The Nature of Scientific Evidence
Statistical, Philosophical, and Empirical Considerations
448 pages
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25 line drawings, 6 tables
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6 x 9
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© 2004
An exploration of the statistical foundations of scientific inference, The Nature of Scientific Evidence asks what constitutes scientific evidence and whether scientific evidence can be quantified statistically. Mark Taper, Subhash Lele, and an esteemed group of contributors explore the relationships among hypotheses, models, data, and inference on which scientific progress rests in an attempt to develop a new quantitative framework for evidence. Informed by interdisciplinary discussions among scientists, philosophers, and statisticians, they propose a new "evidential" approach, which may be more in keeping with the scientific method. The Nature of Scientific Evidence persuasively argues that all scientists should care more about the fine points of statistical philosophy because therein lies the connection between theory and data.
Though the book uses ecology as an exemplary science, the interdisciplinary evaluation of the use of statistics in empirical research will be of interest to any reader engaged in the quantification and evaluation of data.
Though the book uses ecology as an exemplary science, the interdisciplinary evaluation of the use of statistics in empirical research will be of interest to any reader engaged in the quantification and evaluation of data.
Marc Mangel | Science
"The book is a rare find: a source that could be used in graduate seminars in statistics, philosophy, or biology....It is brimming with ideas....It deserves a read by everyone."
Gerry Quinn | Trends in Ecology and Evolution
"This is a challenging, stimulating, and important book Although some of the chapters are not for the statistically naive, all are thorough and provocative....The Nature of Scientific Evidence should be read by all ecologists who interpret data as evidence for or against specific hypotheses."
Graeme Hastwell and S. Raghu | Austral Ecology
"The Nature of Scientific Evidence may well be viewed as a landmark publication in years to come, one that was the precursor to a new set of statistical methodologies based on evidence and likelihood. . . . We unreservedly recommend it to every ecologist wanting to understand more about the relationship between logic, evidence, analysis and inference – which, after all, constitutes the essence of the scientific method."
Nicholas J. Gotelli | Ecoscience
"The book is important not because of its specific content, but because of what it represents: a cross-disciplinary dialogue that addresses key issues in data analysis."
Pablo Inchausti | Quarterly Review of Biology
"It is precisely because this nicely and carefully edited book will provide more questions than answers that it deserves to be read and discussed by the wide audience of statisticians, philosophers of science, and scientists to whom it addresses the important problem of the evaluation of scientific evidence."
Marc W. Cadotte | Biodiversity Conservation
"This volume is a wonderful guide helping ecologists to understand many of the statistical nuances as well as an introduction to some deep-rooted methodological and philosophical issues in data analysis. . . . An important and necessary discussion that ecologists need to have."
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