Rethinking “evidence” — Eivind Engebretsen and Mona Baker
MARCH 11TH, 2023 | 54:53 | S4:E13
EPISODE SUMMARY
Dan Banik, Mona Baker, and Eivind Engebretsen discuss what is meant by “evidence”, and why different people arrive at different decisions based on the same sources of evidence. You can also access the interview here
EPISODE NOTES
In the past few decades, we have witnessed the rise and consolidation of “evidence-based medicine” among health professionals. This refers to a systematic approach to medicine in which doctors and other health care professionals use the best available scientific evidence from clinical research to help make decisions about the care of individual patients. But the COVID-19 pandemic has managed to transform what constitutes reliable medical evidence into a topic of public concern and debate. These debates have taken place within and beyond the medical establishment, such as in news reports and social media posts. And suddenly everyone began offering an opinion on the efficacy of measures such as quarantines, lock downs, school closures, and mandatory face masks. How then should we understand “evidence”? Does evidence mean the same thing in different contexts and constituencies?
Rethinking Evidence in the Time of Pandemics:
Marta Arnaldi Interviews the Authors in Oxford. Interviewed by Dr Marta Arnaldi at the University of Oxford on 27 September 2022, Mona Baker and Eivind Engebretsen talk about their latest book, published by Cambridge University Press in the same month: Rethinking Evidence in the Time of Pandemics: Scientific vs Narrative Rationality and Medical Knowledge Practices.
Interview: Koronaforskere i skyttergravskrig.
In an interview with Eivind Engebretsen (in Norwegian) about covid controversies in Norway. You can access the interview here
Rethinking Evidence in the Time of Pandemics: CAS Interview.
Alumni Spotlight: Eivind Engebretsen
Centre for Advanced Study at the Norwegian Academy of Science & Letters (CAS)