Sawyier Lecture: "Values in Science: How to throw out the bathwater and keep the baby"

Kevin Elliot
Associate Professor
Michigan State University

The scientific community has been grappling with the concern that many research results are unreliable, and some areas of privately-funded R&D have come under particularly severe criticism. While it is tempting to respond by trying to exclude personal, social, and commercial values from science in an effort to maintain objectivity, I will argue that this is a mistake. Instead, I will explore how three criteria—transparency, reproducibility, and critical review—can be used to help promote objective research results in both the public and private sectors without excluding values from science.

Refreshments will be served before the lecture at 2 p.m.