I’m fortunate to live near some very high-level and well-known bio-medical & scientific research establishments. This means that, either through my work or socially, I know quite a few folk who work in these places, some of them high-up the scale.
Below is a conversation I had with one such researcher a couple of days ago. This is not a verbatim account of course, but it IS an accurate summary.
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Me: So, tell me, how are research studies into things like the efficacy of wearing masks actually done?
Researcher: How do you mean?
Me: Well, to what extent do the studies try to model the real world situation with masks?
Researcher: By real world situation, you mean…?
Me: Well, there are a variety of different types of mask being worn by the public; some prevent virus particles coming in or out better than others; many are hard if not impossible to fix in place such that there aren’t any gaps; a lot of folk wear the same mask over and over; many remove their mask to cough & sneeze or to take gulps of fresh air; you have to take your mask off to eat or drink; that sort of thing.
Research: Oh, right, I understand. It would be almost impossible to replicate that accurately, so the studies don’t really take any of that into account.
Me: That doesn’t sound great.
Researcher: Well, what would be the point?
Me: What would be the point of studying how things actually work in the real world, rather than how we want them to work in a fictional perfect world?
Researcher: I get where you’re going with this but really, there’s no point. Look, we don’t need research into whether masks are effective if you use an inferior grade mask or if you don’t wear it properly or you keep taking it off for various reasons because we already know they aren’t effective in those circumstances. Obviously they aren’t, right? How could they be? So, the research looks to see if the correct grade masks worn properly are effective.
Me: OK - but you don’t need to research that either do you?
Researcher: Why not?
Me: Because obviously, if everyone wears a recommended grade of mask, and wears them correctly at all times, they WILL be effective.
Researcher: Right, but there needs to be properly researched studies that say this.
Me: Why?
Researcher: So that the decision makers have got bona fide studies that they can point at, to show that masks are effective in slowing the spread of the virus.
Me: But these studies make assumptions that we know aren’t replicated by people going about their normal lives. So doesn’t that make them a bit pointless?
Researcher: [Smiles wryly and shrugs apologetically] Ours is not to reason why.
