Agwin Fahmi Fahanani, ST., MT.

▪ Science (from the Latin word scientia, meaning

"knowledge") is a systematic enterprise
that builds and organizes knowledge in the form
of testable explanations and predictions about
the universe.

Source: Harper, Douglas. "science". Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved September 20,2014.
▪ In 1942, Robert K. Merton introduced
"four sets of institutional imperatives
taken to comprise the ethos of modern
science”
 1.Universalism 2. Communality 3. Disinterestedness 4. Organized
Skepticism

Source: Merton, Robert K. 1973. The Sociology of Science: Theoretical and Empirical Investigations. University of Chicago Press.
▪ Scientific validity is independent of the sociopolitical status/personal attributes
of its participants

▪ Underlying beliefs:
▪ Scientific laws are true or false, so it shouldn’t matter who is stating them
▪ Anyone is able, whether by accident or intent, to uncover scientific laws
▪ All scientists should have common ownership of scientific goods (intellectual
property), to promote collective collaboration; secrecy is the opposite of this
norm.

▪ Underlying beliefs:
▪ scientists shouldn’t be able to decide who can use their ideas since science
is universal
▪ and since science must “go on”; that is, make new knowledge and advance
▪ Science should limit the influence of bias as much as possible and should be
done for the sake of science, rather than self-interest or power.

▪ Underlying beliefs:
▪ Scientists can disengage from their interests
▪ Data can be obtained and disseminated without being infused with interests
▪ The necessity of proof or verification subjects science to more scrutiny than
any other field.
▪ This norm points once again to peer review and the value of reproducibility.
▪ If a study cannot be replicated, can we say that its results are robust or
credible?

▪ Underlying beliefs:
▪ Scientists don’t always get it right or have the fullest view of their own work
▪ Science needs questions and rebuttals to find flaws
▪ Scientists need freedom of speech and license for free maybe even wild
intellectual investigation for their work (and everyone else’s) to benefit
Source:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC
3136032/
• It’s Published by a Reputable Journal
• It’s Peer Reviewed
• The Researchers Have Relevant Experience and
Qualifications
• It’s Part of a Larger Body of Work
• It Doesn’t Promise a Panacea or Miraculous Cure
• It Avoids or at Least Discloses Potential Conflicts of
Interest
• It Doesn’t Claim to Prove Anything Based on
a Single Study
• It Uses a Reasonable, Representative Sample
Size
• The Results Are Statistically Significant
• It Is Well Presented and Formatted
• It Uses Control Groups and Double-Blinding
• It Doesn’t Confuse Correlation and
Causation
IT’S PUBLISHED BY REPUTABLE JOURNAL
IT’S PEER REVIEWED
RELEVANT EXPERIENCE AND
QUALIFICATION
Source: https://nasional.kompas.com/read/2020/07/04/20234441/kementan-sebut-kalung-eucalyptus-
sebagai-antivirus-corona-ini-tanggapan-idi?page=all
IT’S PART OF A LARGER BODY OF WORK
Source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Horizons#History
IT DOESN’T PROMISE PANACEA

Source: https://www.latimes.com/food/dailydish/la-dd-red-wine-
resveratrol-cancer-fighting-benefits-20131014-story.html
IT AVOIDS CONFLICT OF INTEREST
IT DOESN’T CLAIM TO PROVE ANYTHING
BASED ON A SINGLE STUDY
▪ Every new research should able to reproduce again by another researcher

▪ (1971) MMR vaccine discovered by

Maurice Hilleman
ANOTHER EXAMPLE

Source: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-
2198057/Housework-reduce-risk-breast-cancer.html
IT USES A REASONABLE, REPRESENTATIVE
SAMPLE SIZE
THE RESULTS ARE STATISTICALLY
SIGNIFICANT
▪ Statistical significance is a measurement of how likely it is that the difference
between two groups, models, or statistics occurred by chance or occurred
because two variables are actually related to each other.
▪ This means that a “statistically significant” finding is one in which it is likely the
finding is real, reliable, and not due to chance.
 IT IS WELL PRESENTED AND FORMATTED

“If you’re taking the time to do

meticulous science, why not take the
time to prepare a good manuscript?
Make nice-looking figures, proofread it a
couple of times, and the like. It seems
obvious enough, which is why a sloppy
manuscript or poor grammar can be a
warning sign of bad science.”
–Michael J. I. Brown-
IT USES CONTROL GROUP AND DOUBLE-
BLINDING
▪ A control group serves as a point of comparison in a study.
▪ The control group should be people as similar as possible to the experimental group,
except they’re not subject to whatever is being tested.
▪ The control group may also receive a placebo to see how the outcome compares.
▪ Blinding refers to the practice of obscuring which group participants are in.
▪ For a single-blind experiment, the participants do not know if they are in the control or
the experimental group.
▪ In a double-blind experiment, neither the participants nor the researchers know.
▪ If people know which group they are in, the results are not trustworthy. If researchers
know, they may (unintentionally or not) nudge participants towards the outcomes they
want or expect.
▪ So a double-blind study with a control group is far more likely to be good science than
one without
Source: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-
1290753/Shopping-makes-men-impotent.html
IT DOESN’T CONFUSE CORRELATION AND
CAUSATION