Doing your own research

"Do your own research" is objectively good advice, but it has now become the bleat of the Qanon conspiracy mongers.

The “research” valorized by the anti-science (anti-vax, creationist, climate change denialist, etc) crowd is just another form of argument from authority, the sort of “research” the religions do. While authoritative voices in science and medicine are valuable, quoting authority isn’t research, and it lends itself too much to confirmation bias.

In this sense, Ronald Reagan had it right–trust, but verify. If you’re not actually doing the research at the bench or bedside yourself, your research must involve reading and critically appraising the primary literature. Tedious details like study design, controls, sample sizes, are all part of researching the literature. Simply parroting the headlines and abstracts isn’t research. 

And one final thought: critical thinking isn’t the same as criticizing, and ad hominem attacks are the refuge of scoundrels.