Evaluating the Effectiveness of Antibacterial Soap
In this activity, you will evaluate a scientific article by applying a series of questions.
Step 1. Introduction to Assessing Scientific Claims
How can you assess scientific claims that you may read in an article? This is where scientific literacy comes in. One aspect of scientific literacy is being aware of your own assumptions. For example, an article may be discussing the age of a dinosaur fossil. Your reaction to the article will depend on your own assumptions about the age of the Earth, since (and here is another assumption) the fossil can’t be older than the Earth.You will also need to be aware of the assumptions of the author.
In reading a scientific article, you need to be able to distinguish between concepts that are important to the point of the article, and those which are not. This is not always easy to do; fraudulent claims are frequently accompanied by irrelevant nonsense whose aim is to overwhelm the reader.
You need to keep an open mind, since scientific knowledge is constantly changing. However, new results usually build on previous theories. For example, the claim that grapefruit alone will suffice as a healthy diet does not build on the established idea that without a variety of food sources, we have insufficient nutrients to be healthy. This alone makes the grapefruit claim suspect.
Have you ever seen an advertisement that promises you will have whiter teeth, or look younger, or become fit if you use a certain product? How can you tell if these claims are true?
