You Can’t Always Get What You Want
When I was in high school, I read The Double Helix by James Watson. If you’re not familiar with it, it is the story of how Watson and Crick actually determined the structure of DNA. I found it fascinating reading. It wasn’t a story that glamorized what they did, it just told the story. It was then I decided that I wanted to do biological research.
I went on to obtain a BS in Biology and did work in research for about 7 years. I had a good understanding of the principles of good research: objectivity, repeatable results, openness to other ideas and a willingness to accept that the theory you set out to prove might be wrong. Sadly, I was disillusioned along the way because there were far too many researchers that didn’t follow those principles. They would throw out results that didn’t fit their theory. Eventually, I abandoned the idea of continuing my education in this area.
My point is that you have to be very careful about what you read. Seems like every other day stories come across with headlines like “Caffeine shown to increase brain power” and “Caffeine makes you stupid” - you get my drift. But you need to look further. And ask questions. Was it one study? Or many? How many test cases did they have? Did they have enough cases. To me, it seems like irresponsible journalism for the press to come out and report on a single study. The implication is that the results of this one study are definitive proof.
Prime examples are in the field of diet. Somebody sets out to prove that a Diet 998,122 is good for you. So they follow a few people for 6 months. But what about the people that dropped out, or those whose results were dropped from the study. And what about the next six months?
Bottom line? Never assume that a report in the news is the final answer. Look below the surface. Ask questions. Find out about other studies. And remember, If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
