The news is filled with breaking stories about new research, the latest research and breakthroughs in research. A week does not pass without some new research study challenging conventional wisdom. But how accurate is this research? To find out, ask yourself some of the following questions. Research studies revealed will give you more confidence that you are getting the true story and a complete picture.
Is This Research Legitimate?
The first question to ask, “Is the research an individual study or is it summary research? Individual studies are often preliminary and not as comprehensive or reliable. Summary research studies evaluate a number of individual studies and are therefore more comprehensive and dependable.
Second, take a look at who funded the research? Is the funding company possibly benefitting from a positive or negative outcome? If yes, ask if you are OK with this conflict of interest. For example, Coca-Cola funded the research on how much water to drink per day (8 glasses per day). Coca-Cola owns Dasani, which makes bottled water.
Third, if the study is a randomized clinical trial, what is the sample size? Too small a sample makes the results less legitimate.
Fourth, take a look at the selection criteria. Are you OK with how they included or excluded participants? Study groups are selected based on age, gender, geographic distribution, and lifestyle. Lifestyle criteria can include eating habits, sleeping habits, exercise habits, drinking habits, smoking, weight, daily stress levels, quality of social relation, quality of family relations, and types of jobs (ie., office worker vs. someone working outside). Do you see yourself being represented in the sample selection criteria?
Fifth, in studies where patients received medical treatment, ask how they chose the practitioners and lab technicians. Were they qualified to perform the treatments? Did the practitioners have any bias? (Did they benefit from a positive or negative result?) (ie, were they employees of the study sponsors?)
Sixth, look into who collected the trial data. Any potential bia from the data collectors? Does the method they used to collect data seem legitimate?
Seventh, ask how they measured the outcome. What are the including and excluding criterias? Are you comfortable with how they handled the outliers? Can you potentially be the outlier that they excluded from analysis in the research study?
Eighth, are there summarized researchers arguing against the claims they are making? Which research do you trust more?
Finally, ask yourself if the results of the research conflicts with your own intuition. Your innate intuition is often more accurate than what your mind can tell you. Give your own intuition a chance to voice it’s own opinion.
Research Studies Revealed
At Raleigh Acupuncture we are mostly concerned with acupuncture research. Our website is constantly posting on the LATEST RESEARCH STUDIES.
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