Evaluating Health Claims Assignment Part 1 – Compare Articles Please fill out the table below with information from the GetAnAnswerNow.com posting and Zinc’s effects on colds (Hemila 2011). Some entries have been filled in for you. Give your overall evaluation of these two health claims by answering the question below the table. Save the completed document as a Word file and upload it to the Evaluating Health Claims Assignment drop box. Please Either Bold, highlight or insert your text in another (Legible) color to help distinguish your answers. GetAnAnswerNow.com What was the dependent variable? (What was it that the author was measuring?) For example, when you measure the effect of smoking on lung cancer, whether you get lung cancer depends on if you smoked. What was the independent variable? (what was it that the author changed that caused the effect?) For example, when you measure the effect of smoking on lung cancer, whether someone smoked or not would cause the effect of lung cancer. What was the hypothesis (what did the author guess would happen BEFORE the experiment was done)? What was the conclusion? Evidence that this was a controlled experiment (how did the author prove that other factors that could give a wrong conclusion were eliminated?) How many references were made from reputable sources to make the claim? How was this article peerreviewed? (how many experts in the field reviewed the article before it was published?) Duration of a cold Dose of Gummy bears. The author, did not have a hypothesis. They simply at gummy bears and assumed that it had an effect on their cold. Gummy bears do not have a proven effect on the cold people are just blindly following what someone else said. The author assumed that the gummy bears worked because he did not eat them when he previously had the cold. None I would assume nobody since they just posted it as a response to a question Zinc’s Effects on Colds (Hemila 2011) Duration of a cold Dose of zinc The author hypothesized that zinc lozenges would reduce the duration of the cold. Zinc doses over 75 mg per day have a significant effect in shortening the duration of colds By giving the results of the experiments that had no effect. 55 different references were made to support this claim This was published in a scientific journal and has peer-reviewed status Part 2 – Personal Response to the articles Write a paragraph (approximately 5 sentences minimum) to answer the following questions. A complete answer is thoughtful, reflects on the scientific method, supports all conclusions with data from your table, and is grammatically correct. How do you feel about the credibility of each of these two health claims based on the authors’ use of the scientific method (or lack thereof)? Use your table to support your conclusions. Why is the scientific method important in humans’ efforts in gaining scientific knowledge? What could happen if people listen to medical advice (from the internet or other sources) that is not well substantiated by the scientific method? I believe the credibility of these health claims diverge in many ways. To begin with the health claims on GetAnAnswerNow.com have no concrete support behind them and go way off the scientific method. It is simply just made-up claims responding to someone asking a question. On the other hand, the health claims regarding Zinc Lozenges by Harri Hemila are very credible due to their correct use of the scientific method and all the data that was collected from the tests they did regarding the doses of Zinc and their effects on the cold. I think the scientific method is important because it provides a good step by step basis that can ultimately lead to a collection of useful results if the experiment is done correctly. What could happen if people blindly follow medical advice online that does not follow the scientific method is that those people could end up being worse than they originally were. Especially if what they are researching and looking to implement for themselves is regarding a much more serious medical condition or disease.
