The Power of a Lab Coat
More than Just PPE
Particular pieces of clothing hold within them a certain power: a three-piece suit can make a man stand straighter, lift his chin higher and lengthen his stride; a uniform establishes a kinship between members, a confidence in camaraderie and a sense of security; and let’s not forget the power of a cape, which even when fastened from a beach towel can make the smallest individuals believe that they have super powers. There is however, a piece of clothing that many have not donned since High School Chemistry class, the lab coat. This one piece of PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) has the power to change a person from: reactive to rational, high-strung to calm, absent minded to focused, emotional to analytical and illogical to dare I say….Vulcan.
What would happen if you wore a lab coat (NOTE: this is a metaphorical lab coat, please do not EVER wear a lab coat that was worn in the lab outside of the lab let alone home) when trying to find solutions to problems in your own life? Would that logical and scientific mentality bring a new perspective, allowing you to disregard any associated emotions? Would the absence of emotional attachment permit you to arrive at and accept the results? To go even further into science geekdom, what if you applied the six steps of the Scientific Method to better understand the current problem then, find, accept and commit to the solution you’ve been looking for?
The scientific method is a series of steps followed by scientific investigators to answer specific questions about the natural world. It involves making observations, formulating a hypothesis, and conducting scientific experiments.
Step One: Observation/Question
Here you are looking to determine what the specific problem is, and then state the problem in a form of a question. It could be anything but for this blog, let’s use the following example:
The subject (you) just came back from the Dr., who has told the subject in no uncertain terms that the subject’s current weight (200lbs) if far above what is recommended (150lbs) for the subject’s age, height and gender. If a weight decrease of 50lbs is not achieved, then the subject’s health risks will only increase.
The identified problem: The subject is currently 50lbs heavier than what science has proven to be a healthy weight.
The question to be asked: What variables in the subject’s life could be contributing to weighing 50lbs above the specified healthy weight?
Step Two: Research
Now that you have a question it’s time to… hold back your enthusiasm…RESEARCH!!! Okay, listen I know that research can be a bore, but it’s needed. This will include doing external research (associated published studies) as well as observing the subject. Recording any variables that based on the external research may be worth experimenting with:
Family is overweight
Drinks alcohol 4 days a week
Uncertain of the calories that are being consumed
Has little to no physical activity
Stress is not handled well
Drinks beverages high in calories daily
Eats late at night
Sleeps only 5-6hrs a night
Eats too much
Step Three: Hypothesis
This is where you choose ONE variable to build your experiment around. You identify the chosen the variable, and the proposed outcome in the form of a hypothesis, which is almost always an “if” statement. We will use a null-hypothesis for this example, which is basically stated in the negative of which your expecting.
Hypothesis:
If there is no relation between drinking high calorie beverages and excess weight, then when the high calorie beverages are substituted for water, and all other factors remain constant the subject’s weight will not decrease.
Step Four: Experiment
Here comes the FUN part (well Vulcan level fun), you get to design the experiment, establish the parameters, and start producing data to be analyzed. Remember this is science, so keeping all other variables insignificantly close to exactly the same is key! Here you may do some additional research on weight reduction in order determine length of time for the experiment.
Step Five: Results
Once the experiment is completed you collect the data, analyze and report the results. This step is crucial, you want to have numbers, you want to data that is more quantifiable then qualifiable. Using numbers allows you to leave emotions, perceptions and attachments out of the results. Data is data, and there is nothing personal about data, it will not change regardless of who you are, what you’re wearing, how you act or how you feel. Data has nothing to do with you, and everything to do with the truth, and cliché or not, the truth will set you free.
Step Six: Conclusion
Now you take the results from your logically sound experiment and compare those results to your hypothesis, in this case you’re hoping for results that disproves your proposed hypothesis.
Depending on the conclusion, you may want to: tweak the experiment, confer with the subject to make sure no other undisclosed variables were introduced, continue with the same experiment to see if the results last over time or look into experimenting with one of the previously noted variables. The great thing about this is it’s YOUR experiment, you get to choose how to approach your subject’s very real and concerning problem. Though emotions do not belong in most experiments, you care about the results because you’ve been observing the subject and can’t help but want to find the solution that will help produce results to live a longer, happier and healthier life.
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