Professor Daniel Weinstock’s keynote address at the National Collaborating Centres for Public Health 2007 Summer Institute starts out with the claim that ‘Evidence is not proof.’ He then goes on to discuss what evidence is, clarifying our understanding of the concept using a philosophical perspective. He shows five key areas where it is critically important to see that values fit into the human activity of generating evidence, and to consider how those might affect what we see as evidence.
Given the importance accorded to evidence in public health contexts, and in health care more generally, understanding the concept is clearly important. This transcript from Dr. Weinstock’s presentation lends some valuable perspective in a short read.
