The Form of the Experimental Paper: A Realization of the Myth of Induction
Open Access
- 1 January 1985
- journal article
- research article
- Published by SAGE Publications in Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
- Vol. 15 (1) , 15-26
- https://doi.org/10.2190/hyjp-616y-f9mk-5er0
Abstract
The experimental paper is conventionally organized into four sections: Introduction, Methods and Materials, Results, and Discussion. Why these particular sections? Why this particular order? My answer is that the experimental paper is an instantiation of a myth that induction is philosophically unproblematic, that it can lead unproblematically to reliable knowledge about the natural world. Because induction as a path to reliable knowledge is, in fact, problematic, scientists need to retain this myth to continue to do science undeterred by doubts concerning the value of their task.This publication has 9 references indexed in Scilit:
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