Uploaded April 2024 | Updated September 2026, 1 day ago
Intuition is a necessary part of everyday life, without which we could not make it through a day. Epidemiologists are taught to rely on science, reason, and facts in their work and yet, it is likely that we use intuition all the time. We use it when we make decisions about interpreting the results of studies, about the impact of sources of bias, in the decisions we make in our own research, in our teaching and in our communication with other scientists and the general public. Yet it isn’t clear when this approach is useful and when it causes harm. This talk will focus on the role of intuition in epidemiology with examples of cases where we rely on it too much and cases where we don’t use it enough.
Guest:
Matthew Fox, DSc, MPH
Professor of Epidemiology and Global Health
School of Public Health
Boston University
Intuition is a necessary part of everyday life, without which we could not make it through a day. Epidemiologists are taught to rely on science, reason, and facts in their work and yet, it is likely that we use intuition all the time. We use it when we make decisions about interpreting the results of studies, about the impact of sources of bias, in the decisions we make in our own research, in our teaching and in our communication with other scientists and the general public. Yet it isn’t clear when this approach is useful and when it causes harm. This talk will focus on the role of intuition in epidemiology with examples of cases where we rely on it too much and cases where we don’t use it enough.
Guest:
Matthew Fox, DSc, MPH
Professor of Epidemiology and Global Health
School of Public Health
Boston University
