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   Fact (fakt), n. Anything done; a deed; event; circumstance; reality; truth.
                                    From Webster's Popular Illustrated Dictionary, 1891

We chose an old dictionary in order to show that the essential definition of "fact" has not changed. Information can change. Conditions, opinions and beliefs can change, but facts don't change. They do, however, become obsolete if and when the conditions they describe change, so our first concern must be to prove their validity in the present, when we need them.

Scientific Facts
A scientific fact is an information statement which describes an actual condition of nature and is provable by scientific means. Proving validity is what science is mostly about. This point is of paramount importance to us because it is primarily scientific facts we use here to inform our members. (See: "Why Science?")

At PLAINFACTS.COM™ all information presented as facts must adhere to certain criteria.

Direct Observation
First and foremost they must come from the direct observation of physical phenomena. We deal in the concrete rather than the abstract; the empirical rather than the subjective. Subjectivity, hypothesis and theory are absolutely necessary to the scientific process, but we leave them to the scientists doing original research and concentrate here on results. Unless information statements can be proved by repeated scientific observations they cannot be considered facts.

High Testing Standards
Second, all information presented here by us as facts must come from the highest standard of clinical tests or controlled field studies, and must have been published in peer reviewed professional journals.

We differentiate between clinical trials and field studies because of their entirely different parameters. Clinical tests are usually preferable because they have a much higher degree of control than field studies and, when done properly, tend to yield more accurate data. It is in the controlled sample studies that we have to be particularly careful. Every field study of phenomena in a human population records unique and time oriented events involving numerous variables and not likely to be repeatable in the exact same way. Accordingly, we must be wary of extrapolation in the results.(See:'Tunnel Vision") Individual lifestyle differences in a population make it more difficult to draw valid conclusions than from clinical studies, so when we consider field studies we look for highly controlled studies done on a randomly selected population large enough to reflect conditions in the population as a whole. Studies done on a self selected group are never acceptable.

Deductive vs. Inductive Reasoning
Finally, all information presented here by us as conclusions, whether by us or the originators of the studies, must be deductive and not inductive. Deductive reasoning seeks to elucidate while inductive seeks to convince, often using inferences to support general conclusions and unrelated theories. We believe that, given the facts, our members can make their own decisions. They don't need or want convincing.

The integrity of information is our main concern and the concern of our members, otherwise they could be satisfied with the highly distorted health coverage in the news media or in the numerous "free" health and medical web sites that use information to promote products or therapies. We feel that web sites whose personal or commercial agendas affect the information they offer are counter productive not only because their information may be biased and slanted, but because it is difficult to trust information whose real purpose is to lead you to a product or to a "professional in your area."

Trusting the integrity of your information is an important part of the decision making process. When discerning information seekers perceive the temptation to manipulate information, they can reject the source altogether, including what may be valid and useful facts. This is one of the reasons that we do not accept advertising and have foregone all commercial and governmental sponsorship. We want our members to know exactly whose interests we serve so that they can trust the information and concentrate on the important task of making decisions.

At PLAINFACTS.COM™  you can help yourself to the facts with confidence because valid facts are all we offer - constantly updated and checked for accuracy. Only the highest quality information is good enough for our members. And, because our members are our only sponsors, they know that we are a source they can trust.