Beware the creeping cracks of bias

In his recent column appearing in Nature, ASU's Danel Sarewitz writes that the growing inaccuracy of scientific research and knowledge can be linked to bias.

"Alarming cracks are starting to penetrate deep into the scientific edifice," writes Sarewitz, the director of the Consortium for Science, Policy and Outcomes at ASU, and professor of science and society. "They threaten the status of science and its value to society. … Their cause is bias, and the threat they pose goes to the heart of research."

A biased scientific result, Sarewitz says, is no different from a useless one.