Quote:
Originally Posted by rkomar
When doing scientific research, you try to isolate what you're studying as much as possible to make the conclusions more definitive. Making the two passages as similar as possible except for the marker words is an attempt to do that. It may not produce prose that would make a best seller, but it is valid in terms of the research. There is some difference there to consider. It may not apply to iconic SF novels as read by ardent fans, but there is something going on there that needs to be analyzed.
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The problem, for me, is that there were both SF (using the word very loosely) and military references used in the "SF" text. Two variables instead of one. Adding extraneous variables makes any study pretty much useless for it's intended purpose. As you said, "isolate what you're studying" which was not done. The alternative is to state that the average reader is unable to distinguish between the two which is itself a absurd statement.