How to tell if a study is too good to be true

Insert Fitness
on 11/1/16 10:36 am

Hi everyone!

i came across this article, which is a pretty good primer on how to read all those media stories about every new study that comes out!

thought some of you might be interested:

http://www.vox.com/2015/1/5/7482871/types-of-study-design

Kathy S.
on 11/1/16 11:53 am - InTheBurbs, XX
RNY on 08/29/04 with

While I feel reading these can be a great help, I must confess.  My eyes roll in the back of my head!  

HW:330 - GW:150 - MW:118-125

RW:190 - CW:130

Donna L.
on 11/1/16 2:14 pm - Chicago, IL
Revision on 02/19/18

That's actually a great article!

One thing everyone needs to do is look at what groups of the population people select to aggregate data from.  When we do multivariate analyses in research, we choose what data we use.  This is why reading an abstract by itself is not useful.  For instance, if I want to prove a low fat diet is better than a high fat diet, I can chose groups of data results to run.  I don't have to run all of them.

Also, look at populations.  Much of early psychological science used white male populations and isn't necessarily applicable to women or people of color.  

It's always very important to read the full text, even if it does get dry.  I feel your pain there - often they can be hard to read.

I follow a ketogenic diet post-op. I also have a diagnosis of binge eating disorder. Feel free to ask me about either!

It is not that we have so little time but that we lose so much...the life we receive is not short but we make it so; we are not ill provided but use what we have wastefully. -- Seneca, On the Shortness of Life

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