Uploaded January 2015 | Updated September 2026, 1 hour ago
Presented by Fran Featherston, Ph.D.
Our lives are full of findings from research results. Not all of the claims they make are valid. Some studies use samples that are not representative. Other studies make claims when they have no comparison group. The question wording or even question order can bias survey results. How do you know when you can trust the research claims? What do you need to look for?
This talk will give you tips to judge the research you read. Dr. Featherston looks at examples from the current news and discuss what you need to know to judge whether the research finding can be trusted. She also discusses the threats to validity for each study and whether the research meets the standard of reproducibility. That is, could another researcher possibly reproduce this finding?
Fran Featherston is retired from the U.S. federal government where she worked 27 years as a researcher at the National Science Foundation (10 years) and the Governmental Accountability Office (17 years). Her areas of expertise are survey research, research design, and designing methods that are user friendly. She also worked for the State of Washington’s court systems so that she has experienced the challenges of designing high quality research for all three branches of government.
The views expressed in this presentation are those of the speaker and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Capital Area Skeptics (NCAS).
Presented by Fran Featherston, Ph.D.
Our lives are full of findings from research results. Not all of the claims they make are valid. Some studies use samples that are not representative. Other studies make claims when they have no comparison group. The question wording or even question order can bias survey results. How do you know when you can trust the research claims? What do you need to look for?
This talk will give you tips to judge the research you read. Dr. Featherston looks at examples from the current news and discuss what you need to know to judge whether the research finding can be trusted. She also discusses the threats to validity for each study and whether the research meets the standard of reproducibility. That is, could another researcher possibly reproduce this finding?
Fran Featherston is retired from the U.S. federal government where she worked 27 years as a researcher at the National Science Foundation (10 years) and the Governmental Accountability Office (17 years). Her areas of expertise are survey research, research design, and designing methods that are user friendly. She also worked for the State of Washington’s court systems so that she has experienced the challenges of designing high quality research for all three branches of government.
The views expressed in this presentation are those of the speaker and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Capital Area Skeptics (NCAS).
