Tag Archives: peer-reviewed studies

The hierarchy of evidence: Is the study’s design robust?

People are extraordinarily prone to confirmation biases. We have a strong tendency to latch onto anything that supports our position and blindly ignore anything that doesn’t. This is especially true when it comes to scientific topics. People love to think … Continue reading

Posted in Nature of Science | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

Do we need more studies on vaccines, GMOs, climate change, etc.?

I frequently encounter people who state that, “I’m not anti-vaccine/GMO, I just think that we need more studies” or “we need more research before we take major action on climate change.” I have, however, noticed that whenever someone declares, “I’m … Continue reading

Posted in Global Warming, GMO, Vaccines/Alternative Medicine | Tagged , , , , , | 8 Comments

12 bad reasons for rejecting scientific studies

A few days ago, I posted what I thought was a fairly innocuous image (right) onto my blog’s Facebook page. I was, however, sadly mistaken. My page was quickly flooded with comments by people who arrogantly insisted that there was … Continue reading

Posted in Nature of Science | Tagged , , , , , , | 20 Comments

100 bad arguments against vaccines

From time to time, I get directed to an article titled “One Hundred Arguments Against Vaccines” which was written by Natural Health Warriors and is nothing more than a Gish Gallop of anti-vaccine tropes. I have been loath to address … Continue reading

Posted in Vaccines/Alternative Medicine | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 36 Comments

Yes, there is a strong consensus on climate change

Even if you have never paid any real attention to the climate change “debate,” you have probably seen someone say that, “97% of climatologists agree that we are causing climate change.” This is a number that I have personally cited … Continue reading

Posted in Global Warming | Tagged , , , , | 22 Comments