Science isn't about Proving Things

One of my pet peeves as a scientist is when research results are misquoted by media as having proved or disproved something, or when people without a science background quote an article as the final word on a topic, without consideration to the statistical relevance of the data, how the study was performed, what the rest of the literature says etc. I was guilty myself, a couple weeks ago, of posting a blog that said something was "disproved" and I am most ashamed! I really did it in the interest of keeping the headline short. I did, in fact, say in the actual blog that the study merely disputed previous findings that suggested a link between autism and the measles vaccine...pretty non-committal words, and more characteristic of the toxicologist that I am.

When there are multiple variables and differences in the human genome involved, you have to be pretty darn sure before you go around using words like PROVED and DISPROVED. So, all you young scientists starting out in your first year university labs, remember to keep those two words out of you vocabulary and opt instead for less conclusive language such as "suggested", "provided evidence that…" and "supported the theory that…". You'll score higher marks and make less enemies!