Post No.: 0491 Furrywisepuppy says: It would be impossible to sift through all of the academic papers out there in the world ever so we must seek some fluffy shortcuts, such as relying on the verdicts of journalistic … Read More
Post No.: 0479 Furrywisepuppy says: In science, ‘ecological validity’ is the degree to which the settings, materials, procedures, timescales, etc. of an experiment approximate the real world it’s trying to emulate. So when people criticise a laboratory-based experiment … Read More
Post No.: 0473 Furrywisepuppy says: The reason why the scientific process is the most reliable way to obtain the truth is because of the testing and challenging of beliefs and hypotheses, and the need for evidence. Things aren’t … Read More
Post No.: 0461 Furrywisepuppy says: Many phenomena or attributes that we intuitively think exist cannot be directly measured, but their existence can be inferred via other phenomena that are measurable. Examples include ‘intelligence’, ‘health’, being ‘strong’, ‘beautiful’, ‘deadly’ … Read More
Post No.: 0428 Fluffystealthkitten says: It’s absolutely fantastic, for example, to hear news stories about women in CEO positions or winning in mixed gender sports contests. But wouldn’t it actually be even more fantastic if we lived in … Read More
Post No.: 0411 Furrywisepuppy says: There are a multitude of ethical or problematic issues in journalism or reportage that we as the audience must be aware of. These include freebies – you may be surprised how many times … Read More
Post No.: 0393 Furrywisepuppy says: A perfect event at the wrong time is often ignored and wasted, whereas a bad event at the perfect time in the news cycle often gets picked up anyway. (Likewise, a perfect product … Read More
Post No.: 0382 Furrywisepuppy says: It’s utterly crucial to read the articles – not just the headlines or summaries presented in news feeds or social media posts – and to read them carefully to the very end. News … Read More
Post No.: 0368 Furrywisepuppy says: This is what tends to happen when people make specific and date-specific (as in not vague or indefinite) predictions about untypical events one or more years down the line in a complex and … Read More
Post No.: 0343 Fluffystealthkitten says: A liar knows for sure that what they’re saying is false, whereas a bull****er doesn’t know for sure whether what they’re saying is true or false, and doesn’t care – they’ll just make … Read More
Post No.: 0332 Furrywisepuppy says: With scientific experiments, scientists must declare their hypotheses before they begin gathering any data. This is because – especially if you’re going to measure a lot of different things and especially if you’re … Read More
Post No.: 0318 Furrywisepuppy says: When choosing a headline for a story, a good journalist should use the most well-supported scenario rather than a headline that’s only used to grab attention (clickbaiting), and then immediately follow it by … Read More
Post No.: 0308 Furrywisepuppy says: ‘Selection biases’, or sometimes synonymously ‘sampling biases’, occur when there is a bias in how the participants or data point samples are selected for use in an experiment, study or survey. An example … Read More
Post No.: 0291 Furrywisepuppy says: Journalists seldom just ask random academics for their expertise – they’ll tend to actively attempt to find experts or ‘experts’ who’ll say the things they hope will be said for the sake of … Read More
Post No.: 0279 Furrywisepuppy says: History used to be written (and rewritten) and spread by the victors or by whoever was in power at the time, with the accounts of the losers often being erased or denied. But … Read More
Post No.: 0264 Furrywisepuppy says: In scientific experiments, take care with distinguishing between independent and dependent variables – for instance, individual fair dice rolls are independent from each other because the result of one roll has no bearing … Read More
Post No.: 0256 Fluffystealthkitten says: The ‘scientific method’ specifies that a hypothesis must be empirically testable (testable via observations), falsifiable (there must be some way for someone to attempt to show that a hypothesis is false), logically consistent … Read More
Post No.: 0250 Furrywisepuppy says: Putting aside issues like intentional research fraud or unintentional mistakes from scientists and reporters here, it often seems like conclusions in the social sciences (e.g. psychology, economics, sociology, political science, linguistics) are more … Read More
Post No.: 0238 Furrywisepuppy says: The ‘VIA’ analysis for assessing information stands for verifiable, independent and accountable. Reliable information is verifiable (so gather, assess and weigh up the evidence then place the facts in the bigger picture/overall context, … Read More
Post No.: 0231 Furrywisepuppy says: Regarding newspapers or magazines, comparing the ‘proper news sections’ (the reporting of plain, verified and independently-gathered information with accountability to their sources) with the ‘opinion sections’ (such as columns and editorials) is like … Read More
