NUI Galway are working on a fun experiment to help us understand the importance of evidence

OK, so hands up if you are tired of reading fake news online…

The internet is a phenomenal resource but is plagued with false information.

Whether it’s products claiming to be “clinically proven” or common misconceptions like eggs are bad for your heart/cheese gives you nightmares etc., it’s hard to filter out what is factual.

Well fear not fellow truth-seekers, the clever folk at NUIG have created an experiment they hope will help the public learn about randomised trials, to understand why they matter and to be better equipped to think critically about health claims.

It will also help researchers learn about how best to involve the public in the steps of a trial process, which in turn will help influence other trials to be better designed and implemented in the future.

Dermot and Dave chat to Sandra Galvin, who is one of the team members involved in the project, about how it all works.

The first phase was getting the public to suggest questions, which they have now narrowed down to 155.

Next up is to whittle these down to 1 and this question will then be examined in three parts:

  • The intervention
  • The comparison
  • The outcome

The University are looking for people from around the world to get involved, so if it sounds like something you would like to be part of, check out thepeoplestrial.ie

List to the interview on Today FM.

Randimisation