrate instrumentation if you're using any, train them in the procedure, test them, provide them with concluding remarks and answer any questions that participants may have. At any point during this interaction, the experimenter can affect the participant's behavior and responses. This is why the experimental design is of utmost importance, to ensure that you conduct the procedure equally for all participants across the board. Hopefully, the experimental design gets rid of any confounding variables at the statistical level. However, even if you're a diligent genius scientist with high levels of OCD, there are variables outside of your control and even awareness (e.g., the role of the moon phases, cosmic radiation, biological processes, quantum indeterminacy, sugar levels, mental states, etc). Once you start thinking about it in detail, particularly at the statistical level, then you realize the enormity of controlling the role of the observer. Good scientists are aware that there is a problem but coming up with a solid solution is usually beyond the scope of their knowledge and resources. As you can see, I have given this issue a lot of thought. :)