/sci/ - Science & Math » Thread #14027354

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Anonymous Wed 29 Dec 06:35:31 2021 No.14027354 View Reply Original Report

Quoted By: >>14027377 >>14027487

How do you explain and defend a decision your PI made that you disagree with?

I'm writing up my thesis right now and having to justify a methodology that I never understood his thinking on. Writing it out makes it seem all the more dumb since it ended up being useless.

I could very well get called out about this during my defense or in peer review, but I just can't sincerely defend it.

Anonymous

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Anonymous Wed 29 Dec 2021 06:44:46 No.14027375 Report

Quoted By: >>14027414

so you're not qualified for the degree that you want to receive and you'd like to try and bluff your way through so you can put "dr." before your name and hopefully trade on that false moniker for big bucks.
common sentiment, how many identity politics categories do you fit into? can you accuse potential detractors of racism? antisemitism?
are you physically or mentally handicapped?
if you have nothing to accuse them of, come out as trans asap.

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 29 Dec 2021 06:45:10 No.14027377 Report

Quoted By: >>14027414

>>14027354
Do you put your head in front of two parallel penises

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 29 Dec 2021 06:59:03 No.14027414 Report

Quoted By: >>14027473

>>14027375
>>14027377
You don't have to be so mean :(

I'm just getting my M.S., and this part of my methodology was designed by my P.I. right at the beginning of my project, so he didn't really respect my opinion when I pushed back on it originally. It's mostly an inconsequential thing since it turned out to be meaningless, but I have to explain the method as context for all the important parts of my thesis. Really just an initial step.

Essentially, we tested to see if an effect was present. If it was, we'd proceed with analysis A. If it wasn't, we'd proceed with analysis B. There was no effect, so we went with analysis B. There just wasn't any real reason to think there could be an effect in the first place, which is the part I disagree with.

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 29 Dec 2021 07:21:28 No.14027473 Report

Quoted By: >>14027495

>>14027414
>which is the part I disagree with
you never bothered to learn what you didn't understand about that step and now you're feeling insecure about your respective knowledge gap, you should really be more concerned about your lack of general intellectual curiosity. it seems like you're not legitimately qualified for the title you're seeking, not qualified and not interested in becoming qualified. unfortunate state of affairs for everyone.

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 29 Dec 2021 07:26:32 No.14027487 Report

Quoted By: >>14027506 >>14027913

>>14027354
>How do you explain and defend a decision your PI made that you disagree with?
You don't. You either convince your PI to do things your way, get convinced by your PI to do things their way, or you find yourself a different PI. Doing a research project in a way you think doesn't work well will never work out.

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 29 Dec 2021 07:29:11 No.14027495 Report

Quoted By:

>>14027473
bait but I'm tired and going to take it

Quite the assumption that I never bothered to learn what I didn't understand. I absolutely did learn. I thought it through. I asked my P.I. for clarification multiple times. After I felt I had a solid grasp of the step and how it fit into the overall project, I pushed back because I disagreed. He never gave me a satisfactory answer. Conversations later on revealed his understanding of the data was completely inadequate, which is a conclusion I came to on my own and when discussing the project with other committee members. My P.I. can be a fucking dumbass.

I shouldn't have to justify that conclusion to you, though. I didn't make the thread to go into details about my project or explain how I arrived at my conclusions. I'm asking for advice on how to defend decisions that aren't yours and that you disagree with, something that is quite common in science, especially graduate school.

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 29 Dec 2021 07:34:24 No.14027506 Report

Quoted By: >>14027536

>>14027487
This was done 2 years ago. I defend in 4 months. No going back, no switching P.I.s. I'm stuck with what I've got. Again, very small part of my project, and not one that is worth throwing everything away over. The only reason it is relevant is because it affected how some data collection was randomized, which is why I need to explain it at all.

If I get asked about it or called out, do I:
>say I had problems but my advisor wanted me to do it
>explain my advisors reasoning and hope I seem convincing in my lie
>say something like "good point, that's something we need to consider in the future"
>something else?

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 29 Dec 2021 07:49:29 No.14027536 Report

Quoted By:

>>14027506
you probably wont be asked about it by ur committee if it is a small part of the project, just see if u can minimize the real estate u devote to it

if it comes up in peer review -- perfect! now you have to address it and change it to satisfy the reviewer

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 29 Dec 2021 10:41:51 No.14027913 Report

Quoted By:

>>14027487
It's excellent training for employment though. Defending and justifying other people's decisions that you thought were stupid all along is a common job requirement.

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