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How to Evaluate Science News Stories
- Sep 12, 2009 at 2:41 PM
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- Comments (8) Total Views (497) Everyone can see this journal post.
It is not always easy to decide if a news story is accurate or not. The media is widely known for reporting 'facts' that align well with their own agendas, whether it be vaccination, green products, health care or stem cell research. I try not to let my bias show through when I write science posts for you, and I hope I am doing a good job with that. I feel I am, because over time, I see my personal bias changing, which is a sure sign I approach the story with an open mind, and learn a new angle as I write. One example of this is my (very slow) transition to more natural products.
In reality, it's hard to know if a story has a high accuracy level, or has been rooted in bias. Sometimes we can determine that, based on the source, there is some inherant bias, but not always. Hopefully this post will help you understand what steps to take as you determine if an article you are reading is truthful or not.
1. News stories are often short, and meant to catch your eye with a shocking title. Just because a writer on CNN reported the findings of a new study, doesn't mean that's the new law. The new study is just another piece of the puzzle, and if you don't look at all the other pieces, the new study doesn't really mean anything, and neither does the news story. For instance, for many years eggs were good for you. And then new research showed they are bad. Then new research showed they are good again, if you only eat the whites. Now new research shows they are good again, but it depends on how you cook them. Look at the big picture.
2. What references are they citing? If the news article is linking to newly published research in Nature or Science or PNAS, it has a good chance of being well documented. Why? Because these 'high impact' publications have writers that generate press releases to help journalists report the new findings accurately. This is one of the big reasons I like the BBC - they report new findings from high impact journals. Incidently, 90% of what I see on the BBC never makes it's way to mainstream American news.
Alternately, if the news story is citing a publication 5 years old, there's a good chance there is no recent research to back it up, and maybe even some that proves it is false! References are KEY!!
3. Where is the news story being published? If you see a science or health story on a website that heralds all natural products, it may be biased toward printing stories that only follow this agenda. Would you expect to find a story on recent research that claims chemicals are good for the environment? Probablly not, because it doesn't fit their agenda.
Likewise, if you find the story in CNN's liesure section, it might not have much scientific fact to back it up, or it could be a bit 'sloppy'. Also, if you read Dr. Zavos's website for news on cloning, you'll see everything posted leads back to him. Citing yourself as a reliable source is a sure sign there are no other reliable sources out there! Many agenda-based websites follow this method as they report 'news'.
4. Who else is reporting the information? Good, factual science is often reported in many different places, by many different journalsts. For example, when Jupiter was recently hit by something, leaving a giant new scar, it was widely reported by many outlets, even though the first person to see it was an amateur astronomer!
5. If you want to go even further to determine if the news story is true, you should go back to the original publication and read the details. THIS is not an easy thing to do, and it is quite time-consuming, which is why we rely on good news sources to report the information to us accurately. Also, the original publications are rarely free, which inhibits much of the general public form the chance to even read it (understanding it is another story). However, even original journal publications have a wide range of acceptability as references. In rare cases, companies own alleged "peer review" journals, which are very good at publishing new research that helps their agenda (pharmaceutical sales).
See, science isn't biased. It doesn't follow an agenda. A good scientist is never biased. Science is a search for the truth, not a means to push an agenda, or a way to prove you are right. Science describes the world around us, whether we like what we find out, or not. For every story that supports your thoughts on a subject, there will be information that doesn't. A good science news article will discuss both sides, the pros and cons or how the new information fits into the story as a whole.
Tonya
AKA sunmoonstars
The Science Spot
Comments:
It is my fervent hope that every person in the answer section quoting "science" read this. Unfortunately not only do news sources report in a way to support their agendas but the people who hear the reports only hear what they want to. Then pass it on to each other. Thanks so much for another great post.
I'm glad that you wrote about this. This is such a stumbling block for the general public, because most reporters don't include the information that you need in order to evaluate the information. I can't tell you how many times I'll read a news report and I either can't find the name of the journal taht the data was published in or it isn't mentioned until the very end. It can be difficult to find out who the researchers even are sometimes.
When one of my husband's Current Biology papers was getting a lot of attention, he spent a lot of time talking to reporters. Some of them got what he was saying, others didn't. He was often misquoted. The reporters would oversimplify his results, sometimes to the point that their meaning was somewhat changed.
No matter what is reported, however, it is important that those who read it have an adequate education in science so that they can understand and evaluate it.
Thanks Tonya, As a scientist it always fustrates me with what the media does with stories in their search for an audience. The far majority of us are searching for the truth and answers to benefit society and their quality of life. Which is why when stories come out about how the science or scientists shouldn't be trusted it hits us hard.
Good one, Tonya! I think these critical evaluation skills can also be applied to non-science news stories and articles.
I reaaly look up to because you are so smart. I love reading your journals I feel like i learn something new from you every time i open one of your posts
I love your posts! :)
You are so right! I wish people would go read for themselves instead of just hearing something somewhere & quoting it as fact. That annoys me to no end!
And I think you have done an excellent job of keeping your articles fair & unbiased, BTW :)
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Mila Kunis' Weight Gain Is No Cause for Concern
good info..thanks for posting this.
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