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The other day, I was talking to a friend and they told me a story of someone they met who didn’t believe in gravity. Now, I don’t know about you, but try as I might, I can’t just levitate at will and ignore one of the fundamental laws of physics. (Though if you know a way, hit me up! How cool would that be?) This person accused my scientific friend of being narrow-minded when they tried to debate this idea, while all the time not listening to a word they said.

A question many scientists face, when informing the public on science and health related topics is: “Yeah, but how can you be sure? How do you know?”

The short answer is, we aren’t sure. Not 100 per cent sure. However, when we discover new things or when we test a hypothesis, we don’t just run straight out of the lab the second we have one point of data, shouting, “I proved this!” There is a rigorous process we go through called the scientific method, which will validate our hypothesis beyond reasonable doubt, or prove it wrong completely. The scientific method, in essence, ensures that all work you do ultimately will tell you, beyond realistic doubt, that your hypothesis is correct, or that it is bust and you need to consider your problem from a different angle.

The scientific method relies on you making some kind of observation, and then making a hypothesis – basically an educated guess on what is causing your observation to occur. Then you test your hypothesis – try and prove it right, try and prove it wrong. When you can’t prove it wrong, you’re on to a winner. Then repeat your experiment enough times so that it is statistically significant – meaning that the result you get is not just happening due to random chance, it’s happening because your experiment caused that result to happen.

Science is adaptable. When faced with new information that suggests old ideas are wrong, or need to be modified, we do just that. Show me the peer-reviewed data, and I’ll change my mind. Show me that your data has statistical significance and I’ll see that it’s legit.

So how do you know if the science you read or hear about is legit? Well, if you can find a link back to an academic journal, or track it down yourself, then it’s gone through the peer review process and ticks all the boxes. Again, if new information comes along and shows that the idea you’ve heard about is not quite right, then we take on this new information and adapt our ideas to get it as right as we can. With the exception of the occasional dodgy scientist (like in any career), if you’ve published with significance, it’s probably good.

Anti-vaccine groups, conspiracy theorists, or pretty much anyone anti- some scientific or health-related theory or practise will latch on to this “you can’t be sure” idea, and never let it go. In reality, while there is always an element of doubt and room for improvement, with a little statistics, intuition, and a little digging, you can separate the crap from the science, bitches!