Web Exercises

Click on the following links. Please note these will open in a new window.

Web Exercises

1. Go to Ben Goldacre: Battling Bad Science - a TED Talk video illustrating examples of ‘bad science’ in medical and pharmaceutical research on the grounds of lacking scientific integrity publication bias, withheld data, and inadequate controls, and the ways evidence can be distorted.

  • Watch the video
  • What impact does withheld data and inadequate controls do to study results?
  • Give examples of how evidence was distorted
  • Why do medical and pharmaceutical companies distort evidence?

2. Go to Misleading Graphs in the Media

  • Review each of the graphs
  • Upon viewing each of the graphs, what do the data suggest?
  • Upon closer review, what do the data suggest?
  • Describe how each of the graphs are misleading
  • Describe how each of the graphs could be revised to accurately portray the data

3. Go to the How Media Distorts Scientific Results

  • What is the author’s argument?
  • Why does the media distort scientific results?
  • What are the implications of this?
  • Can you think of other ways researchers can be cautious when presenting their research results?
  • What does this suggest to you as a consumer of media?