Dartmouth College Dartmouth Digital Commons Open Dartmouth: Published works by Dartmouth faculty Faculty Work 9-1-2007 Manipulating Underdetermination in Scientific Controversy: The Case of the Molecular Clock Michael Dietrich Dartmouth College Robert A. Skipper University of Cincinnati Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.dartmouth.edu/facoa Part of the Biology Commons Dartmouth Digital Commons Citation Dietrich, Michael and Skipper, Robert A., "Manipulating Underdetermination in Scientific Controversy: The Case of the Molecular Clock" (2007). Open Dartmouth: Published works by Dartmouth faculty. 16. https://digitalcommons.dartmouth.edu/facoa/16 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Faculty Work at Dartmouth Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Open Dartmouth: Published works by Dartmouth faculty by an authorized administrator of Dartmouth Digital Commons. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Manipulating Underdetermination in Scientiªc Controversy: The Case of the Molecular Clock Michael R. Dietrich Dartmouth College Robert A. Skipper, Jr. University of Cincinnati Where there are cases of underdetermination in scientiªc controversies, such as the case of the molecular clock, scientists may direct the course and terms of dispute by playing off the multidimensional framework of theory evaluation. This is because assessment strategies themselves are underdetermined. Within the framework of assessment, there are a variety of trade-offs between differ- ent strategies as well as shifting emphases as speciªc strategies are given more or less weight in assessment situations. When a strategy is underdetermined, scientists can change the dynamics of a controversy by making assessments using different combinations of evaluation strategies and/or weighting what- ever strategies are in play in different ways.