Assignment Task: - Critical Review
In today's world, we are constantly exposed to scientific studies in the media. Some are accurate and helpful-others are misleading or flawed. One of the most valuable skills you'll gain in this course is the ability to think critically about the information presented to you. This assignment will help you practice evaluating both media coverage and the original research behind it.
Assignment Instructions:
Search for a recent news article (secondary source) that reports on a scientific study related to addiction (e.g., substance use, gambling, internet use, etc.).
Use Google News or another reputable news aggregator.
The news article must describe or summarize a specific research study-not just offer general information or expert opinions.
Find the original research study (primary source) that the article is reporting on.
Look for a link to the journal article in the news story.
If there isn't one, use context clues from the news article (e.g., authors' names; journal; topic) and search Google Scholar or the Keiser Library.
The original study should be from a peer-reviewed academic journal. If the full article is behind a paywall, reading the abstract is acceptable.
Compare the news article (secondary source) to the original research study (primary source).
Evaluate how accurately and thoroughly the news article represents the findings and methods of the actual study.
Reflect on any important details that were missing, exaggerated, or misrepresented.
Discussion Questions (Organize your paper around these):
- Where did this article appear? Is the publisher reputable and responsible?
- Who wrote or published the article? What are their credentials? Are they qualified to interpret the research? Need Assignment Help?
- When was the article published? Is the information current or outdated? If it's older, is it still relevant or a "classic" study?
- What claims are being made in the article? Are they logical and supported by evidence? What kind of evidence is provided? Can you think of counterevidence?
- How was the evidence in the original study collected? Is it credible and methodologically sound? Did the study use appropriate tools and designs to support its conclusions?
Make sure to cite the news article (secondary source) and the research study it references (primary source).