Skip to main content

ETHNOS_APP

Home • Search • Journals • List 0

What Experiment Did We Just Do? Counterfactual Error Statistics and Uncertainties about the Reference Class

Bibliographic Data

ID10708241
AuthorsKent W Staley (0000-0002-7536-2087, UCLouvain Saint-Louis Brussels, corresponding author)
Year2002
Volume69
Issue2
Pages279-299
Publication date2002-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenuePhilosophy of Science (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0031-8248 • E-ISSN: 1539-767X
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1086/341054
OpenAlexW2106576207
LanguageEN
Citations received8
References cited11

Experimenters sometimes insist that it is unwise to examine data before determining how to analyze them, as it creates the potential for biased results. I explore the rationale behind this methodological guideline from the standpoint of an error statistical theory of evidence, and I discuss a method of evaluating evidence in some contexts when this predesignation rule has been violated. I illustrate the problem of potential bias, and the method by which it may be addressed, with an example from the search for the top quark. A point in favor of the error statistical theory is its ability, demonstrated here, to explicate such methodological problems and suggest solutions, within the framework of an objective theory of evidence

Class (philosophy) · Counterfactual thinking · Econometrics · Epistemology · Mathematical economics · Point (geometry) · Statistical theory · Statistics · Artificial Intelligence · Computer Science · Mathematics · Philosophy · Philosophy and History of Science · Statistics Education and Methodologies

  • Bayesian Networks and the Problem of Unreliable Instruments

    Open Access•Luc Bovens, Stephan Hartmann•Philosophy of Science•2002

  • Robust Evidence and Secure Evidence Claims

    Open Access•Kent W Staley•Philosophy of Science•2004

  • Preregistration does not improve the transparent evaluation of severity in Popper’s philosophy of science or when deviations are allowed

    Open Access•M Rubin•Synthese•2025

  • Pragmatic warrant for frequentist statistical practice

    Open Access•Kent W Staley•Synthese•2017

  • Acceptibility, Evidence, and Severity

    Open Access•Prasanta S Bandyopadhyay, Gordon G Brittan•Synthese•2006

  • The Fine-Tuning Argument and the Requirement of Total Evidence

    Open Access•Peter Fisher Epstein•Philosophy of Science•2017

  • In Defense of the Requirement of Total Evidence

    Open Access•Paul Draper•Philosophy of Science•2020

  • A Contractarian Solution to the Experimenter’s Regress

    Open Access•David Teira•Philosophy of Science•2013

  • Change and Progress in Modern Science

    Open Access•Joseph C Pitt•Change and Progress in Modern…•1984

  • Error and the Growth of Experimental Knowledge

    Deborah G Mayo•Error and the Growth of…•1996

  • A Novel Defense of Scientific Realism

    Jarrett Leplin•A novel defense of scientific…•1997

  • Bayesian statistics and biased procedures

    Open Access•Ronald N Giere•Synthese•1969

  • Novelty, Severity, and History in the Testing of Hypotheses

    Open Access•Kent W Staley•Philosophy of Science•1996

  • Why Philosophical Theories of Evidence Are (and Ought To Be) Ignored by Scientists

    Open Access•Peter Achinstein•Philosophy of Science•2000

  • Logical versus Historical Theories of Confirmation

    Alan Musgrave•The British Journal for the…•1974

  • Why did Einstein's Programme supersede Lorentz's? (I)

    Élie Zahar•The British Journal for the…•1973

Unique citing works8
Citations per year0.33
Citation span2002 - 2025 (24)
Citation velocityrecent
Highly citedNo
Citation typesNeutral: 8

Tools

Open DOISci-Hub
Ethnos_APP • Open Source Project • MIT License • Frontend v2.0.0 • Privacy and Cookies • API Documentation: api.ethnos.app/docs • API Source Code: GitHub • DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17049435 • Frontend Source Code: GitHub • DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17050053 • cruz.rio.br • Expectantes Misericordiae