Science in the Media

Key Stage 4

Meaning

Science in the media is the way in which the results and conclusions of investigations are reported to the public.

About Science in the Media

The media makes a number of articles which misrepresent scientific ideas. This may be due to the bias of those writing the article or a misunderstanding of the scientific process and particularly the importance of peer review.

The media often makes the following mistakes reporting on scientific investigations

• The article is written before the scientific paper is published allowing the author of the article to make unsubstantiated conclusions.
• The article is written before the scientific paper has been peer reviewed giving the impression that its conclusions are accepted science when they are not.
• The conclusions of a scientific paper are over generalised. A scientific paper only reports on a very specific set of information and can't be applied to all situations until further investigations into those other situations are performed.
• The author of an article may be biased and present only the information which agrees with the conclusions they want to be true and ignoring all the evidence against their beliefs.

Examples

The following examples are paraphrased for simplicity.

Article - "Doctors link autism to MMR vaccination"

Scientific Paper - "Ileal-lymphoid-nodular hyperplasia, non-specific colitis, and pervasive developmental disorder in children"

What happened - A doctor published a scientific paper in which they claimed autism was linked to a vaccination.

The problem - The article was published before the investigation could be reproduced. When other scientists attempted to reproduce the investigation they could not get the same results. It was later found that the doctor fraudulently invented evidence.

Article - "All you need to make a good decision is a cheese sandwich."

Scientific Paper - "The effects of serotonin on decision making."

What happened - The author of the article read the Scientific Paper and then found out later that cheese contains a chemical that is used to make serotonin.

The problem - Cheese contains a tiny quantity of that chemical and the study was only applicable to certain situations as serotonin is involved in a huge range of brain functions.

Article - "More Than One Reality Exists (in Quantum Physics)"

Scientific Paper - "Experimental rejection of observer-independence in the quantum world"

What happened - An investigation seemed to confirm that two different observers can observe the same phenomenon and come to a different conclusion and both be correct.

The problem - At the time of the article the study had not been reproduced or even peer reviewed to check if the method was valid.