I suppose that the reason folk sometimes find scientific opinion arguable is that sometimes their work is published in the popular press, and a slant given to the conclusions which makes people look at each other and wonder why anyone would spend time to study something that looks to have an obvious answer, to the uninitiated, anyway.
The scientist is looking for Why, but us numbskulls wonder, 'why bother? What's the problem? Isn't it obvious?'
And 'how did they get funding to study that, anyway?'

Findings taken out of context, that's what I'm trying to say.
Not that I'm a social scientist. ;-)