--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: ... no scientific worker has a fixed…" description: "\"... no scientific worker has a fixed level of significance at which from year to year, and in all circumstances, he rejects hypotheses; he rather gives..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e15/ronald-fisher-14852_cases_no-scientific-worker-has-a-fixed-level-o_315018.png" --- # ... no scientific worker has a fixed level of significance… ![“... no scientific worker has a fixed level of significance at which from year to year, and in all circumstances, he rejects hypotheses; he rather gives his mind to each particular case in the light of his evidence and his ideas.” quote by Ronald Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e15/ronald-fisher-14852_cases_no-scientific-worker-has-a-fixed-level-o_315018.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e15/ronald-fisher-14852_cases_no-scientific-worker-has-a-fixed-level-o_315018.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e15/ronald-fisher-14852_cases_no-scientific-worker-has-a-fixed-level-o_315018.png) > “... no scientific worker has a fixed level of significance at which from year to year, and in all circumstances, he rejects hypotheses; he rather gives his mind to each particular case in the light of his evidence and his ideas.” [Ronald Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-fisher/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Fisher argues that scientists should evaluate each hypothesis on its own merits, guided by evidence rather than fixed standards. **In simple terms:** Scientists should judge each case individually based on evidence. Key Takeaway Assess evidence case‑by‑case. Themes science methodology critical thinking Mood analytical thoughtful Type academic philosophical When to use this quote - research design - peer review - policy making - clinical trials - academic publishing Key Concepts statistics hypothesis testing epistemology Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance consistency with flexibility in evaluation? - When might a fixed standard be beneficial? A Different Perspective Rigid thresholds can ignore nuanced data. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Giving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving/) [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [Light](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/light/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Significance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/significance/) [Workers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/workers/) ## Related quotes > [“Every serious scientific worker is painfully conscious of this involuntary relegation to an ever-narrowing sphere of knowledge, which is threatening to deprive the investigator…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein-the-world-as-i-see-it/every-serious-scientific-worker-is-painfully-conscious-of-this/) Albert Einstein The World As I See It > [Only by strict specialization can the scientific worker become fully conscious, for once and perhaps never again in his lifetime, that he has achieved…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-weber/only-by-strict-specialization-can-the-scientific-worker-become-fully/) [Max Weber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-weber/) > [The routine of custom tends to deaden even scientific inquiry; it stands in the way of discovery and of the active scientific worker. For…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/the-routine-of-custom-tends-to-deaden-even-scientific-inquiry-it/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [Progress is achieved by exchanging our theories for new ones which go further than the old, until we find one based on a larger…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-bernard/progress-is-achieved-by-exchanging-our-theories-for-new-ones-which-go/) [Claude Bernard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-bernard/) > [The number of hypotheses available to explain any given phenomenon is infinite.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/the-number-of-hypotheses-available-to-explain-any-given-phenomenon-is/) [Robert M. Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/) > [Whenever two hypotheses cover the facts, use the simpler of the two.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-of-ockham/whenever-two-hypotheses-cover-the-facts-use-the-simpler-of-the-two/) [William of Ockham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-of-ockham/) > [Unfortunately, in the field of evolution most explanations are not good. As a matter of fact, they hardly qualify as explanations at all; they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-macbeth/unfortunately-in-the-field-of-evolution-most-explanations-are-not/) [Norman Macbeth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-macbeth/) > [The physicist can never subject an isolated hypothesis to experimental test, but only a whole group of hypotheses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-duhem/the-physicist-can-never-subject-an-isolated-hypothesis-to/) Pierre Duhem > [Better our hypotheses die for our errors than ourselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-popper/better-our-hypotheses-die-for-our-errors-than-ourselves/) [Karl Popper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-popper/) > [I feign no hypotheses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-newton/i-feign-no-hypotheses/) [Isaac Newton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-newton/) > [Hypotheses are the scaffolds which are erected in front of a building and removedd when the building is completed. 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I frame no hypotheses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-newton/hypotheses-non-fingo-i-frame-no-hypotheses/) [Isaac Newton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-newton/) > [In science, each new result, sometimes quite surprising, heralds a step forward and allows one to discard some hypotheses, even though one or two…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-b-prusiner/in-science-each-new-result-sometimes-quite-surprising-heralds-a-step/) [Stanley B. Prusiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-b-prusiner/) > [Whether statistics be an art or a science... or a scientific art, we concern ourselves little. It is the basis of social and political…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolphe-quetelet/whether-statistics-be-an-art-or-a-science-or-a-scientific-art-we/) [Adolphe Quetelet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolphe-quetelet/) ## More by Ronald Fisher > [ \[Coining the phrase "test of significance"\] Critical tests of this kind may be called tests of significance, and when such tests are available we… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-fisher/coining-the-phrase-test-of-significance-critical-tests-of-this-kind/) [Ronald Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-fisher/) > [We can set no limit to human potentialities; all that is best in man can be bettered; it is not a question of producing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-fisher/we-can-set-no-limit-to-human-potentialities-all-that-is-best-in-man/) [Ronald Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-fisher/) > [If ... we choose a group of social phenomena with no antecedent knowledge of the causation or absence of causation among them, then the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-fisher/if-we-choose-a-group-of-social-phenomena-with-no-antecedent-knowledge/) [Ronald Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-fisher/) > [The statistician cannot evade the responsibility for understanding the process he applies or recommends.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-fisher/the-statistician-cannot-evade-the-responsibility-for-understanding/) [Ronald Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-fisher/) > [Modern statisticians are familiar with the notion that any finite body of data contains only a limited amount of information on any point under…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-fisher/modern-statisticians-are-familiar-with-the-notion-that-any-finite/) [Ronald Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-fisher/) > [The academic mind, as we know, is sometimes capable of assuming an aggressive attitude. 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