The 10 stuff-ups we all make when interpreting research

Will Grant and Rod Lamberts (The Conversation, 3.10.14) discuss some common mistakes people make when trying to interpret new research:

1 ‘Wait! That’s just one study’;

2. ‘Significant doesn’t mean important’;

3. ‘And effect size doesn’t mean useful’;

4. ‘Are you judging the extremes by the majority?’;

5. ‘Did you maybe even want to find that effect?’;

6. ‘Were you tricked by sciencey snake oil?’;

7. ‘Qualities aren’t quantities and quantities aren’t qualities’;

8. ‘Models by definition are not perfect representations of reality’;

9. ‘Context matters’;

10. ‘And just because it’s peer reviewed that doesn’t make it right’.

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