Glass, David H.

Schupbach, Jonah N.

English

Competition between scientific hypotheses is not always a matter of mutual exclusivity. Consistent hypotheses can compete to varying degrees either directly or indirectly via a body of evidence. We motivate and defend a particular account of hypothesis competition by showing how it captures these features. Computer simulations of Bayesian inference are used to highlight the limitations of adopting mutual exclusivity as a simplifying assumption to model scientific reasoning, particularly due to the exclusion of hypotheses that may be true. We end with a case study demonstrating the subtleties involved in hypothesis competition in scientific practice

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Hypothesis Competition beyond Mutual Exclusivity

https://pure.ulster.ac.uk/ws/files/11622119/HypothesisCompetition_preprint.pdf

Hypothesis Competition beyond Mutual Exclusivity

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Ulster University's Research Portal