Media and Scientific Studies
According to Clifford, in his article 10 Reasons Studies can be Surprisingly Inaccurate, the results of a scientific study may not always be reliable due to negative findings not being published. Negative results need to be published so that when scientists analyze all the information, they’re able to give the whole picture of a certain kind of treatment or discovery. Moreover, Oliver stated, in Last Week Tonight, that some studies may not be reliable because of the small sample size used. Small sample sizes can’t always be generalizable to the larger population. Further, Clifford states that there are also studies that have only been tested on mice and haven’t been tested on humans yet. Some studies have found that certain cancer treatments aren’t effective in humans like they are in mice. This is important because careful studies need to be done to prove their effectiveness in humans before people can rely on a study.
Some reasons Oliver stated for being skeptical of how scientific studies are reported on in the media is that media outlets tend to only look at one study and report the results of those studies. It’s important to do repetitive studies on the same topic to make sure the same results are yielded every time. As well, media blows things out of proportion when describing the results of a study without giving important details about how the study was conducted. They won’t describe the sample size of the study and who the study was funded by. They also don’t always give accurate findings of the study. Even different media sources give contradictory information. For example, Oliver states that one media news source will describe how coffee is good for you while another will tell you that it gives you cancer.
Once, my mom’s friend told me that a study found that certain vaccines cause autism. I was skeptic about it because my siblings and I had received vaccines and we never found any problems with them. I learned later on that vaccines don’t cause autism and the study that has been used was unreliable. The scientist had monetary interests in proving the measles vaccine caused autism. Furthermore, many parents stopped giving their children vaccines leading to increase in measles outbreaks which shows how much influence media and small studies may have on the general public. I was able to find many studies that have found no correlation between autism and vaccines.
When finding research, it’s important to make sure you look at many primary sources regarding the same topic and compare the results found. It’s also important to try to find background information on the funding of a study and the sample size. Never rely only on news articles for scientific research. They can sometimes blow certain results out of proportion or not give the full picture. It’s important that whatever treatment is said in the media, you find primary sources on it to make sure that it’s accurate before trying any new treatment. Always be a little skeptic about what you’re reading in the media because they want to gain the public’s attention with crazy results.
