Tuesday, February 14, 2012

"Studies Show"


Forgive me if I don't genuflect at the words "Studies show."

I've seen what is behind many studies and the picture is not pretty. Poor samples, biased questions, and illogical or sweeping conclusions are just a few of the problems. This does not mean, of course, that there are no worthy studies, but a healthy suspicion of research is, to my mind, a sign of street smarts.

Oh, they are citing experts? Aren't there some equally impressive experts on the other side?

They reached consensus? That's especially scary given the dangers of groupthink. How did they do so? Who picked the participants? There many ways to cherry-pick evidence and shape an outcome. Let's see if a consensus really exists or if the dissenters have been exiled or smothered.

"Studies show" should not be a debate's ending. It should be the part of the beginning.

3 comments:

Dan in Philly said...

Amen.

Bob said...

Two words --->>> Climate Change

Michael Wade said...

Dan,

Thanks!

Bob,

Good choice.

Michael