Ch 3 : Evidence Based Nutrition and Practice

The three components of evidence-based practice are weight of evidence, field observations and the client’s needs and preferences.

• The scientific method is the heart of the process of science.

• When scientists formulate a hypothesis, they develop a set of predictions from that hypothesis.

  

• Scientists decide what is more likely to be true by proving what is not true

The Accumulation of Evidence

• A scientific theory is a hypothesis, or set of hypotheses, for which a large body of high-quality evidence has been accumulated; it has withstood rigorous scrutiny through repeated testing.
• Theory : A hypothesis or set of hypotheses for which a large body of high-quality evidence has been accumulated.

The Hierarchy of Evidence

• The hierarchy of evidence is the phenomenon that some evidence carries more weight than other evidence
• This is demonstrated by a reverse pyramid, and the higher it lies, the higher the quality
• Primary Research : Original research where scientists perform experiments and collect data – this is in contrast to secondary research where scientists analyse data that has already been collected or published elsewhere.

Observational Research

• Scientists observe people in their free-living environment, collect data on them and look for relationships between variables
• Observational research can only show correlations. Correlation does not equal causation.