CAN YOU BELIEVE IT? 7 Questions to Ask About Any Scientific Claim
What’s the claim? Is the claim likely or ridiculous? Read between the lines. Don’t confuse correlation with causation.
Who says? What is the author’s or publication’s reputation? Was the research peer-reviewed? Who paid for the research?
What’s the evidence? Reaching a scientific conclusion of any kind requires careful, repeated observation and measurement-- empirical evidence.
How did they get the evidence? What methods were used to collect the data? Are the methods explained?
Is there anything (or anyone) to back up this claim? Do other experts agree or disagree? Has the result been verified or reproduced?
Could there be another explanation? Maybe it’s not faulty research methods or data collection. Information can be interpreted in different ways.
Who cares?
Remember, big news sells! Never take headlines or sound bites at face value!-- there’s almost always more to the story.