There's Been a Study on That...
Maybe it was just me, or maybe it was a slow news month, but it seemed that August was replete with various reports of studies breathlessly declaring that common character traits of toddlers were accurate predictors of various adult frailties. Charming.
Scott Stinson published an opinion piece in the National Post this week that poked some fun at the media's obsession with studies as being inherently newsworthy when, quite often, there is good reason to question not only the outcome of the study but the purpose of the study in the first place. Stinson hilariously begins: "Hello, friends. It’s time for another installment of research from the Institute for the Study of Things We Knew Already, where we poke at the soft underbelly of science research and the media that faithfully reports the findings." He goes on to note that recent studies reported in the media include such earth-shaking pronouncements as: “Polygamy makes for unhappy families” and “Too much TV, video and computer can make teens fatter.”
Studies are no doubt fodder for the mainstream media and a staple of such publications as Men's Health . And they can be important means of informing the public of serious issues ( see, for example, Vitamin D , Climate Change, etc.) On the other hand, sometimes a degree of cynism may be in order: Stinson notes a report that suggested that eating cheeseburgers caused asthma ("Cheese Wheeze" was the headline) when the report actually made the rather fuzzy observation that "lifestyle factors may favour its development..."
Have a Good Weekend,
David Morgan Smith - Click here for more information on David Smith.
