External and internal factors influence all research before science can be proven right or wrong. Advocacy increases the chances of continued funding to see a study to a conclusion and disappears when the champion changes jobs.

Inspecting research assumptions and testing protocols provides insight into the rigor to prove a point. A body of research struggled to link smoking to cancer, while other studies found a clear connection between the habit and the effect on the body.

With a global pandemic wreaking havoc in every corner of the world, anyone with an Internet connection and a favorite news source has become a self-proclaimed epidemiologist. Anticipating world-renown status will be bestowed once the right people find their Twitter feed.

Whether it is a vaccine for COVID-19, the rise of the latest YouTuber, or your last personal failure, known and unknown influences were pushing and pulling the outcome.

What effort do you apply to understand these forces to understand your world and make better-informed decisions?

What is your confidence to fully understand all the factors nudging the research one way or another based upon?

What biases influence you?