TimmyHStudies are Rubbish
August 5th 2008 02:33
More accurately, they are open to a variety of interpretations. Recently a number of studies of Generation Y have been misconstrued to suggest that the prevalence of Teen Dating Violence is much greater than the reality.
Benjamin Radford, the managing editor of Skeptical Inquirer rightly points out that when reading statistics it is important to understand how they are written. Publishing results that read “62 percent of students between 12 and 15 know someone who has been in an abusive relationship” is unfairly misleading.
“Let's say you read a statistic from a study that says 75 percent of students at Harvard say they know someone who has cheated on a test. What does that mean? Does that mean that three-quarters of Harvard students are cheaters? Many people will read it that way, but they are wrong. In an extreme hypothetical explanation for how wrong this could be, it's possible that only one student at Harvard cheated, but everyone knew about him,” Radford deduces.
The study, entitled "Tween and Teen Dating Violence and Abuse Study" used many questions which asked respondents to recall whether they knew people who experienced certain events. The question itself is not ridiculous, but it is most certainly irrelevant when considering the prevalence of Teen Dating Violence. To suggest that knowledge of a phenomenon equates directly to its prevalence is absurd.
How many people know that a man was landed on the moon in 1969? Presumably most of the Western World at the very least. But does that mean that most of the Western World landed on the moon? Of course not. Reporters need to be incredibly careful when publishing studies like this one, the hysteria that can be created by throwing around figures like 62 percent and linking it to phrases like abusive behaviour is irresponsible to say the least.
As Radford explains “there may indeed be "shocking horrors" in teen dating, but these particular statistics do not reflect them. Teen dating violence and domestic abuse are serious issues, and deserve both credible research methods and good journalism.”
Radford's article is entitled "Alarming Study on Teen Dating Violence Is Flawed" and is well worth a look.
Benjamin Radford, the managing editor of Skeptical Inquirer rightly points out that when reading statistics it is important to understand how they are written. Publishing results that read “62 percent of students between 12 and 15 know someone who has been in an abusive relationship” is unfairly misleading.
“Let's say you read a statistic from a study that says 75 percent of students at Harvard say they know someone who has cheated on a test. What does that mean? Does that mean that three-quarters of Harvard students are cheaters? Many people will read it that way, but they are wrong. In an extreme hypothetical explanation for how wrong this could be, it's possible that only one student at Harvard cheated, but everyone knew about him,” Radford deduces.
The study, entitled "Tween and Teen Dating Violence and Abuse Study" used many questions which asked respondents to recall whether they knew people who experienced certain events. The question itself is not ridiculous, but it is most certainly irrelevant when considering the prevalence of Teen Dating Violence. To suggest that knowledge of a phenomenon equates directly to its prevalence is absurd.
How many people know that a man was landed on the moon in 1969? Presumably most of the Western World at the very least. But does that mean that most of the Western World landed on the moon? Of course not. Reporters need to be incredibly careful when publishing studies like this one, the hysteria that can be created by throwing around figures like 62 percent and linking it to phrases like abusive behaviour is irresponsible to say the least.
As Radford explains “there may indeed be "shocking horrors" in teen dating, but these particular statistics do not reflect them. Teen dating violence and domestic abuse are serious issues, and deserve both credible research methods and good journalism.”
Radford's article is entitled "Alarming Study on Teen Dating Violence Is Flawed" and is well worth a look.
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Comment by S.L.
The Political Brief
Comment by Sara Dobson
My Turn
I worked in Research for years and many of my clients were PR agencies. It drives me crazy that they want to as any leading question they like or interpret the results in a way that gave them (or their clients) a good headline that will sell their media release.
Lies damn lies and statistics...
There is a reason for that saying