Question

Write a checklist with at least three entries for how you can evaluate whether scientific information is reliable.

Answer 1

There is a need for one to evaluate the reliability of a source or scientific information before one make use of it. There are several methods that one can use to evaluate the reliability of scientific information, three of them are listed below:

1. Check out the profile of the researcher who is giving out the information. Is he an expert in the subject on which he is giving information? What is his qualifications and credentials and how many research has he conducted successfully in the past? A scientist must be an expert in the topic he writes on and on his field. He must be able to write authoritatively on the investigations that he conducts. For instance, a professor of medicine can not give expert scientific information on the subject of accounting.

2. Check out information about the publication of the information. Is the information published in peer reviewed journals. Scientists typically published their works in peer reviewed journals so that other scientists can check it out critically. Scientific information that are not published on peer reviewed journals has not been critically examined and such information can not be relied on.

3. You also need to find out the reason why the scientist conduct the research in the first instance, before he arrived at the information that he gave out. Why is the researcher interested in that topic? Who else has interest in that topic, that is, who fund the research and who are those that are going to profit from it?

Organizations usually have deep interest in the results of the research they are funding. Therefore, one has to ensure that, the organization that fund the research is not a biased one that is looking for a way of scientifically establishing their biased views. Biased scientific information is not reliable.