Tommy Hall Effect

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Revision as of 11:15, 16 May 2018 by imported>KevinBee (Adding categories)

Also known as "Pulling a Tommy Hall," the Tommy Hall effect is when someone cites a scientific study or piece of academic research to back up a spurious claim, and then on further investigation (often requiring no more than reading the abstract), the paper actually demonstrates the exact opposite of whatever the original claim was. Obviously, this trope was named after the eponymous homophobic landscaper, who ended up invoking this effect almost every time he tried to cite a scientific source.