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News & ArtsTuesday, May 26, 2009
News / Science Breaking News: Scienticians Still Smug about Being Smarty-Pantses!
Posted by Brendan Kiley on Tue, May 26, 2009 at 9:40 AM
... or at least my Ph.D.-gettin' little sister is, via PHD Comics:
Scientists laughing at non-scientists—it's good stuff! My apologies to those in the media business.
Wait until you see what you're getting for Christmas, kid.
3
You forget the part where the news outlets interview the scientist who nods excitedly that "yes, you should be afraid of A. Very afraid. I'll need some funding to study how to stop A, so dig deep folks and give me money. Lots of money."
5
Very funny...
You could also add something about an internet poll: "Do you think A causes B?" or "What are you doing to protect yourself against A?". (*cough* *Slog* *cough*)
You could also add something about an internet poll: "Do you think A causes B?" or "What are you doing to protect yourself against A?". (*cough* *Slog* *cough*)
6
For the folks (like me) whose eyes hurt by looking at that weird, resized version, here's the original:
http://www.phdcomics.com/comics.php?f=11…
http://www.phdcomics.com/comics.php?f=11…
9
The final step of the cycle is when everyone figures out that A isn't that harmful, and the backlash starts. "A is a hoax!"
10
How very very true.
People still think aluminum cooking pots cause Alzheimers.
And there are 23 percent of Americans who think the earth is flat and the GOP are correct.
People still think aluminum cooking pots cause Alzheimers.
And there are 23 percent of Americans who think the earth is flat and the GOP are correct.
11
Besides, we don't even know if it has normal distribution, and I'd need to see a repeated experiment by another lab with a sample size above 520.
12
Yes, all of this confirms what we already knew: The news media doesn't "do" science very well. And the further down the food change you get, the worse it gets.
Now excuse me while I go take massive doses of vitamins to ward off "A."
Now excuse me while I go take massive doses of vitamins to ward off "A."
13
Yes, all of this confirms what we already knew: The news media doesn't "do" science very well. And the further down the food chain you get, the worse it gets.
Now excuse me while I go take massive doses of vitamins to ward off "A."
Now excuse me while I go take massive doses of vitamins to ward off "A."
14
@ 8 (Vida)
It's not a p-value...
It's a correlation, and thus rho (which of course does look like a lower case P... But still...)
It's not a p-value...
It's a correlation, and thus rho (which of course does look like a lower case P... But still...)
15
I think that this is really, really funny and true.
I think that it misses one important distinction:
Scientists look for truth/facts, while journalists are trained to always demonstrate objectivity and fairness by including contrasting views on their subject matter. This makes sense when you're discussing a political matter, but it doesn't make sense with scientific reporting. How does this play out? With high-profile news reports regarding climate change or evolution, for example, it has meant that science reporters have included the views of scientifically marginalized crack pots, in some cases suggesting that they are representative of their fields, even when they are not.
I think that it misses one important distinction:
Scientists look for truth/facts, while journalists are trained to always demonstrate objectivity and fairness by including contrasting views on their subject matter. This makes sense when you're discussing a political matter, but it doesn't make sense with scientific reporting. How does this play out? With high-profile news reports regarding climate change or evolution, for example, it has meant that science reporters have included the views of scientifically marginalized crack pots, in some cases suggesting that they are representative of their fields, even when they are not.
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