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How Science Works

Evaluation - Reliability - Interpretation - Status.

When the work is complete
the whole investigation requires evaluation.
Evaluation means looking at the work as a whole and
seeing if proper scientific conclusions can be made.

The reliability of the data can be improved by
looking at the results which other people
have published from previous similar experiments.
You can find this information by doing a literature search
of relevant scientific journals.
A journal is a magazine that is published (usually monthly)
about a particular area of scientific research.

You might think that all properly trained scientists
would make the same evaluation of the same piece of work.
In reality different scientists will have a different interpretation
of the same investigation.
The reasons for this include politics, prejudice and bias.

Not all scientists are equally believed. Those who
are more famous or have a higher professional status
or more experience will be taken more seriously
and their evaluation will carry more weight.
For example, more people would listen to the evaluation of
a highly experienced Oxford or Cambridge professor
than an evaluation by a young unknown research student.

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