• _NoName_
    link
    fedilink
    English
    19
    edit-2
    1 year ago

    Pretty sure most mad scientists are in applied science, which are usually just going to research for health effects and potency.

    So you’d have a control group which had dyed water with no goat elixir, a group which had water with 10% of the goat elixir,a group with 20% of the goat elixir etc… And then you see over ten years which group develops cancer or other health problems, and try to extrapolate from there.

    And then you find out that the water you used for testing was actually undyed goat elixir and that all your results are shit.

    • @Risk
      link
      English
      21 year ago

      So, what was the title of your thesis?

    • @Aqarius
      link
      English
      21 year ago

      See, if they bothered with proper process, they wouldn’t need that one particular sheep

    • HobbitFoot
      link
      fedilink
      English
      31 year ago

      Basically. They threaten the world with things they designed and built. The mad engineers may have had to do some science to figure out how the thing worked, but actually getting the think built is engineering.

  • @Urbanfox
    link
    English
    41 year ago

    “Gimmie a minute, I need to run this through SPSS to check that these differences are statistically significant.”

  • phi1997
    link
    fedilink
    31 year ago

    Mad scientist uses a control group when testing their death ray. Said control group has a flashlight shine on them instead. However, because it’s a double-blind experiment, the entire control group gets so worked up thinking that they’re going to die that they all suffer fatal heart attacks. The mad scientist concludes that their death ray does nothing and scraps the project.

  • @quasi_moto
    link
    English
    31 year ago

    Not all scientists run experiments or run the kind of experiments that require a control group. Descriptive studies are a thing and there are other methods to establish causality.

  • @betterdeadthanreddit
    link
    English
    21 year ago

    Could be a fun twist for a tabletop RPG. The party ends up trapped in a lab while hunting the scientist. Their arrival was not as unexpected as they’d been hoping and they’re being watched to ensure compliance. If they don’t player-character a way out, they’ll have to participate in the experiment.

    Start with a hidden roll for which group you’re in and then additional rolls with a table for effects. If thematically appropriate, control group members who roll just right (or wrong, depending on perspective) might get a real effect from the water. A door pops open and guards arrive to escort the party to their observation cells.