ENV200H1S Science in the Media
Find a recent article published within the past year (2016/17), touching on a scientific issue.
Some insights into the quality of your article will be derived from answering the questions on this worksheet. You may type or write in your answers. Remember you must submit a hard copy of your article with this worksheet.
1. Provide the full bibliographic reference, e.g. author, date, title of article, name of newspaper, URL (if appropriate), the last date on which you accessed the file, etc...
2. Give a brief description of the article. What is your article about? e.g. is it trying to sell something? Is it announcing a new "discovery"?
3. Who wrote the article? Can you identify their credentials and/or affiliation? Expect to undertake some additional research to answer this. E.g. science journalists, business reporters, freelance journalists, unknown.
4. What is the phenomenon being reported on? Remember science can only deal with things that can be tested by observation. What was observed? Are the observations repeatable or anecdotal?
5. Have the ideas been formulated as hypotheses and tested? Identify the hypothesis being tested. Were the tests controlled in an experimental setting or natural?
6. How definitive does the information seem to you? Were any uncertainties identified? Identify these uncertainties.
7. What are the sources of the information reported in the article, since presumably the journalist did not make this information up? Are they quotations from direct observations or secondary reports of information already published elsewhere? Is sufficient information provided so you could locate the information or the original source if you wanted to, e.g. names, institutional affiliations or other locators? Does the article identify who may be funding this research? If no to any of these answers, were you able to easily find this information through a web search? List any of this information below.
8. What is your conclusion as to the credibility of the information in the article? Some aspects of credibility that you may wish to consider: Is there any reason to expect bias on the part of a source or the author, i.e. is a drug company paying for the research that is being reported? Are any alternative explanations offered? Does the reporter/author quote from more than one point of view? Can you tell whether the individuals providing the information are recognized experts in the subject? Are the claims supported by other members of the scientific community? Is there just one dissenting voice that in perceived "fairness" is being given equal weight to the "other" side?