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9 - How Scientists Can Discover Useful Knowledge

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 June 2022

J. Scott Armstrong  and
Kesten C. Green
J. Scott Armstrong
Affiliation:
Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
Kesten C. Green
Affiliation:
University of South Australia
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Summary

We believe that the primary role of a scientist is to make discoveries that can help to improve peoples’ lives, whether directly such as through the discovery of a vaccine against a disease or indirectly such as through the invention of a procedure that can improve efficiency or lead to better decisions. In this chapter, we provide practical advice on how to identify important problems, how to choose which important problems to research, how to design a study, how to collect data, and how to analyze them.

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Chapter
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The Scientific Method
A Guide to Finding Useful Knowledge
 , pp. 100 - 120
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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