Part A
The initial step to determining if I can trust any research that I am reading is to ascertain if the article is peer reviewed. At that point there is already a level of trust established as I know that the published work has undergone scrutiny by a peer group that understands research and understands the content. If the journal is reputable, or known for only publishing research that meets high standards in a particular area of study, then it is even more trustworthy.
However, even in the presence of peer review and reputation there is an onus on the reader to critically appraise if the research design is appropriate, if the methods are detailed enough, logical, and appear to be reproducible, if the statistical analysis is rigorous and appropriate for the study, if the discussion is robust, the interpretations are reasonable, and the researcher discloses the limitations of the research. The presence of all of these criteria make the article more trustworthy.
The last ten weeks have taught me that research articles can be evaluated against standardized criteria as outlined in Plano-Clark and Creswell (2015). If an article scores high on evaluation in all of the sections it would stand to reason that the research was performed competently. Specifically if the methods and statistical analyses can be followed, understood, and endorsed by a group of peers the research is likely performed competently.
I don’t think that there is any way to know for sure if the research is reported honestly. The first step would be to look for the funding source; if there appears to be a conflict of interest there is the possibility that the research honesty has been prejudiced by what the funding source wants the conclusions to be. The other thing to look for is the reputation and history of the researcher. If there are lot of previous articles published or co-published by the author that meet high standards of quality, and if these earlier articles are cited by other reputable authors it is more likely that the research is reported honestly. This does not mean that a previously unpublished researcher is not reporting honestly, but there isn’t a foundation of trust built yet. The other thing to look for is bias in the language of the article that may lead the reader to question the honesty of the results.
In order to know if the results of the study are consistent with what other researchers would conclude there is a requirement on the reader to look at other sources. The reader needs to review the methods and analysis sections to determine if the detail present is extensive enough to reproduce the study. When conclusions are made they need to be reviewed critically to ensure that they can be generalized as reported, they are not beyond the scope of the study, and the limitations are adequately addressed.
Part B
Evidence based decision making is important for transformational servant leader credibility. It demonstrates a leader’s commitment to the follower to seek out up-to-date knowledge in order to make the best decisions possible. Evidence based decision making demonstrates responsibility, stewardship, and ethical practice. Leaders who are able to defend their decisions with evidence are influential, respected, convincing, and inspiring.
As I have stated before, if I expect evidence based, best practice medicine from the medical professionals I work with, then they have the right to expect evidence based, best practice leadership from me. Serving others, whether it is employees, or patients, or taxpayers means making the best possible decisions and these can only be made with the best possible information. Scholarly evidence will continually be a part of my practice moving forward because I have a new appreciation for the value it brings to effective leadership. And, I have discovered how interesting it can be!
Reference
Plano-Clark, V. & Creswell, J. (2015). Understanding research: A consumer’s guide (2nd ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.
(P.S. To my fellow students – I was so pleased with myself because I had initially posted this after youth group on Friday night. I think it may have been the 2nd time in the 10 weeks that I had actually met the “Friday-at-midnight” deadline. I wake up this morning to post my comments on your posts early because my weekend is crazy busy only to discover that I had forgotten to create the Unit 10 category, so I didn’t even have my post in the right location. Sigh. Thank the Lord that some knowledge translation and skills have developed quicker than others!)