Вака во врска со науката и повикување на научници PhD, ова го објавија на редит форумот што е исклучиво за научни трудови. Прочитајте го, затоа што многу убаво објаснуваат.
Some Notes of Caution
The COVID-19 pandemic has seen a proliferation of interest in research and research studies. This is, of course, a good thing -- it's important for people to be informed about the state of the field and about the development of the science on this critical topic. However, it's also important to be cautious in interpreting scientific studies, even those presented in the best journals. It's well known that much work in the biological sciences is questionable and difficult to replicate, and a single study should never be taken as definitive in and of itself. Studies -- even in the top journals -- are not always high quality. There's always methodological issues with every study that is published, and being able to distinguish the important issues from the less relevant issues takes practice. Authors of scientific papers often make broad claims or may overgeneralize their results without having the data to fully support their interpretations; being able to identify when that is the case takes practice. And sometimes (rarely, but sometimes), researchers fake their data or otherwise engage in scientific misconduct. Without being able to place the study in the broader context of the scientific literature on that topic and related topics, it's easy to misinterpret or overinterpret studies.
One notable example of this phenomenon is the Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS) database. This database is
not a verified compilation of adverse events associated with the COVID-19 vaccines (or any vaccine); this database compiles self-reported, unverified claims from anyone that says they have been vaccinated and chooses to send them an alleged adverse event that happened after they got vaccinated. There is virtually no attempt made to verify or confirm the truth of these claims, let alone their association with the vaccine; in one famous example, a doctor
reported that the flu vaccine turned him into the Hulk, and it was accepted to the database. The purpose of VAERS is very limited -- it is meant to provide highly trained and qualified researchers to analyze the data for statistical aberrations with
considerable effort needed to sort out the garbage from the potentially true signal. And even then, VAERS analysis is just the beginning; much more targeted and rigorous studies are needed to actually determine whether an adverse event is vaccine related. Basically, VAERS is a tool that can be used as a hypothesis generator for researchers -- it should not be interpreted to actually resemble anything even approaching reality.
The point is: when looking for information about COVID-19, exercise caution. Even the sources we have listed above sometimes get things wrong -- sometimes because new data causes a reevaluation of hypotheses and models, and sometimes just because humans make mistakes. Don't get your information from any one source, and don't take any one viewpoint to be the gospel.
Even then, expect to be wrong sometimes -- we've all been wrong at points throughout this pandemic. What's more important is to be willing to update your views as you get more information and to not hold steadfastly in the face of evidence to the contrary. If you look for good sources of information, think critically about it, and are willing to accept change, you'll probably be fine.