Papers/Posters for ERROR 2006

 

Contributions may take one of two forms:

(i) short papers presented as part of a workshop, or

(ii) short papers presented in a "poster" session. 

 

The Conference Program has been tentatively scheduled to include a total of approximately 15-20 contributed papers or posters, but this is subject to change depending on number of submissions.

 

I. Paper for a workshop:

Each workshop will consist of a group of 3-4 related papers 15-20 minutes each, followed by a panel discussion with audience questions. You may submit a proposal for a single paper (that the program committee will group) or a group of 3 individuals can propose a workshop. We hope to publish a selection of contributed papers.

 

(See examples of possible topic areas below):

 

II. Poster contribution

 

There will be 2 Poster Sessions approximately 1.5-2 hours each.  Posters provide the opportunity for individuals to present their research and provides for extended informal discussion with other participants, and more presentations than papers would allow. For a list of additional advantages posters have over traditional papers, see Clark Glymour's "Why Posters are Best"

 

A poster is a coherent, stand alone visual presentation or outline presenting the main points or arguments of a paper or research project.  Presenters stand by their poster to answer questions.  It is expected that presenters could give a brief 5-10 minute overview (poster presentation) of their work if asked.  There will be opportunities for giving 30 second "advertisements" for your poster session during breaks and designated periods.

 

We will provide each contributor one free standing poster display board to which to attach their poster using thumbtacks. The poster will be at eye level to a person of average height while standing. The available surface area for your poster is 34.5 inches high x 46.5 inches wide. In designing your poster (font size, white space, etc.), one should take into account that several people may be viewing your poster at one time as they walk about the display room. Therefore you should aim for brevity, clarity and accessibility (e.g., text should be readable from a distance of 4 or 5 feet).

 

There will be 2 poster awards, one of which may be designated for graduate students.

 

Your submission of a paper or poster should include the following:

 

a.  A short vita including author(s) name(s) and affiliation(s), e-mail address, & phone numbers

 

b.  A 2-3 page summary of your  main topic, questions, and overall relevance for philosophy of science, epistemology of natural and social science, HPS or STS.

 

c. For posters: a suggested plan for your presentation and an indication of what it will look like.

 

Posters and Workshop Papers should reflect the conference theme of "learning from error," conceiving "error" very broadly.

• What kinds of errors seem to matter most in improving method, advancing reliability, avoiding threats (natural and/or man-made)?

• How do /could we make progress in building a "repertoire of errors" and techniques to circumvent, or capitalize upon errors?

Examples of Possible Topic Areas for contributions:

• Duhemian problems: pinpointing the blame for error or anomaly in contemporary practice or historical case studies
• learning by deliberate introductions of error and noise
• visualizing and "subtracting out" errors by computer simulations
• strategies for avoiding errors: randomization, novel facts, diverse data, replication
• naturalistic metamethodology (for testing rules for uncertain inference)
• errors and objectivity
• ad hoc hypotheses and novel facts
• rigorous or severe tests of error
• error elimination in high-level theories
• testing for error in the historical sciences

• the value of deceit and trickery in natural selection
• rational decision and error
• errors not learned from (classic fallacies and other foibles)
• heuristics for coping with errors and uncertainties
• error control

• foundations of statistics
• the measurement and use of error
• when do data-dependent selections alter error probabilities?
• error probabilities and learning from errors
• errors in model specification/selection
• error probabilities vs. posterior probabilities
• models of errors and errors of models
• approximation (least-squares) errors

• errors in the law, burden of proof
• evidence-based policy
• erring on the side of (pre)caution
• risk, error, and bias
• robustness against error

• experimental vs target populations in the social sciences (e.g., external validity in experimental economics)
• experimental loopholes in physics
• induction and self-correction
• Peirce and error-correcting

 

Proposal submissions should be sent electronically either to jemille6@vt.edu or error@vt.edu.

 

The committee will begin reviewing submissions November 3. In order to be considered, paper submissions must be received electronically by February 6, 2006; poster submissions must be received electronically by February 28, 2006. Notifications of papers will be made by February 16, 2006. Contributors may submit both a paper and a poster proposal. Contributors are strongly urged to submit proposals prior to these deadlines. The conference organizers would greatly appreciate some preliminary contact by all potential contributors prior to the deadline.

 

The program committee may recommend a contributed workshop paper be a poster.

 

Accepted contributors (15-20) will have conference lodging and a portion of travel expenses covered. Criteria for judging posters and workshop papers: relevance for advancing philosophical understanding and/or solving foundational problems of inquiry, modeling, inference; clarity, originality, and appropriateness to the conference topic(s).

 

Below are several web pages that provide general information for making successful poster presentations. Please feel free to contact jemille6@vt.edu if you have additional questions about poster presentations or submissions.

 

Web pages to help with creating a poster:

Colorado State University guide to posters: http://writing.colostate.edu/guides/speaking/poster/

 

Carol Waite Connerâs Guide to successful poster preparation (the standard source for poster preparation): http://www.sou.edu/AAASPD/PosterPrep.html

 

What is a poster for arts and humanities?

http://www.lcsc.edu/ss150/poster.htm

Additional sites of use:

http://www.sou.edu/AAASPD/PosterPrep.html

 

http://www.taramillerevents.com/spsp05/posters.htm