Commentary
In a 2015 piece for Time magazine, writer Jeffrey Klugerin listed the ten most ridiculous scientific studies.
Hilarious examples include: “Quitting smoking after heart attack reduces chest pain, improves quality of life,” “Statistical analysis reveals Mexican drug war increased homicide rates,” and “Scientists discover a difference between the sexes.”
It is concerning that research grants—taxpayers’ money—are frequently allocated to weird and undeserving projects. This concern is exacerbated if the research topic is utterly ridiculous or fails the test of societal impact.
Even if research studies are, at least potentially, meaningful from a social perspective, they are frequently so badly written that it becomes impossible to gauge their societal impact….