Test 1

Question 1

misinformation

Answer 1

accidental spreading of wrong information (not purposeful)

Question 2

Disinformation

Answer 2

porposeful speard of wrong information

Question 3

infodemic

Answer 3

lots of information is available- mis and misinformation existed beofre (ie snake juice) nut now it can be spead a lot more easily and faster

Question 4

Tips on stopping the spread (of fake news)

Answer 4

1. acess the source
2. go beyond the headline
3. identify the author
4. check the date (how recent)
5. examine the supporting evidence
6. check biases
7. turn on fact checkers

Question 5

fake inforamtion example Hydroxyxhloroquine and ivermectin

Answer 5

gained traction as a potential treatment for covid
some promosing results (very early on)- limited studies, poorly designed studies
Eventually-
better designed studies and more of them- did not support hte use of it

Question 6

growing disconnect with science

Answer 6

-want concrete answers (yes or no), but they rarely exisit
-research provides :evidence”
-Live in a world of statistics (probability)
-no such thing as scientific prrof
-Healthy scepticism is what science is build upon

Question 7

scientific literacy can mean…

Answer 7

many things

Question 8

What is scientific literacy

Answer 8

a skill set and mondset that will support problem solving and making intelligent, informaed decisons
A way of thinking that is more logical, with healthy level of skepticism
Impact your daily life and career

Question 9

intuition

Answer 9

Draw general conclusions based on emotions and instincts (one way vs another)
can be based on past experiences/partial evidence

Question 10

authority

Answer 10

statements from authorities must be true
persuasion is the not same as credibility - lots of credible people are not persuasive (and vise versa)

Question 11

Rationalsim

Answer 11

reason/logic to draw conclusions (without actually seening anything)
–> if this, then this
but need to conside if inital premise is wrong– then logic falls flat

Question 12

Empriricism

Answer 12

making conclusions through structured observations
-different than anecdotal evidence
*scientific process

Question 13

The scientific approach

Answer 13

is grounded in empiricism
but also relies on rationalism, authority and intiution
reuqires healthy skepticism
-cant blindly accept what you read
-evaluate the basics of logic and the quality of scientific results (is it consistent with other work in the feild)

Question 14

The scientific approach- circle (process)

Answer 14

Systematic set of principles and procedures for generating knowledge
observation–> question–> hypothesis–> experience–> analysis–> conclusion–>

Question 15

The pseudo-scientific approach

Answer 15

-hypotheiss not testable
-methods are not scientific or validity of data is questionable
-evidence is anecdotal
-heavy focus on “experts”, not scientific references
-ignores conflicting evidence
-uses many “scientific sounding” terms/ideas
-claims are vague

Question 16

Common misinterpretations of scientific data

Answer 16

many wats scienfific findings can be lost in translation
-Sicentific misinterpretation
ie correlation vs causation, confounding variables, statistical signficance
-Overgeneralizations
ie a single study is rarely confirmatory , results may apply to a specific group

Question 17

Statistical misinterpreation- correlation vs causation

Answer 17

correlation: a relationship between 2 measures
reported as a correlation coefficeint (0= not related; 1= perfectly related)

Question 18

Statistical misinterpreation- ignoring confounding variables

Answer 18

other variables that may also influence the relationship but are not the primary focus

Question 19

Statistical significance

Answer 19

-describes how likely what we observed is due to chance
-Our confidence in our results
-realtes to p-values– p=0.05 threshold used in most research- highly debated
-influenced by the average scores, how much they vary and the number of scores collected

Question 20

what does a smaller p-value indicate

Answer 20

less likely that results are obtained by chance- more evidence

Question 20

the importance of variability in statistical significance

Answer 20

two studes with the same results (ie same weight lost) may have different p-values. Same mean between both sets but the variability between participants varries- less variation= more confident

Question 21

importance of sample size in statistical significance

Answer 21

a daaset witht he same mean- one with a larger sample size will have a smaller p value

Question 22

statistical significance vs importance

Answer 22

conside 6.2 vs 5.8lbs of weight loss between experiental and control group. Although this difference is statiscally significant, it is unlikely to be clinacally signifciant- also play a role when considering treatment options.

Question 23

overgeneralizing- a single study

Answer 23

is rarely confirmatory
-each individual study provides incremental evidence
-best to examine the entrie body of evidence

Question 24

overgeneralizing- specific groups

Answer 24

results may apply to a specifc group -studies are usually very specific in their recomendations -media is usually not as specific in their interpretation * mouse vs human models

Question 25

research and levels of evidence- important considerations

Answer 25

every study is not created equally- important to understnad limitations research is incremental- built on previous findings

Question 26

levels of evidence- summary pyramid

Answer 26

quality increases up to level 1 level 5: evidence from expert options level 4: case studies/ cross sectional level3: cohort studies level 2: randomized control trials level 1: reviews/meta-analysis

Question 27

cohort studies

Answer 27

-Groups of people observed over time -Everyone is free of disease at onset, but differ in exposure (yes or no) -Exposure: smokers vs non-smpkers; Disease/outcomes: cancer

Question 28

Advantages of Cohort Studies

Answer 28

-Establish temporal relationship between exposure (smoking) and outcom (cancer) -evidence towards cause and effect- not 100% evidence for cuase and effect

Question 29

Limitations of cohort studies

Answer 29

-Expensive/ time consuming -Difficult for rare disorders -can be confounded with addtional factors ie smokers inherently different from non-smokers to begin with? did they engage in otehr activities that put them at greater risk

Question 30

Randomized control trials

Answer 30

Randomly assigned to groups (gets treatment); other is control (no treatment) -Random assignment is necessary Placebo is important (single vs double blind) Can be difficult with exercise interventions/surgery

Question 31

Advantages of Randomized control trials

Answer 31

-highly controlled -best designed for cause and effect -randomization elimiates (or minimizes) confounding varables

Question 32

Limitations of Randomized control trials

Answer 32

-Not always possible and/or practical (ie smoking) -Ethical considerations -Need people to follow their assignment

Question 33

systematic reviews and meta-analyses

Answer 33

-Search out all studies on a given topic to summarize the findings -Systematic reviews can be qualitative or quantitative -Meta-analysis= quantitative pooling of results. Provides highest level of evidence -Reviews are a great place to start when interested in a given topic