Researches say the darnedest things

Meta-Research Debunks Medical Study Findings
"From The Atlantic comes the story of John Ioannidis and his team of meta-researchers, who have studied the overall state of medical research and found it dangerously and widely lacking in trustworthiness. Even after filtering out the journalistic frippery and hyperbole, the story is pretty disturbing. Some points made in the article: even the most respected, widely accepted, peer-reviewed medical studies are all-too-often deeply flawed or outright wrong; when an error is brought to light and the conclusions publicly refuted, the erroneous conclusions often persist and are cited as valid for years, or even decades; scientists and researchers themselves regard peer review as providing 'only a minimal assurance of quality'; and these shortcomings apply to medical research across the board, not just to blatantly self-serving pharmaceutical industry studies. The article concludes by saying, 'Science is a noble endeavor, but it's also a low-yield endeavor ... I'm not sure that more than a very small percentage of medical research is ever likely to lead to major improvements in clinical outcomes and quality of life.' I've always been somewhat suspicious of research findings, but before this article I had no idea just how prevalent untrustworthy results were."

SlashDot

Do not trust what people say. Whether it is on the internet or in print, trust your gut. Just because there is a number next to it doesn't make it right. There are three kinds of deceptions used on mass numbers of people. These are 1) Lies 2) Dammed Lies and 3) statistics.

Surveys can be skewed by question language.

Research results can be skewed by estimates within the research.

There are a million ways to play with the numbers. People play with the numbers. There is so little money in research and so many research projects that go nowhere that the value of the played with numbers goes up greatly.

Just cramming numbers in the middle of sentences makes some people more likely to believe the premise of the statement. It matters how often, loudly and the amount of conviction in your voice. This lesson was learned by Hitler. He used the idea of ramming information down people's throats repeatedly and saying it like you mean it to bring the world to war. Lying works when done properly.