Evidence Communication

Hi,

This week’s email is about how to communicate evidence-based information more effectively.

Here are the key practical points you should know (mainly from this research article):

• Communicate with the goal of informing people, rather than persuading them.

• Provide balance by presenting all the significant perspectives, and avoid false balance by making it clear how well-supported each is by evidence.

• Disclose uncertainties around the evidence you present, for example by highlighting things that researchers are unsure about.

• State what the quality of the evidence is, for example by discussing the size of the sample that was used to reach a certain conclusion.

• Inoculate people against misinformation by identifying and pre-empting misconceptions they might have, for instance by explaining why a common myth they might run into is wrong.

A related concept I’ve written about is the burden of proof, which is the obligation to provide sufficient supporting evidence for claims you make.

As always, I’m happy to hear your thoughts.

Have a great week,
Itamar