Ramifications of Underhand Scientific Methods: Analysis of the Challenger

Paper 2 Option 1: Scientific ethics and integrity / Pseudoscience
The scientific approach has resulted in an explosion of technology and knowledge about our world. However, because of its success, the misapplication of the scientific method without high standards of ethics and integrity, or the use of the trappings of scientific study to lend credence to a spurious idea (“pseudoscience”), can be a dangerous thing.
In this paper, you will explore what happens when the process of scientific thought is either negligently or maliciously derailed.
Choose a contemporary (since 1875) phenomenon in which this happened. (It doesn’t have to be specifically astronomical.) Discuss what happened (telling the story if it is not a familiar one), and describe in what way the principles of scientific integrity, ethics, and/or rigor were compromised.
Also describe what “warning signs” someone else might observe that would hint that something is wrong. What questions should a skeptical audience (whether fellow scientists or the general public) have asked that could point out the flaws in the argument being made?
Finally, if the issue resulted from negligence, rather than malice, describe what the researchers should have done instead to ensure that they didn’t reach incorrect conclusions.
Paper 2 Option 2: a variant of the previous
Choose a contemporary area of inquiry that is particularly fraught with pitfalls in scientific ethics or integrity, in which good science is intermingled with questionable claims – for instance, the search for exterrestrial life, research into medical uses of marijuana, research into the connection between gun laws and violence, the discourse surrounding climate change, etc. This might be because of a connection to a particularly profitable industry, the ulterior motives of people seeking political power, the tendency to affirm or refute deeply-held biases, or sensationalistic interest by the public or by those involved.
Give a brief description of the pitfalls. How has the scientific process run off the rails or been abused in this area? How should inquiry in this area be conducted, and what should people be especially wary of? How should we ensure, in Feynman’s words, that we do not fool ourselves? Are there any narratives in the history of your chosen topic where people have done an exemplary job of ensuring ethics and integrity and “doing it right”?
A note on politics: This topic may lead you into political territory. It is perfectly okay to have clear opinions. For instance, if you believe that one side of an issue has more merit than the other, you do not need to spend “equal time” articulating the position of the “other side” that you believe is faulty. (We will of course evaluate your work based on whether you state your positions well and thoughtfully, not whether the person grading your paper agrees with you!) However, your paper should focus on the challenges of conducting scientific inquiry into your topic and how your topic should be studied without bias; it shouldn’t simply be an advocacy paper for a particular policy position.
For instance: Last year we got quite a few mediocre papers that mostly repeated common arguments for the legalization of marijuana, and didn’t address the central question of “How should scientific research into the effects of marijuana be conducted, given all the difficulties in doing such research honestly?”
Paper 2 Option 3: Archaeoastronomy
The astronomy portion of ``The History of Non-Western Science’’, discussed in class as a good reference for this paper, lives here.
Choose a historical culture and research the ways that they conducted astronomy, then write a paper describing their astronomical culture and how it fits into the context of the broader circumstances of their lives, in particular into their larger intellectual tradition.
You should choose a civilization other than the ancient Greeks (since we’ve studied them) or European peoples whose astronomical knowledge is broadly part of the same intellectual tradition (i.e. 13th century Italy or France is out, but the ancient Celts or Vikings are okay.)
However, you are encouraged to use the familiar Western tradition as a point of comparison.
Your paper should be more than just a listing of facts that you discovered; we are looking for you to relate things you’ve learned and draw interesting conclusions or make interesting speculations about them. It is okay to speculate in this paper, so long as you explain why your proposals have some merit.
You might address points like:
Did they favor particular ways of understanding their world in general? Are these reflected in the way they understood the heavens?
What form do their descriptions of astronomical events and phenomena take?
In what ways was astronomy a practically-useful discipline, and in what ways was it a purely intellectual or creative endeavor?
What technology (both material and intellectual) was available, and how did that influence both their understanding of the night sky and the ways they described it?
Were they primarily an oral culture, or did they make extensive use of written records in communicating information to the next generation?
What was their understanding of mathematics (geometry, numbers, algebra)?
Did the people use instruments beyond the unaided eye to understand the sky?
How did their astronomy influence and how was it influenced by their literary or religious tradition? For instance, the Greeks named the planets after their gods, and used the story of Persephone and Hades to explain the seasons; there is cross-pollination between their mythology and their constellations. Did your chosen people name constellations or tell stories based on what they saw in the sky?
At what latitude and in what geography did they live? Is this relevant for their understanding of the sky? (People living far from the Equator experience the sky in very different ways than those close to it!)
What challenges were prominent in their lives (warfare, navigation, harsh climate, etc.)? Do any of these influence the way they conducted astronomy?
Did they observe anything particularly unusual, or discover anything that was particularly advanced for the time period?
Note: This is not a “laundry list” of points that you must address; instead, it is a list of ideas; there are certainly many more. The best papers are ones that relate multiple facets of your people’s lifestyle, culture, technology, and astronomical tradition to make a coherent narrative.