What is the best way to find out "what the science says"?
Based on Science
For stronger scientific evidence, look for multiple studies on a topic rather than just one.
Last update April 16, 2021
Science builds knowledge over time.
In science, each study tries to answer a specific question. As studies build on each other to provide more answers, they help us understand more about how the world works.
One way that scientists build knowledge is to study the same question again and again. Scientists often redo their own study multiple times to make sure their methods are sound. Scientists also redo each other’s studies to see if they get the same results. Sometimes scientists repeat a study using the same data, and sometimes they use new data.
When multiple studies come to similar conclusions, we can become more confident that those conclusions are right. In this way, science builds confidence in a body of knowledge. To “know” something in science often takes a lot of studies!
Our scientific understanding on topics can change. Studies—even multiple studies—can be wrong. Sometimes studies are incorrect because the technology or research methods are not good enough. Or sometimes there are factors scientists simply don’t know about or that cannot be measured.
There is always the possibility that knowledge will change in the future. After all, plenty of things that scientists “knew” 100 years ago turned out to be wrong. By doing more studies, we can confirm—or change—our understanding of the world.
Individual studies don’t give the full story.
Scientific studies are usually very specific. It is important to understand what a study can and cannot tell you. For example, studying one volcano doesn’t necessarily tell you what’s true for all volcanoes. But studying multiple volcanoes and getting similar results can help to build a body of knowledge about how volcanoes work.
Also, most studies do not offer a solid yes-or-no answer. Instead, they tell us what is most likely to be true. If multiple studies agree on what is most likely to be true, we can be more confident that it is, in fact, true.
What if one study disagrees with a bunch of other studies on the same topic? It could be that the study is wrong or that all of the others are wrong. Perhaps all of the studies could be partly wrong and partly right. Often, more studies will be needed to find the answer. In the process, scientists often learn new things about what they are studying or learn ways to make their study methods better. Figuring out why studies disagree can take time, but it is a key part of how science works.
