You know that you need to read the fine print in contracts, but it may not have occurred to you that you also need to examine the “fine print” in scientific articles. Now, you may say, “I don’t read such articles anyway, so who cares?” Well, you should care because it is in this “fine print” that conclusions that affect your health can be “massaged” for particular purposes.
The fine print (some journals actually do use a smaller font size) occurs in the Materials and Methods, and Results sections of the article, and in the Acknowledgements. If the reader gets past the Abstract, s/he will probably read only the Introduction and Conclusion/Discussion sections. Few readers, other than those also doing work in the same field, will read the Materials and Methods, and Results sections. And even fewer will note who funded the research described in the article. For many types of research, this may not matter. But for research studies that affect our health, it matters a great deal.
For instance, if you see news releases proclaiming the benefits of dairy products, find the original article. You may have to get it through inter-library loan to avoid paying the high journal fees. Check the article to see who funded the research. The odds are that it was funded by the dairy producers in some form or other. Then you need to examine the fine print in the Materials and Methods, and Results sections. If you do not have a background in that field of research, it may be difficult to understand, so you will probably need to find a friend who can help. This effort matters because how the results are presented in the Abstract and the Conclusion/Discussion may not be fully supported by what is actually in the Results section. The conclusions may be massaged in a way that those funding the research would approve.
Certainly, not all research will have been massaged, but whenever new information on health issues is trumpeted in the news, be cautious in accepting the results. Examine the fine print.
The fine print (some journals actually do use a smaller font size) occurs in the Materials and Methods, and Results sections of the article, and in the Acknowledgements. If the reader gets past the Abstract, s/he will probably read only the Introduction and Conclusion/Discussion sections. Few readers, other than those also doing work in the same field, will read the Materials and Methods, and Results sections. And even fewer will note who funded the research described in the article. For many types of research, this may not matter. But for research studies that affect our health, it matters a great deal.
For instance, if you see news releases proclaiming the benefits of dairy products, find the original article. You may have to get it through inter-library loan to avoid paying the high journal fees. Check the article to see who funded the research. The odds are that it was funded by the dairy producers in some form or other. Then you need to examine the fine print in the Materials and Methods, and Results sections. If you do not have a background in that field of research, it may be difficult to understand, so you will probably need to find a friend who can help. This effort matters because how the results are presented in the Abstract and the Conclusion/Discussion may not be fully supported by what is actually in the Results section. The conclusions may be massaged in a way that those funding the research would approve.
Certainly, not all research will have been massaged, but whenever new information on health issues is trumpeted in the news, be cautious in accepting the results. Examine the fine print.
No comments:
Post a Comment