Beyond the headline – things to think about when you see reports about research
It can be hard to pick your way through the information you see in the media and online. Research findings are often simplified and can take you from thinking you knew exactly what you were doing to a feeling of knowing nothing at all! Our articles are one way to get a balanced view but even with the app at your fingertips, it can be helpful to have some pointers for spotting what the headlines don’t tell you.
Why do things we think are fact seem to change?
Some research simply repeats another experiment to see if the results are the same (these are called replication studies). As experiments are repeated with new groups of people, a theory might be supported, disproved or adapted. This is why we can discover that something we thought had been supported by research, is now found to be in doubt.
While research is often presented in media as showing something is true (or definitely not true), the reality is often a little more complicated with unknown or grey areas. This is why there are many ongoing debates in science.
So, when you see an article reporting on scientific research, what questions might be useful to help you understand what the study does (and doesn’t) show?
It can be helpful to remember that research results (and especially headlines) tell us about averages – and our children are not averages, they’re individuals.
Your knowledge about your toddler is always an important part of thinking about any new information. And statistical data gathered by scientists might not have a significant impact on your day-to-day life. For example, a study about using a particular approach to support babies' sleep might show something significant to researchers, but in reality that change of approach for you might just offer up the possibility of an extra five minutes' sleep!
Where was the study published?
When research is published in an academic journal it goes through a process of peer review. So, other researchers ask questions, make suggestions and challenge the findings before it is published. If you see research reported in the media, it can be useful to check if it has been through this process.
Is the research showing that two (or more) things are linked – and not that one thing happens because of another?
It can be difficult to show that one thing causes another, and it’s helpful to know that when scientists describe one thing as being associated with another, that doesn’t mean it causes it.
For example, it might be that sales of ice cream increase when people wear sandals. This might mean that wearing sandals makes you want to eat ice cream, but it also might simply mean that those are both things which happen when the sun comes out.
This is something that is often lost in translation when research is written about in the media, so it’s worth looking carefully at the words used to describe results.
Ask who is giving you this information; who funded and wrote and who wrote the research?
It can be interesting to find out who funded a study. This funding can have an impact on the questions that were asked in the research, and the way questions are worded, which can lead to some things relating to the research not being explored or published.
When looking into this, ask who is giving you this information and who wrote the research? Are they a specialist in the area they are writing about?
Often, it’s good to have someone else read the research so you can see key points (that’s what we do for you in the app!) but we would always say to think about who has written what you’re reading – and maybe look into things a bit more if their claims seem too simple, or too good to be true!
You probably don’t have time to analyse all this research right now – but be assured we are thinking about these things all the time so you can come to the app for information you can trust!
And if you find something you want to know more about – why not pop a question on our Facebook group and we’ll do the research for you?