你應該相信你讀過的研究報告嗎？

社會科學的學術研究常常發現彼此的結果非常不同，這使得很難知道應該相信哪一個。做這類研究的聰明消費者，做幾件事。

1. 不要過分依賴任何一項研究。只要有可能，尋找薈萃分析或系統評估，比較從許多研究的結果，因為他們可以提供更可信的證據和建議的結果不同的原因。
2. 注意研究樣本的大小。例如，如果研究只關注少數人或公司，研究人員就不太可能成功地複製別人的結果。同樣，考慮樣本的特殊性或研究方法。研究人員是如何研究他們所做的特定樣本的呢？什麼樣的因素會影響結果呢？
3. 永遠記住：如果一項研究的結果聽起來太好而不是真的，那麼它們可能是真的。

Should You Trust That Research Study You Read About?

Academic studies in the social sciences often find very different results from each other, which makes it hard to know which ones to trust. To be a smart consumer of this type of research, do a few things.

1. Don’t rely too much on any one study. Whenever possible, look for meta-analyses or systematic reviews that compare the results from many studies, as they can provide more-credible evidence and suggest reasons that results differ.
2. Pay attention to a study’s sample size. Researchers are less likely to successfully replicate others’ results if the study looked at a small number of people or companies, for example. Similarly, consider the peculiarities of the sample or the study’s methods. How did the researchers come to study the specific sample they did? What kinds of factors could have skewed the results?
3. Always remember: If a study’s results sound too good to be true, they probably are.