I was thinking of a title for this section when I remembered a book that I read years ago.  It's title, "Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics...in that order".  It's a book on how statistics can be manipulated to tell whatever story one fancies.

In 'Parenting Philosophies - The Two Extremes', I attempted to roughly clarify on the confusing parenting information conveyed to us.  Here, I will try to explain a bit more on how you can better understand what the gurus are trying to say.  Unfortunately, at this moment, the only book I have on hand is Dr William Sears' 'Night Time Parenting', so my examples will come from this book.  Sorry, don't have time to provide a 'balance' presentation.  Hey!  This is not a thesis or something!

The following are some terms you have to understand and keep in mind when reading any parenting material:

1. Conjectures

Conjecture is a nice sounding term which means somebody's best guess, or even wild guess.

2. Hypothesis

Hypothesis is one step closer to the 'Truth' compared to Conjecture.  It is still a guess but usually with some basis and still need to be tested to establish that it is indeed true.

3. Relationship

When we say there is a relationship (or co-relation) between A and B, it could mean that A causes B, or B causes A or A and B both change in a certain manner because of C, etc.  We know there is a relationship between A and B but we are not sure what kind of relationship it is.

4. Causation

When we say that there is a causative relationship between A and B, it means A causes B (or vice versa).

5. Opinion

Opinion is subjective and there is no right or wrong about it.

6. Sweeping Statements

Beware of sweeping statements.  'Breastfed babies have a lower tendency to fall sick compared to formula fed babies' is correct.  'Breastfed babies will not fall sick' is a sweeping statement and is incorrect.