Mistake-making: a theoretical framework for generating research questions in biology, with illustrative application to blood clotting

Hill, J., Oderberg, D. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9585-0515, Gibbins, J. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0372-5352 and Bojak, I. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1765-3502 (2022) Mistake-making: a theoretical framework for generating research questions in biology, with illustrative application to blood clotting. Quarterly Review of Biology, 97 (1). ISSN 0033-5770 doi: 10.1086/718736

Abstract/Summary

It is a matter of contention whether or not a general explanatory framework for the biological sciences would be of scientific value, or whether it is even achievable. In this paper we suggest that both are the case, and we outline proposals for a framework capable of generating new scientific questions. Starting with one clear characteristic of biological systems – that they all have the potential to make mistakes - we aim to describe the nature of this potential and the common processes that lie behind it. Given that under most circumstances biological systems function effectively, an examination of different kinds of mistake-making provides pointers to mechanisms that must exist to make failure uncommon. This in turn informs a framework for systematic enquiry, which in this paper we apply to the haemostatic system, but which we believe could be applied to any system across biology.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/101742
Identification Number/DOI	10.1086/718736
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Life Sciences > School of Biological Sciences > Biomedical Sciences Life Sciences > School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences > Department of Psychology Life Sciences > School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences > Neuroscience Arts, Humanities and Social Science > School of Humanities > Philosophy Life Sciences > School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences > Psychopathology and Affective Neuroscience
Publisher	University of Chicago Press
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