Topic 1 - The Scientific Approach

Question 1

more information doesn’t always mean…

Answer 1

more answers. Also lots of misinformation

Question 2

define the difference between misinformation and disinformation

Answer 2

Misinformation: passing on wrong info, usually accidentally

Disinformation: purposely spreading wrong info, purposely deceiving people

Question 3

Name 7 tips on stopping the spread of fake news

Answer 3

1) Access the source
2) Go beyond headlines
3) Identify the author
4) Check the date
5) Examine the supporting evidence
6) Check your biases
7) Turn to fact-checkers

Question 4

Science is never_

Answer 4

black and white
- always evolving, science is never 100%

Question 5

the goal of stats isn’t to confirm/deny something, it’s to_

Answer 5

look at the probability of things

Question 6

A lot of misinformation doesn’t come from nothing, give some examples shown in class

Answer 6

• hydroxychloroquine: used to treat malaria and symptoms of some chronic diseases, gained traction for potential covid treatment
• ivermectin: used to treat parasitic worms in animals, gained traction for potential covid cure

*both had promising results very early

Question 7

Although there is no “scientific proof” and concrete answers rarely exist, _

Answer 7

research provides “evidence
*heathy scepticism is what science is built upon!

Question 8

The term scientific literacy is _

Answer 8

super broad

Question 9

Define scientific literacy

Answer 9

• a skillset and mindset that will support problem solving and making intelligent, informed decisions
• a way of thinking that is more logical, with a healthy level of skepticism

Question 10

define intuition

Answer 10

• draw general conclusions based on emotions and instincts
• can be based on past experiences/partial evidence
  *always gonna have some level of intuition, but have to move past it to the other ways of knnowing

Question 11

define authority

Answer 11

• statements from authorities must be true
• persuation does not equal to credibility
• coming from people who are experts on topic/ppl with more power and knowledge in field

Question 12

define rationalism

Answer 12

• reason/logic to draw conclusions (without actually seeing anything)
• what if our initial premise is wrong…
• if_is that, then_is_
  *if initial premise is incorrect, our logic becomes faulty (ex. loss of smell and covid status)

Question 13

define empiricism

Answer 13

• making conclusions through structured observations
• different than anecdotal evidence
  **the scientific approach is grounded in empiricism!

Question 14

the scientific approach is grounded in empiricism BUT _

Answer 14

also relies on rationalism, authority and intuition
*can’t always rely on empiricism
*healthy scepticism, don’t blindly accept what you hear and read
*evaluated on the basis of logic and the quality of scientific results (aka. not the existence of results)

Question 15

define the scientific approach

Answer 15

systematic set of principles and procedures for generating knowledge
- science is very incremental, but usually very cyclical approach: adding more info which generated new question

Question 16

list the 7 characteristics of the pseudo-scientific approach

Answer 16

• hypotheses not testable
• methods are not scientific or validity of data is questionable
• evidence anecdotal
• heavy focus on “experts”, not scientific references
• ignore conflicting evidence
• use many “scientific-sounding” terms/ideas
• claims are vague

Question 17

what are 2 types of common misinterpretations of scientific data?

Answer 17

statistical misinterpretations, overgeneralizations

Question 18

name the 3 components of statistical misinterpretations

Answer 18

1) correlation does not equal causation
2) confounding variables
3) statistical significance does not equal importance

Question 19

name the 2 components of overgeneralizations

Answer 19

1) a single study is rarely confirmatory
2) results may apply to a specific group

Question 20

define correlation

Answer 20

a relationship between 2 measures
- reported as correlation coefficient (0=not related, 1=perfectly related)

Question 21

describe correlation does not equal causation

Answer 21

• just because 2 things are related to one another, doesn’t mean they cause the other
  ex. taller/bigger shoes, eat nuts/live longer

Question 22

define confounding variables

Answer 22

other variables that may also influence the relationship but are not the primary focus
*when these are ignored, might make it seem like a relationship is more meaningful than it is

Question 23

define statistical significance

Answer 23

• describes how likely what we observed is due to chance
• our confidence in our results
  *p-values (smaller = less likely to be chance, 0.05 threshold in most research but debated)
  *influenced by average scores, how much they vary, and # of scores collected

Question 24

Statistical significance is more than just about means, how could the average be same but significance be different?

Answer 24

the spread of data values could be larger (variability of scores/observations)
*smaller spread is better because less difference between people = confidence in results
OR more people in study

Question 25

statistical significance does not…

Answer 25

equal importance

Question 26

why is a single study is rarely confirmatory?

Answer 26

• each individual studies provides incremental evidence
• best to examine the entire body of evidence
  *overgeneralizing

Question 27

why is it that results may apply to a specific group? overgeneralizing*

Answer 27

• studies are usually very specific in their recommendations (don’t extrapolate results to other groups easilty)
• media is usually not as specific in their interpretation
  ex. walking faster may lead to longer life

Question 28

what does it mean for research to be incremental?

Answer 28

• build upon previous finding
• adding evidence, goal is to build on existing findings a lot of the time

Question 29

how is the ‘levels of evidence’ period organized?

Answer 29

lowest quality of evidence at the bottom, highest at the top

Question 30

name the 5 levels of evidence in order of lowest quality of evidence to highest

Answer 30

evidence from expert opinions, case studies/cross-sectional, cohort studies, randomized controlled trials, reviews/meta-analyses

Question 31

describe cohort studies

Answer 31

• group of people observed over time
• need people to be free of the disease/outcome at onset but differ in the exposure (yes/no)
  *ex. can’t run experimental trail on smoking, have to use cohort

Question 32

name the advantages for cohort studies

Answer 32

• establish a temporal relationship between exposure (smoking) and outcome (cancer)
• evidence towards cause and effect (not 100%)

Question 33

name the limitations for cohort studies

Answer 33

• expensive/time consuming
• difficult for rare disorders
• can be “confounded” with additional factors that interfere with/influence outcome
  (ex. were smokers vs non smokers different in other ways? other activities that expose them to greater risk?)

Question 34

describe randomized controlled trials

Answer 34

• experimental group (treatment) + control (no treatment)
• random assignment is necessary
• placebo is important BUT NOT NEEDED (hard in surgery/interventions)

Question 35

list the advantages of randomized controlled trials

Answer 35

• highly controlled
• best design for cause and effect
• randomization eliminates/minimizes confounding variables (unless there are 3/4 of 1 type in one group, usually look at stats to see if even)

Question 36

list the limitations of randomized controlled trials

Answer 36

• not always possible/practical
• ethical considerations
• need people to follow their assignment

Question 37

in the RCT knee surgery ecample, how did outomes (self-reported pain and function) compare 2 years after the surgery?

Answer 37

same at 2 years for sham and treatment

Question 38

describe systematic reviews/metaanalyses

Answer 38

• search out all studies on a given topic to summarize the findings
• systematic reviews can be qualitative/quantitative
• meta-analysis: quantitative pooling of results