{"id":6922,"date":"2018-06-28T10:28:59","date_gmt":"2018-06-28T16:28:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/?p=6922"},"modified":"2018-06-28T10:28:59","modified_gmt":"2018-06-28T16:28:59","slug":"worth-sharing-the-genetic-fallacy-when-is-it-okay-to-criticize-a-source-the-logic-of-science","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/2018\/06\/28\/worth-sharing-the-genetic-fallacy-when-is-it-okay-to-criticize-a-source-the-logic-of-science\/","title":{"rendered":"Worth Sharing: The genetic fallacy: When is it okay to criticize a source? | The Logic of Science"},"content":{"rendered":"<span class=\"span-reading-time rt-reading-time\" style=\"display: block;\"><span class=\"rt-label rt-prefix\">Approximate Reading Time: <\/span> <span class=\"rt-time\"> &lt; 1<\/span> <span class=\"rt-label rt-postfix\">minute<\/span><\/span><p>Not new, but an excellent take on the issue.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Las<a href=\"https:\/\/thelogicofscience.files.wordpress.com\/2016\/01\/hierarchy-of-evidence2.png\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-1043\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-1043\" src=\"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/hierarchy-of-evidence2.png\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" srcset=\"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/hierarchy-of-evidence2.png 400w, https:\/\/thelogicofscience.files.wordpress.com\/2016\/01\/hierarchy-of-evidence2.png?w=800&amp;h=484 800w, https:\/\/thelogicofscience.files.wordpress.com\/2016\/01\/hierarchy-of-evidence2.png?w=150&amp;h=91 150w, https:\/\/thelogicofscience.files.wordpress.com\/2016\/01\/hierarchy-of-evidence2.png?w=300&amp;h=182 300w, https:\/\/thelogicofscience.files.wordpress.com\/2016\/01\/hierarchy-of-evidence2.png?w=768&amp;h=465 768w\" alt=\"hierarchy of scientific evidence, randomized controlled study, case, cohort, research design\" width=\"400\" height=\"242\" data-attachment-id=\"1043\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/thelogicofscience.com\/2016\/01\/12\/the-hierarchy-of-evidence-is-the-studys-design-robust\/hierarchy-of-evidence\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/thelogicofscience.files.wordpress.com\/2016\/01\/hierarchy-of-evidence2.png\" data-orig-size=\"1946,1178\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"hierarchy of evidence\" data-image-description=\"\" data-medium-file=\"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/hierarchy-of-evidence2.png\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/thelogicofscience.files.wordpress.com\/2016\/01\/hierarchy-of-evidence2.png?w=640\" \/><\/a>t week, I wrote a <a href=\"https:\/\/thelogicofscience.com\/2016\/01\/12\/the-hierarchy-of-evidence-is-the-studys-design-robust\/\">post<\/a> on the hierarchy of scientific evidence which included the figure to the right. In that post, I explained why some types of scientific papers produced more robust results than others. Some people, however, took issue with that\u00a0 and accused me of committing a genetic fallacy because I was attacking the source of their information rather than the information itself. They were specifically unhappy about my claim that personal anecdotes, gut feelings, counter-factual websites, etc. did not constitute scientific evidence. After all, how dare I assert that their opinions weren\u2019t as valuable as a carefully controlled study (note the immense sarcasm). In reality, of course, my argument was not fallacious, and they were simply misunderstanding how the genetic fallacy works. This misunderstanding is, however, quite common and somewhat understandable. The genetic fallacy can admittedly be very confusing. Therefore, I want to briefly explain what this fallacy is, how to spot it, and when it is and is not acceptable to criticize the source of an argument\/piece of information.<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re a regular reader of this blog, then much of this may sound very familiar. That is because I have already covered a lot of the key points in a <a href=\"https:\/\/thelogicofscience.com\/2015\/11\/25\/stop-accusing-me-of-ad-hominem-fallacies-you-stupid-idiots\/\">previous post<\/a> on ad hominem fallacies. The ad hominem fallacy is generally considered to be a type of genetic fallacy; therefore, the same general rules apply.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Source: <em><a href=\"https:\/\/thelogicofscience.com\/2016\/01\/18\/the-genetic-fallacy-when-is-it-okay-to-criticize-a-source\/\">The genetic fallacy: When is it okay to criticize a source? | The Logic of Science<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<div class='wp_likes' id='wp_likes_post-6922'><a class='like' href=\"javascript:wp_likes.like(6922);\" title='' ><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/wp-content\/plugins\/wp-likes\/images\/like.png\" alt='' border='0'\/><\/a><span class='text'>Be the first to like.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class='like' ><a href=\"javascript:wp_likes.like(6922);\">Like<\/a><\/div>\n<div class='unlike' ><a href=\"javascript:wp_likes.unlike(6922);\">Unlike<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"span-reading-time rt-reading-time\" style=\"display: block;\"><span class=\"rt-label rt-prefix\">Approximate Reading Time: <\/span> <span class=\"rt-time\"> &lt; 1<\/span> <span class=\"rt-label rt-postfix\">minute<\/span><\/span>Not new, but an excellent take on the issue. Last week, I wrote a post on the hierarchy of scientific evidence which included the figure to the right. In that post, I explained why some types of scientific papers produced &hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/2018\/06\/28\/worth-sharing-the-genetic-fallacy-when-is-it-okay-to-criticize-a-source-the-logic-of-science\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3,9,371],"tags":[388,389,15,212],"class_list":["post-6922","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-academia","category-educational-technology","category-research","tag-academia","tag-educational-technology","tag-higher-education","tag-research"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4Hsb6-1NE","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5908,"url":"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/2015\/10\/14\/worth-sharing-educational-research-methodology-framework-dr-patrick-blessinger\/","url_meta":{"origin":6922,"position":0},"title":"Worth Sharing: Educational Research Methodology Framework | Dr. Patrick Blessinger","author":"Katrin Becker","date":"October 14, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"It may be helpful for any of your students taking a research methods course or working on a research based thesis or dissertation. It is particularly useful for those in education or the social sciences but may also have some applicability to those in the humanities or professional disciplines like\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Academia&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Academia","link":"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/category\/academia\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6201,"url":"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/2016\/03\/13\/worth-sharing-the-crusade-against-multiple-regression-analysis-edge-org\/","url_meta":{"origin":6922,"position":1},"title":"Worth Sharing: The Crusade Against Multiple Regression Analysis | Edge.org","author":"Katrin Becker","date":"March 13, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"A Good Read There's a certain cargo cult associated with these sorts of correlations. If there are more than 3 or 4 variables that have an influence on something, we very quickly lose our ability to say anything meaningful about the situation. It's true in health, the environment, and it's\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Academia&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Academia","link":"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/category\/academia\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5724,"url":"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/2015\/09\/23\/worth-sharing-a-list-of-institutions-with-graduate-level-games-research-positions\/","url_meta":{"origin":6922,"position":2},"title":"Worth Sharing: A List of Institutions with Graduate Level Games Research Positions","author":"Katrin Becker","date":"September 23, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Home page of the Digital Gaming Research Assocation (DiGRA) Student Representatives Source: Games Research Positions - digrastudents.org","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Academia&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Academia","link":"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/category\/academia\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/ID-100283345-300x2251.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4919,"url":"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/2015\/07\/01\/is-the-clark-kozma-debate-still-a-thing\/","url_meta":{"origin":6922,"position":3},"title":"Is the Clark-Kozma Debate still a Thing?","author":"Katrin Becker","date":"July 1, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0My most popular academia.edu paper is this one:\u00a0The Clark-Kozma Debate in the 21st Century. It ends up being my most popular paper almost every week. Go figure. \u00a0 I wonder if that means the debate still rages, or if it simply means education faculties keep assigning it as research\/reading? I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Academia&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Academia","link":"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/category\/academia\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/clark-kozma-debate.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/clark-kozma-debate.png?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/clark-kozma-debate.png?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/clark-kozma-debate.png?resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/clark-kozma-debate.png?resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":746,"url":"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/2010\/05\/11\/why-education-research-is-failing-us-begley-sharon-begley-newsweek-com\/","url_meta":{"origin":6922,"position":4},"title":"Why Education Research Is Failing Us: Begley &#8211; Sharon Begley &#8211; Newsweek.com","author":"Katrin Becker","date":"May 11, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Why Education Research Is Failing Us: Begley - Sharon Begley - Newsweek.com. Synopsis: This article reports on a meta study comparing inquiry methods against a more trditional approach. What was found is that: \"There is a dearth of carefully crafted, quantitative studies on what works,\" says William Cobern of Western\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Academia&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Academia","link":"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/category\/academia\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6994,"url":"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/2018\/08\/13\/just-in-time-for-the-start-of-term-the-guide-to-simulations-and-games\/","url_meta":{"origin":6922,"position":5},"title":"Just in time for the start of term&#8230;The Guide to Simulations and Games","author":"Katrin Becker","date":"August 13, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Available for a limited time for $9.99(US) with this coupon.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Academia&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Academia","link":"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/category\/academia\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6922","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6922"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6922\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6924,"href":"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6922\/revisions\/6924"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6922"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6922"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6922"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}