When we read journal articles, we are reading the most academic, technical version of that study, as interpreted directly by the researchers themselves. However, by the time the findings get translated to the popular media, they can be vastly exaggerated, overstated, or otherwise incorrectly represent the results of the study (that’s why every year we have studies that contradict each other- often, the media just overstated the significance of one particular study to make an attention-grabbing conclusion and it gains popular traction because it’s “new” or “shocking”).
Podcast: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/voxs-the-weeds/e/55730140
After listening to the podcast above check out these articles that describe these issues:
https://www.vox.com/2015/3/23/8264355/research-study-hype
Instructions: For this assignment, find a news article about some healthcare topic that makes reference to a study done in a peer-reviewed journal article or reputable organization (such as the NIH). Critique how the article represents the study. Now that you know what to look for in a study, you’ll know what details are missing or might be overstated. Often, the articles will link to the studies themselves- if they do, skim the study.
Questions to be answered:
-What components do you, as a researcher, think the article should have included about the study?
-Do you think the newspaper article’s conclusion about the study is valid, or is it misleading to the general public?
-What did you learn from the articles I posted above about this issue? ***The 3 articles I have added at the top***
The article must have some reference to a study that has been recently done (otherwise you will receive a 0), so it may take some digging to find a suitable article. Some good sites to start looking for articles include: New York Times Health – http://www.nytimes.com/pages/health/ NPR Health- http://www.npr.org/sections/health/ CNN Health – http://www.cnn.com/HEALTH/ The Washington Post Wellness- https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/wellness/?noredirect=on Reuters Health – http://www.reuters.com/news/health BBC News Health – https://www.bbc.com/news/health ABC News Health – https://abcnews.go.com/Health/ NBC News Health- https://www.nbcnews.com/health
Don’t forget to provide a reference (including link) for your chosen article. 2 to 3 paragraphs in length,
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