How do Scientists Make Sure They are Presenting the Truth?

Based on the presentation by Ms. Shui, think about the following situations and answer each. If you need to look over the presentation again, examine your handouts or access the slides in the W8 share folder on Venus.

Your answers should be at least three sentences long; hopefully they will be longer.

Situation 1:
Sneakers

- Suppose 2 types of sneakers are compared on how long each type lasts, based on how much the soles wear down in 3 months.

- Each person in one group gets a brand new pair of Type A sneakers, and each person in another group gets a brand new pair of Type B sneakers.

- At the end of 3 months the soles of sneaker Type A are compared to the soles of sneaker Type B.

QUESTION: Before enrolling people in this study, what are some questions you may want to ask them about their lifestyles and habits that might influence how worn their sneaker soles will be 3 months later?

Situation 2:
Overweight Dogs

- Suppose 2 groups of overweight dogs are fed the same amount of food each day, but one group is given Brand A food, and the other group is given Brand B food.

- After a month on this study diet, the average weight change from the day they began the study is recorded for each group.

- The Brand A average weight change is compared to the Brand B average weight change.

QUESTION: Before enrolling dogs in this study, what are some questions you may want to ask the owners about their pets pertaining to characteristics or lifestyles that might influence how their dogs’ weights change over the month?

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3. When you write a comment, you must sign it with your first name and last initial.

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Media Diet

Some people think that we are “overloaded” with media. Below is an article that compares our media exposure to a diet. But, instead of talking about calories, carbs, and fat, it talks about news, movies, and video games. Read the article below, and then post a comment. What do you agree with and why? What do you disagree with? Is there anything in this article that connects to your everyday life? Your response should be at least 3 sentences. Hopefully, it will be more.

Remember to sign your comment with your first name and last initial.

It’s easy enough to imagine how the principles of good nutrition could inform a media diet — principles like moderation, balance, and variety. We could also use as a starting point those questions that we already ask about food: while you’re worrying how many chips it takes to expand your waistline, why not wonder how many ads it takes to lower your attention span? Are sitcom’s “empty calories” to be avoided? Can you get everything you need from one news source? Is the BBC the media equivalent of spinach, and Fox News a mass media McDonald’s for your eyes?

Of course you can also treat your media diet like more of a cleanse — a detox regime for your mental environment. Think of it as an investigation. We hear so many suggestions, for example, that media images of beauty feed insecurity and self-hate, that a media diet laced with violence can contribute to aggression, desensitization, and anxiety. So try ditching action movies and Grand Theft Auto for a few months, just to see what happens. It could do nothing. Or maybe the war in Iraq will gain a new, peculiar gravity for you.

Ultimately any media diet would have to be based, again, on a mix of good science and personal experience. Unlike with food, however, our media diet would be tainted from the outset by the considerable flow of media we have no choice but to consume. The point, then, like in any good diet, is not extremism. Rather, the idea is to pick up a good habit or two. You’ll develop a more astute, nuanced and personal understanding of the profound effect media has on your mind. And the real payoff: feeling a little more in control, a little clearer, a little saner, and even a little bit more secure.