On 02/04/2012 22:10, Arthur Figgis wrote:
On 02/04/2012 18:33, Graham Nye wrote:

How does that constitute a professional PR result?

We are discussing it now, so it worked.

Not in a good way though. And for those who consider there
is no such thing as bad publicity may I remind you of
Gerald Ratner.

Don't confuse the "get our name in the media" style of "research" with
the "attempt to gain an understanding of the universe" research.

I'd agree there are two types of research - I'd divide them into good
and bad though. If PR people want to claim your former type as research
I'll just assess it in the same way as actual research.

A while ago there was some "research" into cockroaches on trains from a
leading purveyor of cockroach removal solutions. Ben Goldacre managed to
get an admission that it was indeed made up, but the story is is still
out there on various news websites.
http://www.badscience.net/2010/03/rentokil/

Interesting.



--
Graham Nye
news(a)thenyes.org.uk