Popular Science, Pragmatism, and Conceptual Clarity

Blinded by science, pragmatism forgotten.

Some of the best brains in North America have worked for over a year to produce the Institute of Medicine's (IOM) report on vitamin D (1) and so we expect expertise and wise words. However, despite great care in sifting evidence, careful application of method and a desire for transparency, the report has turned out to be very controversial. Its wisdom and method are now being questioned, as can...

"popular" Science.

Toward Clarity on Whole Science and KNOWS

I am pleased to have an opportunity to clarify my proposals for teaching Whole Science and assessing knowledge of the nature of science through seeking a well-informed analysis of case studies in the news (Allchin, 2011; assumed in page references below). In this, I echoed similar earlier proposals by Norris and Phillips (1994), Glynn and Muth (1994), Korpan, Bisanz, Bisanz and Henderson (1997)...

User Information Satisfaction: Toward Conceptual Clarity

User information satisfaction (UIS) has been generally recognized by management information systems (MIS) researchers as one of the more important indicators of success in designing and implementing MIS. However, the existence of various UIS measures using different definitions of UIS has resulted in the use of inconsistent theoretical constructs and an inability to interpret across studies. Us...

Dilemmas in Military Medical Ethics: A Call for Conceptual Clarity Dilemmas in Military Medical Ethics: A Call for Conceptual Clarity

Résumé Abstract Malgré l’augmentation des conflits armés et des changements qui les caractérisent, les enjeux éthiques auxquels font face les médecins militaires sont très peu traités dans la littérature en bioéthique. Les médecins militaires sont des membres du corps militaire, même s’ils sont non combattants, et ils jouent un rôle de soignant tout en pouvant être appelés à agir comme aide hum...