News and Comment

"Scientists say..." - but how do they know?

18 August 2011

Download a flyer for the session

Every day we are confronted with scientific sounding claims; whether in advertising material, advice columns, campaign statements, public health schemes, common prejudice or celebrity health fads.

How do we know what to believe?

Navigating difficult and contentious scientific issues can be complicated but you don’t, for example, have to become an epidemiologist to ask searching questions about the status of claims regarding mobile phones and cancer. We can ask how conclusions have been reached, whether there has been a fair test, whether results have been peer reviewed, replicated or challenged.

This session will present new findings from a study of what people understand by “scientific” and the scope for developing a ‘common language of science’. The panel will discuss the importance of communicating not only ‘what do we know?’ but also ‘how do we know that?’, and the ways to share scientific reasoning.

Speakers:       

Dr Sile Lane - Sense About Science

Professor Paul Hardaker - Royal Meteorological Society

Dr John McConnell - The Lancet Infectious Diseases

Dr Blanka Sengerova - Voice of Young Science

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