Plural forms of evidence in public health: tolerating epistemological and methodological diversity

What counts as ‘evidence’ is a question that has been explored in many arenas, but it has been a particular focus of debate in the health sector, where the notion of systematically appraising data about the effectiveness of interventions in order to inform everyday practice was first promulgated. In its original form, ‘evidence-based medicine’ (EBM) referred to the application of research findings from the study of populations to the clinical treatment of individuals and it was initially envisaged as a means to aid clinical decision making in biomedical practice.