Theory based medicine and the role of evidence

EBM must cultivate greater capacity to address the crucial role of theory, in both the generation and the use of experimental evidence. [...] This work also benefited from the resources and collegial environment of the Centre for Health Economics and Policy Analysis, which is funded in part by the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long Term Care. [...] Common to all is the idea that scientists produce and convey new insights only in the context of a widely shared (if imperfect and evolving) belief system about the essential nature of the phenomena they study. [...] The ferment of new knowledge -- where new ideas are generated, tested, and flourish or decay -- occurs at the surface of a vast ocean of tacit assumptions about the nature of things. [...] At the frontiers of any field, researchers face the challenge of keeping their CHEPA WORKING PAPER 09-02 Theory Based Medicine and the Role of Evidence:.