In this episode, I explain how to come up with a good question, obtain the background information you need, find research, obtain full texts, organize them, read the different sections of a paper to get the right kind of value out of it, and critically analyze the study design. If you're a beginner, this is really designed for you. If you're more advanced, you'll enjoy the specific examples I give of problems interpreting research studies.
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In this episode, you will find all of the following and more:
0:06:15 How to develop a good question; 0:09:30 How to use pubmed and Google Scholar; 0:11:50 Why and how to use MeSH terms (medical subject headings); 0:16:50 5 ways to get full-texts for free that are totally legal; 0:24:35 How Sci-Hub will facilitate the technological evolution of research distribution and the Spotify-ication of the science publication industry; 0:32:45 How to organize science papers to prevent wasted time and frustration later; 0:34:40 Reference management software; 0:36:35 The anatomy of a science paper; how you should approach each section and what you can learn from it; 0:46:45 Peer review makes discussions within papers more objective; how a scathing peer review from six years ago continues to influence how I teach hormesis today; 0:55:30 Acquiring background information with textbooks; 0:57:35 Specific textbook recommendations; 1:05:15 What you need to do before developing your own point of view; 1:10:30 Strengths and limitations of different study designs; 1:13:47 Observational versus experimental studies and the tradeoffs of context, size, and duration with strength of cause-and-effect inferences; 1:16:50 The central role of randomization in experimental studies; 1:19:20 Randomization needs a high sample size to be effective; 1:21:07 Example: Finnish Mental Hospital Study; 1:22:50 Example: LA Veterans Administration Hospital Study; 1:25:50 Regression to the mean; how a study can show something to be true when it's completely false; change-from-baseline data versus differences-between-groups data; 1:35:45 The need for a control group: Atkins and methylglyoxal study as an example 1:37:35 Compared to what? Picking the right control group; 1:41:50 The generalizability tradeoff: in vitro and in vivo, animal and human, sex, race, and other population differences; 1:46:47 Contextual patterns determine outcome 1:47:50 Thailand zinc/vitamin A study as an example of nutrient interactions; 1:56:20 Do your homework, assume good faith, ask questions.
Access the show notes, transcript, and comments here:
https://chrismasterjohnphd.substack.com/p/037-how-to-read-a-science-paper
Chris Masterjohn, PhD, is the Founder and Scientific Director of the mitochondria test Mitome.
