The truth about research

When you do a degree, especially in science, one thing that is drilled into you is to have a critical mind when reading research papers. Over my 7 years of study I have read hundreds and hundreds of papers, done countless literature reviews, journal clubs and deconstructed papers.

It’s important to always question the results. What was the sample size. What was the sample? What were the experimental conditions? What was the main aim of the paper and what were the final findings?

Some people may find they just read the aim and the results and think yep ok that’s what they found, but when you learn to deconstruct a paper you may find that the findings are not as solid as they seem or in fact they have ignored the true results and got sidetracked to something else.

Horse research is always incredibly difficult because horses are expensive, require extensive ethics approval and take up a lot of space. There is usually a limited sample size, limited sample variation, and highly controlled or uncontrolled experimental environments. Any results we find must always be critically analysed to determine how applicable the results are to the general population. There is always going to be a grey area with results, so it’s important to understand the limitations and what is actually relevant and what is not.

These days anyone can access information that was otherwise only accessible by highly qualified professionals, who have spent many years learning the art of critical thinking and research analysis. Whilst it’s great that the common person can have access to a lot more information these days, the flip side of the coin is their potential lack of understanding how to critically assess and interpret research findings. Often one small piece of information can be inflated as gospel, when in fact it’s not. Information can quickly turn to misinformation when only a small piece of the equation is interpreted. So if you read something or learn something, always question it, and if you’re not sure, ask a highly qualified professional who has the tools to properly analyse the information.