Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7fkt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T12:09:14.418Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The question of good science

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 October 2009

John E. Ikerd
Affiliation:
Extension Professor of Agricultural Economics and Coordinator of Sustainable Agricultural Systems Programs, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211.
Get access

Abstract

Research serves different purposes for scientists and for farmers, and the two groups evaluate research results differently. Scientists are mainly concerned about the chance that they have reached an incorrect conclusion, while farmers are mainly concerned about the chunce they will make an incorrect decision based on the results. Research conducted by farmers on their own farms can be more directly applicable to other farmers' conditions than experiment station research, and therefore can reduce the risk of an incorrect decision.

Type
Commentary
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1993

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1.Allen, E.W. 1926. Need for specific objectives in economic research. J. Farm Economics 8:1625.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
2.Breimyer, H.F. 1991. Science and scientific principles in agricultural economics: An historical review. Amer. J. Agric. Economics 73(2):243254.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
3.Gerber, J.M. 1992. Farmer participation in research: A model for adaptive research and education. Amer. J. Alternative Agric. 7(3):118121.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
4.Johnson, G.L. 1988. Technological innovations and implications for agricultural economics. In Hildreth, R.J., Lipton, K., Clayton, K., and O'Connor, C. (eds). Agriculture and Rural Areas Approaching the Twenty-first Century. Iowa State Univ. Press, Ames. pp. 82108.Google Scholar
5.Merriam-Webster. 1983. Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary. Merriam-Webster Inc., Springfield, Mass.Google Scholar
6.Rzewnicki, P.E., Thompson, R., Lesoing, G.W., Elmore, R.W., Francis, C.A., Parkhurst, A.M., and Moomaw, R.S.. 1988. On-farm experiment designs and implications for locating research sites. Amer. J. Alternative Agric. 3(4):168173.CrossRefGoogle Scholar