monkeys and ponies

I know several people on my flist are scientists, researchers, or generally interested in science research, and since a few of you may not have heard yet about the fan fiction survey, consider this an object lesson in Doing It Wrong. Seriously, how do you get to the point of having a PhD in a scientific field and not realize that you can't change the questions in the middle of the survey without affecting your data? (And that's the least of the problems with this little project – it's just one of the most obvious points of Science Fail.)

The survey is finally down while the researchers "digest all this great feedback." Personally, I agree with the anonmeme theory that this is subtle code for "BRB, BU IRB SMACKING OUR ASSES, AND NOT IN THE GOOD WAY YOU FOLKS WRITE ABOUT."

It's not like I have any faith at all in the current administration, but this is just astonishing:

In fact, some of the most basic details [of the Wall Street bailout plan], including the $700 billion figure Treasury would use to buy up bad debt, are fuzzy.

"It's not based on any particular data point," a Treasury spokeswoman told Forbes.com Tuesday. "We just wanted to choose a really large number."

Apparently there is no one in the entire U.S. Treasury Department qualified to even make a guess at how much this bailout could cost. After all, it's not like anyone over there is responsible for "[Serving] the American people and strengthen[ing] national security by managing the U.S. Government's finances effectively, promoting economic growth and stability, and ensuring the safety, soundness, and security of the U.S. and international financial systems."

We are so screwed.