Reading Nutritional Studies, with Homer Simpson as Your Host

minxonastick

"People can come up with statistics to prove anything, Kent. Forfty percent of all people know that." - Homer Simpson

From gnolls.org:

"Always Be Skeptical Of Nutrition Headlines: Or, What 'Red Meat Consumption and Mortality' (Pan et.al.) Really Tells Us"

http://tinyurl.com/88znusr

I thought this was a well done (ha!) article about how to evaluate nutrition studies. I almost always need help in evaluating studies, and I think the author breaks it down nicely. This article isn't boring, either, always a plus!

JayBeeGo

An interesting read into the vagaries of research and how experts who should know better and at times do, can create grossly misleading deductions based on bad technique or worse.

I've been a confirmed sceptic for more years than I care to remember and at times felt rather guilty and negative about starting from a position of challenging much of what is stated, notwithstanding the fact that many, if not all of us, can be very easily misled, intentionally or otherwise.
Unfortunately the meaning of words, including sceptic, seem to change and not always for the better.

Perhaps I was also naive in that it took me a while to realise that the situation is often made worse by supposedly impartial experts, nominally acting for the general good, overtly trying to mislead or at best selectively misrepresent the situation for commercial, personal or other reasons.

The technicalities involved make it difficult if not impossible for most of us to determine how misleading certain approaches and techniques can be. Lies, damned lies and statistics can seem appropriate.

The one which I think I find easiest to spot is 'Correlation Does Not Imply Causation'.
I know some very well qualified people who have little difficulty in coming to what I regard as an obviously rather illogical conclusion, correct or not, on the basis of a vaguely related statement.

Sadly we are all prone to coming to a conclusion that suits our preferences or assumptions aided by a temptation perhaps to come to quick determination.

The link provided gives some interesting examples of rather common fallacies - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fallacies

I'm rapidly coming to the rather depressing conclusion that in the absence of some detailed and independent assessment of the techniques, motives and 'research' undertaken, much of what is often quoted as sound research leading to a recommendation or conclusion that is often quoted and regarded as fact, has to be treated with a large degree of scepticism.