I wish I woz clever like wot they are.

So what about minimal drinkers have they researched that too - gee!!!

I have often thought that many results of research is what we would call stating the bl****ng obvious but the money has to be spent somehow. Cynical, moi?

If they had told me that in December, I could have upped my intake to "moderate" but was trying to cut down before DD's wedding.
Another wasted opportunity.

Well, this very moderate drinker is going to drink like crazy just for spite! ?

I agree Petra, so many times you hear of a 'no shit Sherlock' study result that begs you to ask the question couldn't money and time be better spent than on that rubbish. Is that seriously what our Universities are for.

What is the best way to make a cup of tea? What is the best way to toast bread? etc.

Easier still if you are teetotal.

However, sometimes it does good to prove the obvious, because sometimes the obvious proves to be wrong.

University research on alcohol consumption? Not difficult to find guinea pigs, I imagine!

If it is by undergrads then I think the purpose of these studies are to learn how to do a study - IYSWIM.

Setting up a serious study is not something that comes to people automatically and they get practice at thinking out how to select a suitable sample, double-blind the method so that they don't prejudge results, ask the right questions and analyse the results statistically to make sure they are significant.

If it is by post-grads then you would think they would choose something that needed clarifying, but perhaps their supervisor wished it on them, after setting themes for hundreds and running out of ideas? If they have to do a thesis and everyone has bagged the good ones, it must get tricky to find new ideas.

Then the newspapers get hold of a study with potential for causing hilarity and make the most of it - you can't blame them too much either. No-one is likely to find much that is newsworthy in research into the original rhythms of music composed several centuries ago and written down in a different style to modern manuscripts, with no guidance to the performers, despite it actually being useful to musicians playing these pieces now. That is the subject of my GS's thesis.

Actually you could put forward the hypothesis that heavy drinkers are likely to be more successful at dry January because they are more concerned about their heavy drinking and effects on their health and are therefore more motivated than moderate drinkers.

The study also looked at patterns of relapse and found that everyone who took part in the study, whether failed or not, drank more wisely afterwards.

So I think it had some worth.

Here is a link to a (short and to the point) piece on the study, which says -

"72% of participants had maintained lower levels of harmful drinking and 4% were still not drinking after six months.

They were also more likely to say no to a drink in social situations, when feeling worried or upset, and in situations where they would normally have had a drink.

After going for a month without alcohol, people also reported a number of other benefits:

• 82% felt a sense of achievement
• 79% saved money
• 62% had better sleep
• 62% had more energy
• 49% lost weight

Dr de Visser, Senior Lecturer in Psychology, said: “What’s really interesting to see is that these changes in alcohol consumption were also seen in the participants who didn’t complete the whole month alcohol free. Even if participants took part but didn’t successfully complete the 31 days, it generally led to a significant decrease across all the measures of alcohol intake.”

Part of a Psychology course I was studying required us to make a hypothesis and provide the evidence and statistics (we all know about those!)
As I was working in a school kitchen at the time I chose pink and blue custard. Can't remember much about it now but think the Hypothesis was that the girls would go for the Pink custard and the boys the blue custard.
What I learned was that Results and Stats can be manipulated.

A useful lesson, Cherrytree. The final assessment of the study depends a lot on the questions asked (or not asked) and the statistical analysis of the answers.

We get quite a lot of students on here asking us to answer the questions in their survey (usually on something like what kind of clothes the over-50s want to see in shops) Some of the surveys are clearly flawed and make assumptions about the over-50s, some reveal what the questioner wants the answers to be, some are multiple choice with none of the possible answers having any reality or relevance.

They are generally greeted with "Oh not again!" and soundly criticised - I have noticed that we haven't had any more for some time!

You would think they would be grateful for the help and advice we could give them on how to design a questionnaire

I remember a recent university study that showed that singing in a choir was good for you and helped in making friends - now, who would have thought that?

"Unfortunately, there is no evidence that Dry January achieves lasting change in consumption or in our beliefs and behaviour in relation to alcohol"
theconversation.com/dry-january-is-it-worth-giving-up-alcohol-for-a-month-51956?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=The%20Weekend%20Conversation%20-%204056&utm_content=The%20Weekend%20Conversation%20-%204056+CID_5d811cc0a2f7dc61bedac7c97fdf400d&utm_source=campaign_monitor_uk&utm_term=Dry%20January%20-%20is%20it%20worth%20giving%20up%20alcohol%20for%20a%20month

You can always find an opposing view Elegran
The NHS is still recommending two alcohol-free days a week as the way to go.

It all depends on who is doing the statistics and which subjects he/she uses!

Quite!

As I only drink an occasional glass, perhaps I'll find the food equivalent of' dry' January - when I've finished the chocolates, mince pies and Christmas cake!!