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Access to Research Data in the 21st Century An Ongoing Dialogue Among Interested Parties: Report of a Workshop (2002) / Chapter Skim
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2 The Scientific Process and the Universe of Data
Pages 5-12

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From page 5...
... He likened these claims to "shades of gray, with truth and falsity just beyond the bounds of what we can absolutely know." Furthermore, no particular statistical formula exists that can put a number on how certain one can be on the basis of any scientific evidence. Therefore, although specific scientific research may support the hypothesis that a particular claim is true or false, it is important to realize that the researcher's original hypothesis is subject to revision over time.
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From page 6...
... Peer review does not detect fraud, validate factual findings, dictate publication decisions, or substitute for the judgments of the scientific community as a whole. What it does do is provide a mechanism of independent outside advice to a journal editor about the importance of a paper's findings, its strengths and weaknesses, and any modifications necessary to make the author's claims match the strength of the reported evidence.
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From page 7...
... In general, then, "replication" might involve any of the following: · Additional analyses done on the data set by the original or collaborating investigators; sit is worth noting that the traditional understanding of publication is being stretched in the present era of electronic communication. Today, articles posted on web sites Often including extensive datay, as well as conference proceedings and other unreviewed materials, are widely used by the scientific community to communicate results.
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From page 8...
... , review the health effects of sulfur oxides and propose a longitudinal study of the health effects of fossil fuel air pollution. Two researchers at the Harvard University School of Public Health, Ben Ferris and Frank Speizer, submitted a proposal in 1974 for a study of children and adults in six cities in the midwestern and eastern United States to evaluate the effects of the anticipated degradation in air quality.
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From page 9...
... Ultimately, different groups of investigators produced at least 15 identifiable data sets; new findings then fed back into new studies. During the course of the 20-year period, more than 100 publications emerged as a result of these studies.6 One of the studies monitored the effects of air pollution on mortality rates, using a random selection of adults aged 25 to 74 in each community, selected from census lists and city directories.
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From page 10...
... While none of these studies was by itself able to capture the whole "truth" about air pollution, their cumulative power persuaded the American Lung Association (ALA) to sue the EPA to tighten the 1970 particulate standards.
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From page 11...
... However, they needed to retain a minimum set of features if other scientists were to be able to replicate the basic findings of the study. They needed the place of death, because they were investigating the possibility of a link to air pollution exposure; they needed the date of death because the study concerned survival; and they needed both the age at death and gender in order to adjust for both factors.
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From page 12...
... and industry, HEI has funded over 170 studies and published over 100 Research Reports and several Special Reports producing important research findings on the health effects of a variety of pollutants, including carbon monoxide, methanol and aldehydes, nitrogen oxides, diesel exhaust, ozone, and most recently, particulate air pollution." See http://www.healtheffects.org/pubsspecial.htm.
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Key Terms

  • cities study
  • scientific claims
  • study participants
  • effects institute
  • death index

  • analyzed data
  • national death
  • scientific studies
  • conference proceedings
  • original records

  • particulate air
  • highly compressed
  • study findings
  • death certificates
  • life expectancy

  • basic performance
  • nitrogen oxides
  • people living
  • original hypothesis
  • factual findings

  • rarely proven
  • adequate provisions
  • american journal
  • shorter life
  • random selection

  • sensitivity analysis
  • special reports
  • american lung
  • cities list
  • unreviewed materials


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