Library:Snake Oil Science
| Snake Oil Science | |
|---|---|
| Author | R. Barker Bausell |
| First published | 2007 |
| ISBN | 978-0-19-531368-0 unverified |
| Role | Analysis |
| Domains | Health & Medicine Science & Environment |
| Tactics | Pseudoscience / Junk Science Statistical & Evidentiary Distortion |
Snake Oil Science is a 2007 book by R. Barker Bausell.
Summary
R. Barker Bausell, a research methodologist and biostatistician at the University of Maryland who directed research at a center for complementary medicine, examines whether alternative therapies work. The book's subtitle is The Truth About Complementary and Alternative Medicine.
Research methods
Bausell explains how clinical research is designed and why many studies of alternative medicine produce positive results that do not hold up. He describes the role of the placebo effect, natural recovery, regression to the mean, small samples, poor blinding and publication bias.
Acupuncture and other therapies
The book reviews research on therapies including acupuncture, herbal remedies, chiropractic and homeopathy. Bausell pays particular attention to acupuncture, discussing studies that compared real acupuncture with sham procedures and found little or no difference, which he interprets as evidence that observed benefits are placebo effects.
Conclusion
Bausell concludes that the best-designed studies of complementary and alternative therapies generally show no benefit beyond placebo.
Relevance to Bullshitopedia
The book is a clear guide to why weak research can make ineffective treatments look effective, a central theme in Bullshitopedia's pseudoscience entries.