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<< Most observation / survey based science is junk science. Most "study of studies" research is junk science.

I am not automatically disagreeing, but that is a pretty strong claim. I am relatively certain that a well chosen survey participants ( that are not mturk or local body of students unless actually applicable to the study ) could make for a decent study. I can't really opine of observation, but on the surface it strikes me as a very strong claim as well.

<< But when you see some breathless article exclaiming that eating an olive pit twice weekly makes you live twenty years longer, blaming the columnists seems foolish. In almost every case they're simply repeating the claims of bad science.

And this is where it gets tricky. Do editors/publishers merely parrot it or add media cycle friendly spin on it?

<< I am quite specifically hanging the blame on researchers who are perpetrating junk science.

I think I am willing to mostly agree with that statement in a sense that they ultimately responsible.

That said, it is hard for me to believe that editors/publishers would publish it if standards were a tad higher and not chasing attention.



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