UVM Center for Clinical and Translational Science

Friday, May 10, 2013

What the authorities say...about authority

What has occurred over the course of the last few centuries is a growing (but by no means universal or certain) recognition that science gets the job done, while religion makes excuses. Sometimes they are very pretty excuses that capture the imagination of the public, but ultimately, when you want to win a war or heal a dying child or get rich from a discovery or explore Antarctica, you turn to science and reason, or you fail.
-PZ Myers, biology professor (b. 9 Mar 1957)

Most institutions demand unqualified faith; but the institution of science makes skepticism a virtue.

- Robert King Merton (1910-2003)

One should as a rule, respect public opinion in so far as is necessary to avoid starvation and to keep out of prison, but anything that goes beyond this is voluntary submission to an unnecessary tyranny, and is likely to interfere with happiness in all kinds of ways...

- Bertrand Russell (1872-1970)

In all life one should comfort the afflicted, but verily, also, one should afflict the comfortable, and especially when they are comfortably, contentedly, even happily wrong.

- John Kenneth Galbraith (1908-2006)

Historically, the claim of consensus has been the first refuge of scoundrels; it is a way to avoid debate by claiming that the matter is already settled.
- Michael Crichton (1942-2008)

Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth.
-Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

In questions of science, the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of a single individual.
-Galileo Galilei (1564-1642)

Every great advance in natural knowledge has involved the absolute rejection of authority.

-Thomas Henry Huxley (1825-1895)

Handy Resources for doing CTS

Research Methods Knowledge Base

A comprehensive web-based textbook that addresses all of the topics in a typical introductory undergraduate or graduate course in social research methods.

NIH Resource for Behavioral and Social Science Research

A textbook of Behavioral and Social Science theory and methods for use in health research.

Duke Research Methods Wiki

Templates, examples, and tutorials for designing, conducting, and reporting clinical research.

Equator Network

Advice and guidelines on Reporting Health Research. CONSORT Checklist, etc.

SGIM Database of Secondary Research Databases

A catalog of (mostly national) databases that are available for secondary analyses

AHRQ Funding Opportunities
Grants for research and training.

NIH Application Help

Tips and advice on how to handle the process and paperwork for grant applications.

PhenX Toolkit

Standardized instruments to measure epidemiological and phenotypical characteristics of subjects.