In W. P. Hanage’s article, he discusses the importance of five key questions when interpreting scientific literature:

• Can experiments detect differences that matter?
• Does the study show causation or correlation?
• What is the mechanism?
• How much do experiments reflect reality?
• Could anything else explain the results?

Explain the significance that each of these questions have on interpreting scientific literature. Which is most helpful when discussing controversy, and why?

Each of these questions help to determine what is important, what the science and data says, and aims to eliminate personal opinions or beliefs. Detecting differences that matter is important because it allows you to pay attention to the differences that are impactful or have the potential to be impactful. If something changes, but that change does not mean anything or it does not yield any different results it may not be necessary to report and continue to study something that really does not change anything. Causation and correlation is extremely important to take into account during a study. Just because two things are correlated does not mean there are directly related to each other and have a direct impact on one-another. To be correlated can be a very different relationship than if two things show causality. It is important to understand the relationship between the variables a study is looking at in order to accurately interpret the results. The mechanism of change or relation is important to find the a study or a paper. What is the specific thing creating a difference. The whole purpose of a typical study is to determine what the difference is when manipulating variables. So this is a key part of understanding scientific literature and sometimes it is not very obvious in the paper. Reflecting reality is extremely important to keep in mind when reading scientific literature. The world is not s controlled lab. Results in the lab may be very different when out in the real world with infinite variables. So understanding the controls of a study and how the results might or might not differ in the world is important because we are usually looking at how things interact and affect each other in ‘real life.’ This ties into the last question about explaining results. Confounding variables are often accounted for or controlled for, but checking in on if anything could have been missed is important in understanding the true impact of what is being studied or looked at.

I think the most helpful question when looking at controversial topics is how the experiment reflects reality. If something in the lab is not replicated in reality it does not really prove anything for how it impacts the population. However, if it can be reflected in reality there is great benefit in determining impact and influence of what is being studied.