The Death of Scientific Research
The world of research, using the scientific method, has traditionally been a place for verification of previously held beliefs, epiphanies of contradiction to previously held beliefs, information they did not realize they needed, nor did they see coming, and above all, factual discoveries that are entirely objective. Remember: Merle Haggard is a great singer, that is subjective. Merle Haggard won Grammys, that is objective.
Research has a goal of proving something is not. It typically cannot prove something is, it can only prove something is not. In order to prove anything, you need facts. From those facts, you propose a theory as to why and how you reached the conclusion you did. But you first need the facts. Facts like, the best possible environment for a child to be raised is in a low-conflict home with his/her two biological parents. This has been proven time and time again.
But right away, we run into a problem in the current climate of scientific research. The issue is not the sample sizes. The issue is usually not random selection, in most cases. The research is not typically littered with mixed feelings or things easily proved wrong. The issue is that when one turns in a research paper that does not conform to the current ideological climate, which is based solely on identity and feelings, it simply does not get published. If, somehow, it does get published, the person who authored the paper gets cancelled. The author gets publicly ridiculed, shunned by peers overnight, and sometimes fired from the university that funded the research, citing “differences in direction.”
This should scare you. Because if something does not change course, we will have no verifiable data that speaks to factual issues if it does not affirm and confirm a feeling about identity. There is nothing scientific nor right about this. It is a huge problem.
I won’t mention the journal, but I recently reviewed every paper written and published in this one particular American journal in the last 18 months. There are usually five papers per issue, sometimes 6, sometimes 4. I reviewed 13 issues. In total, there were 65 papers written. Of those papers, there were 23 papers that were not about an extreme minority issue. These papers would pose a significant relevance to approximately 15% of the country. Of the 23 papers that were not about a minority issue of identity, there was one… ONE about religion/spirituality (RS). And the entire paper was written to scold all researchers who have researched RS and not spoken loud enough denouncing what religion teaches and not being inclusive enough. In other words, “we don’t agree with you, so stop writing it.”
There was one entire journal dedicated to women. There was one entire journal dedicated to African Americans. There were none dedicated to men. None dedicated to any race other than the black race. So, in 65 papers, we can’t talk about men at all, but we can talk about women’s issues for an entire issue? And they thought it appropriate to dedicate over 65% of their time to less than 15% of the American population. This is why it should scare you. Because for the rest of the 85% of the American population, there is no research being conducted and published (without dire consequences) that will help you or psychological professionals know better how to help you in your time of need.
I recently read a book by a very accomplished scholar in the realm of gender expression, sex genes, and overall human biology. She stated that she found facts for and against those suffering from gender dysphoria. The journals would allow her to only publish the research that makes those with gender dysphoria feel better. But not the research that shows the fact that suicide ideation does not decrease after transition. She was able to meet her hero in the field of sexology and asked him why he hadn’t published anything in a long time. His answer was chilling. He stated that one day, out of nowhere, after publishing and lecturing for 40 years, he was asked to leave the university where he taught after already being denied entries into journals where he had been published for years. His findings were not much different than before, but the cultural and societal landscape had changed, and his facts were no longer accepted. Again, this should scare you.
The more malevolent consequence of this is that when one attempts to speak from a place of factual experience, someone will cite research to the contrary and no one will be able to refute it with other research findings because there will be none to cite. This will further allow ideological radicals to push an agenda for various purposes, but they are usually tied to money.
For example, if one says, every couple in my town of 10,000 people that has lived together prior to being married was divorced before they reached year 8 of their marriage. Someone will be able to quote research that couples are better living together prior to marriage. Unfortunately for them, there is current research that shows that for those couples who cohabitate, year one is better than those who didn’t. But every year after, they show a lower relationship satisfaction rating than the married couples who did not cohabitate prior to marriage. The couples who cohabitated prior to marriage are typically divorced by year seven.
Perhaps it’s time to stop being quiet. If we don’t, there will be no factual research out there to support best practices and methods for achieving the best possible results in our lives, like being raised by your two biological parents in a low-conflict home. This is a verifiable fact that will be shut down and society will begin to believe that this is not the ultimate to reach for when raising children. But it is. This doesn’t mean that everything else is terrible. It just means that there is a verifiable goal to strive towards that will result in the best possible outcome for the child. The statistics show that every family unit outside of this increases the risk of low grades, poverty, incarceration, dropouts, and teen pregnancies. We know this because we have current research that shows this.
In our society, we need research on all issues, not just the ones we agree with. We need research on teenagers with gender dysphoria and we need research on the positive effects of religion on depression. We need all, not some.
Stay Classy GP!
Grainger