Squeaky Wheel - As A Fallacy

As A Fallacy

Decisions and conclusions made on the basis of "the squeaky wheel gets the grease" may be reached fallaciously if one assumes a problem will out itself with contrary evidence rather than finding positive evidence to support a conclusion. Sreenivasan & Narayana (2008) identify the squeaky wheel fallacy as a fallacy to avoid during "problem formulation, anlaysis, interpretation and action" in the continual improvement process:

This fallacy operates on the principle that squeaky wheel gets the grease. If something is wrong with a conclusion it will 'squeak'. If we do not hear any complaints from the shop one can assure that the change adopted is OK. In experimental work, this fallacy arises when decisions are based on the absence of contrary evidence rather than the presence of supporting evidence...The cure for this fallacy lies in reaching conclusions based on the presence of positive supporting evidence rather than lack of contrary evidence.

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