Lies, Damned Lies, and Science by Sherry Seethaler

Author:Sherry Seethaler
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: FT Press
Published: 2009-06-08T16:00:00+00:00

Locale: consider how applicable studies of one community or geographical region are to other locales

Just as studies of one population may not apply to other populations, studies carried out in one setting may not be applicable to other settings. In the control of infectious diseases, locale plays an important role in determining which solutions will be successful. For example, different approaches to controlling malaria—which kills between one million and three million people each year, primarily in Africa—work best in different communities. Malaria is caused by a parasite called a plasmodium, which is carried by mosquitoes. There are several ways to help prevent people from getting bitten by mosquitoes: having people stay indoors between dawn and dusk when mosquitoes are most active, cleaning up standing water where mosquitoes can breed, having people sleep under bed nets, spraying pesticides, and introducing natural predators of mosquitoes. Some of these preventative measures only work if there is a communitywide effort, which requires adequate leadership and a spirit of cooperation. Furthermore, some measures, such as cleaning up trash and other items that can hold water, significantly reduce mosquito populations only in certain geographical regions. If there are few natural lakes and ponds, then cleaning up objects that hold water can make a difference in the mosquito population. If a community is surrounded by marshes, then other measures, such as introducing fish that eat mosquito larvae, would be critical.

Other domains where locale needs to be considered are agriculture and land management. For example, some genetically modified crops that in northern states gave higher yields than their conventional counterparts, fared more poorly in hotter southern states. In general, crops must be selected and/or tailored for particular soils and climatic conditions. Therefore, any conclusions drawn about a crop may not apply outside the geographical range in which it was tested. Similarly, best practices for forest management vary according to the type of forest, geographical conditions, and proximity to housing developments. For fire control, thinning trees and clearing underbrush might make sense for forests near human dwellings but does not have the same benefits in old-growth forests in isolated areas.

When considering a problem solution that has been tested in another situation, it is therefore important to examine the similarities and differences between the test environment and the environment in which the solution is being applied. One-size-fits-all policies should be regarded with healthy skepticism. Also, failures should be carefully examined rather than swept under the carpet, as is sometimes the tendency of politicians and others. Important lessons can be learned when a solution fails in a particular environment because such failures can reveal what factors need to be in place for the solution to be successful.

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