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Wikhypothesis

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This is a proposal for a new Wikimedia sister project.
Wikhypothesis
Status of the proposal
Statusrejected
Technical requirements

Wikhypothesis

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Whereas Wikipedia is a repository of facts, Wikhypothesis is a repository of hypotheses about how to change outcomes and all relevant evidence for said hypotheses. Thus, Wikhypothesis could serve as the backbone for a metaanalysis of any hypothesis humans care to consider by becoming an extremely concise metajournal of all human knowledge and knowledge acquisition.

Some example hypotheses:

Does a change in X have a significant impact upon Y?
Newborn sleep position (front vs back) Newborn's morbidity and mortality rate?
Tax advantages of a Roth IRA in the United States Gross household savings in the United States?
Quantity of lye-based drain clog remover used per year Lifetime depreciation of the relevant plumbing?
Quantity of biological children Female politician's probability of winning an election in the Nordic nations?
Population size of the American black bear (Ursus americanus) [1] Dollar value of downstream flood damage?

See Sample Wikhypothesis page below

Goals of Wikhypothesis

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The five areas of focus illuminated for any possible hypothesis would be:

  • Methods
  • Models
  • Mechanisms
  • Conclusions
  • User Experience

Methods

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Which methods were used to acquire data and/or conduct study?

  • Neutrality: This project is neutral as to methods and simply reports any method and any limitation without value judgement. For each hypothesis page, only coded elements in the table receive a reference. While there may be 1,000 methods to knowledge, each page does not need to list them all.

Models

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Which mathematical, analytic, conceptual models were used to organize and analyze the data?

Mechanisms

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What is the proposed mechanism of action, how does X -> Y?

Conclusions

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What is the basic outcome of the study: to accept or reject the hypothesis?

User Experience

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How to make Wikhypothesis work for users?

  • Summary: Wikhypothesis must offer a metanalysis of all the evidence for and against each hypothesis in order to quickly help the user decide on their own confidence that the hypothesis is, or is not, true.
  • Filtering: Wikhypothesis should introduce a filtering function for each column. Suppose you wanted to see only the studies using methods "a" or "m," you should be able to filter out the rest.


Sample Wikhypothesis page

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  • Daily Intake of Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor XYZ --> Symptoms of Clinical Depression?

Summary: The Hypothesis is Very Likely True

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Study Year Source Funding Methods Models of Analysis Conclusion Limitations Proposed Mechanisms ??
Study 1 2013 Nature NIH a, m c, e Yes c, f2 Chemical: neurons Example
Study 2 2011 Lancet OECD META a, c, e, f, m, n, o No x, j19 Chemical: neurons; Publishing bias Example
Study 3 2010 JONEM NIH a, e, m c, e, f Yes c, f2, p3 Chemical: neurons Example
Study 4 2009 Unpublished ?? a h None c Chemical: neurons Example

Methods:

  • a: large-N sample size link
  • e: large-N sample size double blind link
  • ..etc.

Models of Analysis:

  • a: linear regression least ordinary squares link
  • f: logit model link

Proposed Mechanisms:

  • c44: Chemical: neurons link
  • mi23: Publishing bias link

Proposed by

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@jtdjtdjtdjtd


Alternative names

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Domain names

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People interested