【17】【Economist】科研的发展进程：缓慢，但可靠
【标题】How science works: Slow. But sure | 科研的发展进程：缓慢，但可靠
主题：现代科研运行方式
观点：虽然缓慢，但坚定地朝着好的方向发展
【摘要】The scientific method has come under scrutiny. But it works. Eventually
第一段：一项让人惊讶的研究结论——生活在宗教信仰家庭的孩子没有那些无宗教信仰家庭的孩子慷慨，实际是错误的
研究得出的结论
In november 2015 a team of psychologists led by Jean Decety of the University of Chicago published an unexpected finding. Based on an experiment involving coloured stickers (trinkets valued by the children who took part) they concluded that youngsters living in religious households are less generous than those who dwell in non-religious households.
媒体对此争相报道。但八月发表的一份声明证实，它是错误的
Many news outlets, including The Economist, reported this result—precisely because it was so surprising. It turns out, though, that it was wrong. In AugustCurrent Biology, the journal which published the original paper, published a retraction, saying:
【dwell — reside — live 的区别】
Dwell is more formal and often biblical/spiritual/abstract. "He dwelt in the land of Canaan." "Aliens dwell among us." It is also more temporary. "He dwelt there for a time, then moved on."
Reside is more formal than live and less formal than dwell. Reside implies having an established home. "He resides in the town of Hampton." You might dwell in a tent, but you reside in a house.
Live is informal and catches all the different meanings pretty well, but it is less specific. "He lives in Hampton."
【news outlets】新闻机构
Most of us, however, are very loyal to the news outlets we most trust, and breaking that habit can be difficult.
但是我们中的大多数，很忠实于我们最信任的新闻媒体，并且很难打破这种习惯。
【retraction】Retractions in academic publishing 无效声明
In academic publishing, a retraction is a statement published in an academic journal stating that a peer-reviewed article previously published in the journal should be considered invalid as a source of knowledge. Online journals typically remove the retracted article from online access.
第二段：该研究结论错误的原因——将原籍国作为协变量
An error in this article, our incorrect inclusion of country of origin as a covariate in many analyses, was pointed out in a correspondence from Shariff, Willard, Muthukrishna, Kramer and Henrich.
事实上，比起宗教信仰，原籍国才是预测结果的主要参考
When we reanalysed these data to correct this error, we found that country of origin, rather than religious affiliation, is the primary predictor of several of the outcomes.
【covariate】协变量
在实验的设计中，协变量是一个独立变量（解释变量），不为实验者所操纵，但仍影响实验结果。
【primary predictor】预测
In fact, how a couple argues is the primary predictor of long - term success and happiness.
而事实上, 夫妻间争论方式能够预测夫妻关系长久和快乐。
第三段：导致错误发生的原因
Still an interesting result, then. But not what had originally been claimed.
将分配给不同国家的数字编号不小心也纳入计算，导致结果不正常
Translating the retraction’s jargon, Dr Decety and his colleagues were confessing to the fact that the numerical codes they had assigned to the various countries involved in the study (1=USA, 2=Canada and so on) had been incorporated by accident into the calculation, and had thus thrown the result out of whack.
【jargon】['dʒɑ:gən] words or expressions that are used by a particular profession or group of people, and are difficult for others to understand. 行话
Their jargon is impenetrable to an outsider.
他们的行话外人听不懂。
【out of whack】not working properly, especially because of being out of order or alignment. 不对头
The ecosystem will be thrown out of whack.
生态系统将会失去平衡。
第四段：这份声明诞生过程中所反映出的现代科研运行方式的利与弊
The road to this retraction shows both what is good and what is bad about the way the modern scientific method works.
利——错误被揭露，并得到原作者的认可
The good is that the error was exposed, and has been acknowledged by the paper’s authors.
弊——反应时间太慢
The bad is that it took four years for the retraction to happen.
第五段： 声明诞生的起因——发现错误
The error was originally spotted by Azim Shariff, a psychologist at the University of British Columbia, in Canada.
两者的研究结论相矛盾，Shariff在研究数据的过程中发现错误
Dr Shariff read Dr Decety’s paper and noted that its findings clashed with many of his own observations. These suggested that a religious upbringing increased kindness towards others, rather than decreasing it. That led Dr Shariff to ask Dr Decety for his data so that he, Dr Shariff, could analyse them in detail to try and work out why their conclusions clashed. Dr Decety obliged. Dr Shariff discovered the coding error. And, based on that discovery, he reported his results in Current Biology in August 2016.
【spot】[spɑt] to see or notice a person or thing, especially suddenly or when it is not easy to do so. 发现
He left the party seconds before smoke was spotted coming up the stairs.
就在他离开聚会几秒钟后有人发现烟雾顺着楼梯冒上来了。
【clash with】To contradict or be in disagreement with sth. 相抵触
Don't make any policy decisions which clash with official company thinking.
所作的任何决策都不要和公司官方理念相冲突。
【oblige】to do a favor or service for sb. 答应请求
If you ever need help with the babysitting, I'd be glad to oblige.
如果你什么时候需要找人照看孩子，我很乐意帮忙。
第六段：声明诞生过程中的曲折
Current Biology’s publishers, Cell Press, felt that was enough.
被拒绝——大众已接受Decety博士的研究结论，虽然它确实会令人困惑
The original mistake was in the public domain and everyone could now get on with life. It did, though, mean that Dr Decety’s paper remained in the literature, possibly confusing those who had not read Dr Shariff’s.
出现转机——Decety博士的研究结论受到广泛议论，出版商同意发布声明
And that was the case until a new, unrelated paper, published by Nature in March, drew attention to Dr Decety’s work and created an outcry on social media for the matter to be addressed. A few months later, after discussion with Dr Decety, Current Biologyretracted the paper.
【outcry】['aʊt.kraɪ] a reaction of anger or strong protest shown by people in public. 强烈抗议
The crime elicited an outcry against illicit drugs.
那起罪行引发了打击违禁药品的呼声。
第七段：声明诞生的后续——依然少人问津
两个事实：①新闻媒体热衷于与众不同的成果，却往往对后续没有兴趣 ②期刊也没有吸引读者对后续产生兴趣
It is often observed that news media are keen to publicise extraordinary-sounding results, but lose interest in subsequent work—and actually ignore retractions. There is truth in that, though it is also true that journals often fail to draw attention to such matters.
Whatever the reason, according to a report that came out in Psychology Todayin September, though more than 80 publications reported on the original findings, Dr Shariff’s follow-up was covered at the time by a mere four outlets.
第八段：声明诞生的好结果——两位学者携手合作
The happy ending is that Dr Decety has spent the intervening period collecting yet more data on the matter, and that he and Dr Shariff are now collaborating to analyse those data. When they publish, we will endeavour to cover it.
【cover】['kʌvər] to report on an event for television, a newspaper, etc.; to show an event on television. 报道
The US news media will cover the trial closely.
美国新闻媒体将对该审判进行追踪报道。
拓展材料：
1、可以自由提问英文语法和意思的网站stackexchange
https://ell.stackexchange.com/questions
2、了解统计学中的协变量
https://www.statisticshowto.datasciencecentral.com/covariate/
3、科学方法的步骤
https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/science-fair/steps-of-the-scientific-method
4、科学方法是如何用来检验假设的？——可汗学院
https://www.khanacademy.org/science/high-school-biology/hs-biology-foundations/hs-biology-and-the-scientific-method/a/the-science-of-biology
下次见~
