Huh, I think the line in A Christmas Carol about Marley’s face having “a dismal light about it, like a bad lobster in a dark cellar” is FINALLY making sense to me. Who knew?
There have been several documented attempts to try and measure something.
A major university study using humans and machines: 364. With humans only: 252
Another major university experiment involving humans and machines: 411
A study by a group of high school students involving humans only: 144
Private research involving animals only: 3
What are all these researchers trying to find out?
Is it:
- length of time to do something?
- quantity of something?
- distance?
- length or height, etc.?
Mahaloth:
Is it:
- length of time to do something? No
- quantity of something? Yes
- distance? No
- length or height, etc.? No
And for clarity the adjective “major” modifies the individual universities, not the studies. (FWIW, Purdue and University of Michigan, according to Wikipedia.)
Does using google constitute lateral thinking ?
Is this something I could measure?
Is it the weight of something? Or mass?
Is it the amount of a group that could do something?
Is bias a factor in the widely different results?
reply to pjd
Does using google constitute lateral thinking ?
Google is not allowed. If you become frustrated with a puzzle and use Google, it is understandable but you should not post afterwards to that puzzle. Lateral thinking puzzles should not require Google.
reply to Mahaloth:
Is this something I could measure? Yes
Is it the weight of something? No Or mass? No
Is it the amount of a group that could do something? No
Is bias a factor in the widely different results?
No
Is there any wordplay or clues within the wording of this puzzle?
reply to Mahaloth:
Is there any wordplay or clues within the wording of this puzzle?
No wordplay or similar trickery. 
I need more people to come in and start asking some questions. I’m bad at getting the right angle going.
@Folly
@BigT
@Aspidistra
@Chronos
Come on in and help!
heh okay 
Is the measurement representable as an SI unit?
Is it a measurement of time?
Is it a measurement of something biological?
Is it a universal constant of some kind?
In the study involving humans, did the humans follow specific instructions in order for the study to be done?
I think I know what the answer to this one is. Let me just see if I’m correct:
Was this specific study funded by someone with a fiscal interest in the thing being measured?
Aspidistra:
Is the measurement representable as an SI unit? No, simply a quantitative count.
Is it a measurement of time? No
Is it a measurement of something biological? No
Is it a universal constant of some kind? No
In the study involving humans, did the humans follow specific instructions in order for the study to be done? I assume so.
Yes!
Chronos’ question makes me immediately jump to this idea:
Does it involve the tobacco industry? The pharmaceutical industry?
I know this one. So ill just be in the back, peaking over shoulders.
No to both.
Is it a measure of number of times the experimental subjects can or do perform an intentional act?
Is the ‘fiscal interest’ Chronos referred to in the animal research due to the researchers owning the specific animals used in that research? Was the point of that research to prove that animals could do something that normally only humans do?