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Focus Is On The
Responsibility of Epidemiologists To Be Skeptical Of Findings And
Engaged With The Public
“There can be quantum leaps in the wrong direction,” warned The
University of California Berkeley’s Patricia Buffler in
giving her opening address at the recent 3rd North
American Congress of Epidemiology in Montreal. Highlighting the
importance of skepticism about scientific claims, she entitled her
talk “Science, Skepticism, and Society: The Role of Epidemiology”.
The overall theme of Buffler’s address was on the important role
which epidemiologists should play in helping the public to
understand the science behind personal and community health
decision-making. In her view, we live in an era when science and
technology are a large part of the fabric of modern society. In
such a world, there is a need, according to Buffler, for the
general public to have a basic understanding of science and
statistics because there can be serious public health consequences
for failure to inform AND engage the public. She asserted it is
the role of epidemiologists to fill gaps in public understanding.
Main Concern
But Buffler’s main concern appeared to be not so much about
increasing public understanding of valid public health findings,
as important as these may be, but about clearing up public
misunderstandings about reported, but questionable associations.
She stated that while there have been major changes in
epidemiology over the past 15 years with new models having been
developed, proper reporting and interpretation of data have not
changed. Reiterating that there can be quantum leaps in the wrong
direction, she called epidemiology the “science of causation” and
quoted Popper to remind listeners that theory which is not
refutable is not science. She urged epidemiologists to adopt a
“questioning attitude” in regard to many claims that are taken for
granted.
More Evidence
Buttressing her case, Buffler cited John Ioannidis’s 2005
paper “Why most Published Research Findings are False,” to remind
the audience that most findings will be refuted. She urged
epidemiologists to state their question clearly, be careful of
their models and methods, and to state their assumptions. “Focus
on the question and not on the models,” she urged. The work of
epidemiology is related to unanswered questions, but also to
unquestioned answers!
Autism and Vaccine Controversy
Buffler used a considerable portion of her time to illustrate the
importance of skepticism by recounting the negative health
consequences that have attended the autism and vaccines
controversy. She described how the putative association between
vaccine and autism has now been shown by an investigative reporter
in the UK to be bogus research, and said the public health impact
has been enormous, citing deaths from measles in the UK and from
pertussis in California. Buffler minced no words in stating “it is
the responsibility of epidemiologists when data need to be
questioned.”
Quotes in Conclusion
She approached the end of her talk by quoting Michael Gibbons
in Nature in 1999. “…reliable knowledge can only become socially
robust if society sees the process of knowledge production as
transparent and participative…The old image of science working
anonymously will no longer suffice…Rather a reciprocity is
required in which not only does the public understand how science
works, but , equally science understands how its publics work.”
And finally, she ended her presentation by quoting John Maxwell,
an American author and speaker on leadership, “People never care
how much you know---until they know how much you care.”
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