Strong Inference: Certain systematic methods of scientific thinking may produce much more rapid progress than others.
Abstract
PREVIOUS ARTICLENational Academy of Sciences: Abstracts of Papers Presented at the Autumn Meeting, Madison, Wisconsin, 12-14 October 1964
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When engaging in competitive testing, it is crucial to operationalize the constructs at the same level of specificity or generality to achieve a fair outcome.
“When engaging in competitive testing, it is crucial to operationalize the constructs at the same level of specificity or generality in order to achieve a fair outcome (Platt, 1964;Sedikides, Gaertner, Luke, O'Mara, & Gebauer, 2013).”
From Cultural norm fulfillment, interpersonal belonging, or getting ahead? A large-scale cross-cultural test of three perspectives on the function of self-esteem. (2015) · cites this paper as Platt, 1964
Circular reasoning can be avoided if the data are carefully examined to determine the extent of their congruence with the concepts and propositions of the theory, as well as from the perspective of alternative theories.
“Circular reasoning can be avoided if the data are carefully examined to determine the extent of their congruence with the concepts and propositions of the theory, as well as from the perspective of alternative theories (Platt, 1964).”
From Criteria for Evaluation of Theory (2005) · cites this paper as Platt, 1964
Reproducibility is a core principle of scientific progress.
“A core principle of scientific progress is reproducibility ( 16 ).”
From Estimating the reproducibility of psychological science (2015) · cites this paper as [5]
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“To be able to design a study that allows for strong inferences (Platt, 1964), it is important to specify which test result would falsify the hypothesis in question.”
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- Authors
- Platt, J. R.
- Affiliations
- University of Chicago (US)
- Corresponding author
- Platt, John R.
- Venue
- Science
- Published
- 1964-10-16
- Volume
- 146
- Issue
- 3642
- Pages
- 347-353
- ISSN
- 0036-8075 (ISSN-L)
- 1095-9203
- OpenAlex
- W2014781793
- Cited by
- 2,907
- References
- 1
- Citations by year
- 2026: 63 · 2025: 83 · 2024: 79 · 2023: 77 · 2022: 104 · 2021: 104 · 2020: 126 · 2019: 94 · 2018: 114 · 2017: 102 · 2016: 52 · 2015: 82 · 2014: 77 · 2013: 82 · 2012: 79
- FWCI
- 207.60
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Science (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History and Philosophy of Science › Philosophy and History of Science
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Information Systems and Management › Research, Science, and Academia
- Social Sciences › Education › Science Education and Pedagogy
- Keywords
- strong inference, scientific hypothesis testing, falsifiability, scientific method, Karl Popper
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