How to read scientific research

Tim Huntley who sometimes writes for Robb Wolf passed on a link to a great piece has has done on how to read scientific research: it is written for a person who is new to science but would like to be able to understand the structure and primary concepts in a research article.

It is a great resource - thanks Tim!

Scientific Research 101

You might be a student with a homework assignment, someone who is searching for answers to a health question, or someone who is intrigued by a research study mentioned in the newspaper or on television.    Honestly there could be a thousand reasons why you want to lean how to read scientific research.

Independent of your age or education, you have the capability to understand scientific research studies.   I’m not suggesting that everyone should become a research scientist, but with a reasonable amount of effort, you can read, evaluate, and utilize the researcher’s work.  You simply need a roadmap to guide you along the way, and that is the purpose of this article.

The section on Bad Science is really useful!  For example:

Absolute vs. Relative Percentages
Suppose that there was a medical problem that caused 2 people  in 1,000,000 to have a stroke, and suppose there was a treatment that would reduce the problem to only 1 person per 1,000,000.  This would be an improvement of 0.0001% in an absolute sense or NO BIG DEAL.  However had I reported the results using relative percentages, I could have stated:  ”New medical treatment yields a 50% reduction in risk of stroke.”  This would obviously be quite misleading, but it is a common practice.

Brief Links

Just to point out a few things of interest I've spotted recently:

Artificial meat? Food for thought by 2050 - Leading scientists say meat grown in vats may be necessary to feed 9 billion people expected to be alive by middle of century

I find that whole idea very disturbing

Moderate drinking, especially wine, associated with better cognitive function

I think the comment that

It has long been known that "moderate people do moderate things." The authors state the same thing: "A positive effect of wine . . . could also be due to confounders such as socio-economic status and more favourable dietary and other lifestyle habits.

is interesting. I've cut back on the booze. I don't have a problem, but was finding it easy to go form a glass of wine with dinner to 2 glasses a night.....

Land on your toes - save your knees.

This is applied to jumping but I wonder about the application to running. Barefoot style is a forefoot strike.

What is a scientific abstract?

I am bad for this - I skim abstracts and jump to conclusions.....



video from Brad of Eat Stop Eat (interviewed here by me if you are interested)

UPDATE - check out mc's comments on this

High Intensity - Research from Wayne Westcott

Continuing the High Intensity theme, I have come across some other studies from Wayne Westcott. Westcott works for South Shore YMCA and is

.....an internationally-renowned authority in the area of strength fitness. In addition to serving as our Fitness Research Director for the Quincy Branch Keeping Fit Programs, Dr. Wayne Westcott has authored more than 20 books and serves as a consultant for numerous national organizations such as the U.S. Military, the American Council on Exercise, the American Senior Fitness Association, and the National Youth Sports Safety Foundation. He is also editorial advisor for many well-known publications, including Prevention, Shape, and Club Industry magazines.

Dr. Westcott has been honored with numerous awards from prestigious fitness organizations across the nation. We are pleased to have him serving our South Shore YMCA members through his award-winning fitness programs.

There are a stack of good research articles on a wide range of things from training for Golf to the best repetition ranges.

Articles by Wayne Westcott