Research Basics

I love blogs! They bring up new ideas and new insights

but...

While it is interesting to read the simplified versions of concepts and they are really informative,  it is really important to dig into the actual research cited.  Sometimes there are hotlinks to the articles and sometimes you simply have to cut and paste and do a search for yourself.

Sometimes the abstract is enough to know that the study was correlative, observational, experimental or meta-analytic. Each of these methods have benefits to our knowledge base, but it is important that the methods used reflect the stated outcome. Once in awhile you may want to read the entire study.

Basic Rule#1
The rule most often broken out in the world of research reporting is our natural inclination to link Correlation with Causation. This simply is not valid.

For instance, if you were to study the presence of firemen with the incidence of residential home fires, you would find a very, very high correlation; close to the perfect 1.0 correlation. However, it would be obviously wrong to make the statement that fires are caused by the presence of firemen.

Design and Flaws
Well-controlled experimental research is needed to ever make a statement about causation. The design of the research also impacts what causation statements can be made. A famous example is the Hawthorne Effect which demonstrates how the act of studying something can change the outcome and so the results do not apply to the population at large.

One of my favorite classes in my first graduate school program was dedicated entirely to research design, and it is far too much information to hit here, but in a nutshell, if the groups chosen and the introduction of treatment are in any way subject to bias, it can totally change what you are looking at!

Researchers studying researchers have well documented how easily we can study something entirely different than what we think we are studying, so look for the loopholes. Like when you see a good movie but there is that one hole, big enough to drive a semi through, that just won't leave your mind? Use that same searching mentality as you read these articles..

Meta-analysis is a wonderful way to help cover some of the limitations of individual studies. By analyzing the data from multiple studies as if it were one mega study, you come to a much clearer, well-supported answer.

Great Resource
Remember, you can make ANY point you want using research. One of my favorite books is How To Lie With Statistics and I would recommend it be in every home and read by all young people, aka future discerning consumers of information.

Start Here
Here is a good article to practice on! There is a thorough list of studies cited at the end and some of the classic research faux pas are discussed. Don't take the writers word for it, go look at some of the studies cited!

All the posts following this page will link to interesting studies that might give us greater information to consider while making individual choices regarding food, brain management and lifestyle choices.

Wishing you happy healthy living!