>From the latest issue of Physics Today, about the difficulty of communicating
>scientific results to general public. With the term "error", this observation
>is very true :-(
Terms that have different meanings for scientists and the public
**************************************************************************************
Scientific term * Public meaning * Better choice
***************************************************************************************
enhance * improve * intensify, increase
positive trend * good trend * upward trend
positive feedback * good response, * vicious cycle, self-reinforcing
cycle
praise
theory * hunch, * scientific understanding
speculation
uncertainty * ignorance * range
error * mistake, wrong, * difference from exact true number
incorrect
bias * distortion, * offset from an observation
political motive
sign * indication * plus or minus sign
values * ethics, * numbers, quantity
monetary value
manipulation * illicit * scientific data processing
tampering
scheme * devious plot * systematic plan
anomaly * abnormal * change from long-term average
occurrence
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