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Interpreting evidence: why values can matter as much as science.

Inmaculada de Melo-Martín¹, Kristen Intemann

¹Division of Medical Ethics, Department of Public Health, Weill Cornell Medical College, NewYork, NY 10065, USA. imd2001@med.cornell.edu

Perspectives in Biology and Medicine

|May 31, 2012

Summary

Scientists often overlook non-epistemic values in their work, even in policy-related research. Acknowledging ethical and social values is crucial for advancing scientific debates, as seen in the home birth safety discussion.

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Area of Science:

Philosophy of Science
Medical Ethics
Public Health Policy

Background:

Increasing awareness of non-epistemic values in science.
Scientists' reluctance to acknowledge values in their work, particularly in policy-related research.
Policy debates are often framed solely as epistemic (evidence-based) discussions.

Purpose of the Study:

To argue that ethical and social values legitimately play a role in scientific judgments.
To demonstrate how value assumptions underpin scientific evidence for policy.
To analyze the role of values in the debate over home birth safety.

Main Methods:

Analysis of scientific framing in policy debates.
Case study of the home birth safety dispute.
Examination of underlying value assumptions in scientific arguments.

Main Results:

The home birth safety debate, framed as purely scientific, involves underlying value disagreements.
Scientists often present policy-relevant research as solely empirical, masking value judgments.
Failure to address values hinders progress in policy-related scientific debates.

Conclusions:

Ethical and social values are integral to scientific evidence for policy.
Scientists must critically discuss the values at stake in their research.
Moving forward requires acknowledging and engaging with non-epistemic values in science.