Don't Sleep on Your Research

In this modern information age, the dissemination of information is often misunderstood, and the research methodology is often neglected. Web sites like "Wikipedia" have replaced dictionaries and encyclopedias. Many of us take this information for granted, and do not look at it critically. Look deeper into many articles, and you may find different conclusions than the article's own "conclusion". Take, for example, these articles on "sleep"

One study that was published that attempts to relate sleep habits to the likelihood of contracting the common cold.¹ Common sense would tell us as much, but what does the study actually tell us? The study had "only" 153 participants (relatively small), and exposed them to the virus after their sleep pattern was recorded. The next study we look at relates sleep duration to obesity and weight gain.² One can easily read into it that amount of sleep causes obesity or weight gain, but that is not what the study says. It actually relates the two, but does nothing to say which causes which. Obesity can cause sleeping problems such as sleep apnea, and is in fact one of the primary causes, according to helpguide.org.³ Then there is another study that follows sleep patterns of college students.⁴ All that this study can conclude is (perhaps) "Many students have sleep problems...", but it admits that the "survey may be limited by under reporting". Last but not least we have a fine study on caffeine or melatonin on sleep and sleepiness throughout travel that spans multiple time zones.⁵ Here we find a study that is very specific, controlled, and makes no assumptions.

Don't sleep on your research, and let the blogosphere/wikipedia/myspace/etc. world turn you into a machine. There is no (proof) of artificial intelligence, so use your own. (Not to say tha any of the aforementioned data is, or is not true)

References

1. Sleep Habits and Susceptibility to the common cold. Sheldon Cohen, PhD; William J Doyle, PhD; Cuneyt M. Alper, MD; Denise Janicki-Deverts, PhD; Ronald B. Turner, MD. Archives of Internal Medicine, Vol. 169 No. 1, January 12, 2009
2. Sleep duration, general and abdominal obesity, and weight change among te older adult population of Spain. Esther Lopez-Garcia, Raquel Faubel, Luz Leon-Munoz, Maria C Zuluaga, Jose R Banegas and Fernando Rodriguez-Artalejo. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, No. 2, 310-316, February 2008
3. Sleep Apnea, Symptoms, Causes, Diagnosis and treatment. http://www.helpguide.org/life/sleep_apnea.htm
4. Sleep Patterns of College Students at a Public University. LeAnne M. Forquer, PhD; Adrian E. Camden, BS; Krista M. Gabrrau, BS; C. Merle Johnson, PhD. Journal of American College Health, Vol. 56, NO. 5
5. Caffeine or melatonin effects on sleep and sleepiness after rapid eastward transmeridian travel. M. Beaumont, D. Batejat, C. Pierard, P. Van Beers, J.B. Denis, O. Coste, P. Doireau, F. Chauffard, J. French, and D. Lagarde. Journal of Applied Physiology 96: 50-58, 2004