6 Ways to Verify Health Claims
Health reporting is a difficult task. There is so much information to sort through that it's hard to know who to trust. This blog post will provide tips on where to find reliable sources of data and how to determine if experts have a credible background.
1. Know the difference between data and expert opinion: Ensure you are aware when information comes from data and expert opinions. Although a person may be a professional in their field, an opinion is not a concrete fact and you shouldn’t trust it at face value. Many experts bring in data to support their opinions, but without those numbers, their claims are just words.
2. Look for a source to back up any claims made in an article, including credentials and contact information: Don’t believe everything you read without doing some research of your own. A quick Google search will allow you to verify any claims made by sources in an article. See if other articles from trusted and credible news organizations have reported the same findings. Make sure the claim is not something made up, but it is supported.
There is a lot of information on the internet and it can be very easy to find a writer or expert’s credentials. It may feel weird to look up a stranger’s personal information, but it’s good to know who a person is before trusting them.
3. Verify that the data is current, complete, and unbiased by looking at other sources of information on the same topic: Often, several news organizations will post about the same findings. Read many publications about the same topic before allowing data to influence your personal decisions. It may take more time but will benefit you in the long run. It’s very easy for people to post fake or false information on the internet; taking the time to do additional research will help you from falling prey.
4. Be wary of articles with sensational headlines - they may be misleading or have been taken out of context: We live in a world where some news organizations value making money more than sharing verifiable facts. Make sure that you are not falling into the trap of fake or manipulated news. Read past the headlines so you get the whole story and all the facts.
5. Check your biases at the door when evaluating a story - we all have them: When reading or even writing a story, it’s easy to find data to support your biased opinions. Try going into every new story with an open mind. What you discover may be utterly different from what you initially anticipated and that’s okay.
6. Don't trust everything you read online without checking it first: As Nigerian health journalist Paul Adepoju said, “Just because someone with a lab coat tells you something doesn’t mean it’s true.” Before reading an article, make sure it comes from a credible source. A quick way to find out if a news organization is trustworthy is to type in “Wikipedia” after the site’s URL and see what information is posted about the organization. The harder it is to find information on a source, the less trustworthy it is.
It is not always easy to find credible information about health reporting. In order to make an informed decision on your own health and well-being, we recommend that you do the research for yourself. This may be a time-consuming process but could save you from making costly mistakes in the future.
We hope this blog post has been helpful for anyone looking for insight into how they should go about finding data or verifying expert claims as they work through their journey of understanding and improving their health. If there's anything else at all we can help with, please reach out!