Arthur Paul Pedersen
Arthur Paul Pedersen, faculty research scientist with the and doctoral lecturer of computer science at 精东影业鈥檚 Grove School of Engineering, is lead author of a critical essay on measurement in scientific discourse. The essay, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, warns of the dangerous implications of measurement illiteracy in contemporary scientific discourse and urges broad, systematic efforts be undertaken to reform measurement literacy.
Measurement literacy is necessary for effectively carrying out the business of science, including inference, experimental design, validation, and treatment of error in theory construction, the paper explains. It provides the foundation necessary for forming perspectives and reaching decisions on matters in science and public policy, including the reproducibility and theory crises and proposals to addresses them, funding decisions for research programs and government agencies, public health and economic policy decisions, and much more.
鈥淔rom the American eugenics movement to the 2008 market crash, history is replete with episodes showing the adverse impact that failures of measurement literacy can exact on the enterprise of science and everyday human affairs,鈥 said Pedersen. 鈥淏y drawing on ideas and examples drawn from across the sciences in language accessible to scientists and laypersons alike, this paper makes the case for promoting measurement literacy and being accountable to upholding it.鈥
鈥淭his paper is a call to action to reinvigorate measurement literacy in scientific discourse,鈥 added Pedersen. 鈥淏y doing so, meaningful steps can be taken to address crises in scientific discourse, such as the reproducibility crisis, and to promote more effective and meaningful scientific communication. Importantly, measurement literacy enables scientists to be responsible and trusted ambassadors of knowledge for policymakers as well as for the public at large.鈥
Pedersen鈥檚 co-authors are: David Kellen and Michael L. Kalish (Syracuse University); Conor Mayo-Wilson (University of Washington); Clintin P. Davis-Stober (University of Missouri); John C. Dunn (University of Western Australia); M. Ali Khan (The Johns Hopkins University); Maxwell B. Stinchcombe (University of Texas at Austin); Katya Tentori (University of Trento, Italy); and Julia Haaf (University of Potsdam, Germany).
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Syd Steinhardt
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