Book Review - It Ain't Necessarily So

[Susan Gawarecki <loc@ICX.NET>]

As the ability and role of the media in reporting scientific information

has been a frequent topic on this list, I thought some of the members

might be interested in the following book, reviewed on Medscape.



--Susan Gawarecki



Book Review - It Ain't Necessarily So: How Media Make and Unmake the

Scientific Picture of Reality



By David Murray, Joel Schwartz, S. Robert Lichter

Rowman & Littlefield, 2001, 249 pages, ISBN: 0-7425-1095-6

$24.95 hardcover



Reviewed by: Cathy Tokarski

http://womenshealth.medscape.com/Medscape/GeneralMedicine/journal/2001/v03.n06/mgm1106.01.toka/mgm1106.01.toka-01.html





At a time when the nation is gripped by the fear of bioterrorism and

seeks

definitive answers from the federal government, a new book that examines

the media's less-than-rigorous reporting on scientific findings and its

influence on policy-making and public opinion is especially timely.



David Murray, director of the Statistical Assessment Service in

Washington, D.C., Joel Schwartz, senior adjunct fellow at the Hudson

Institute, an Indianapolis-based think tank, and S. Robert Lichter,

president of the Center for Media and Public Affairs in Washington,

D.C., draw a troubling picture of the gullibility of media coverage of

studies in the natural and social sciences. They look at the

agenda-driven mission of advocacy groups that sponsor these works, and

the dependence of politicians on research-supported "solutions," and

offer up a wealth of examples from print and television coverage to

illustrate this dilemma.



Their insights into the way scientific studies are formulated,

conducted, and reported by the press illustrate how biased or misleading

-- or even grossly inaccurate -- some news reports can be. Since

consumers of this information can be subject to unwitting manipulation,

the authors assert, they must become more skeptical about how to better

assess research findings, determine their value, and communicate that

knowledge.



Extensively referenced and well written, It Ain't Necessarily So is

divided into 3 sections. The first describes the media's troubling

tendency to ignore findings that suggest a positive trend, such as the

declining number of AIDS diagnoses in the mid-1990s, or to slant the

findings in a more negative, but attention-getting, manner. The authors

also skewer the media's tendency to elevate preliminary but compelling

research findings, such as a nonpeer-reviewed study on the effects of

day care on the mother-infant relationship.



The second section, examining the ambiguity of measuring scientific and

social phenomena, could serve as an introductory (though more

entertaining) course in statistics. Witty commentary, vivid examples,

and sharp insight make what could be a tedious exercise in dissecting

research methodology an entertaining and instructive guide. In 5

chapters, the authors examine the perils of "tomato statistics," or

cases where news reports draw attention to what appears to be a high

number of incidents such as date rape or domestic assault but in fact

are fueled by faulty research assumptions and definitions.



Readers also learn the vulnerabilities of research findings that rely on

proxy instead of direct measurement; the tendency of data to be used to

support only 1 conclusion, not several plausible conclusions; and the

tendency of the media to exaggerate health and environmental risks.

Examples used to illustrate this section, such as misleading statistics

about AIDS among women and a rise in mortality from infectious diseases,

may serve as a helpful model to the physician or healthcare professional

asked by patients to explain the significance of the latest health news

report.



While the book is replete with examples of incomplete reporting and

biased

research, the authors frequently point out the steps that readers can

take to become better consumers of scientific information. In some

cases, such as reporting on the incidence rates and risk of breast

cancer, reporting has grown more sophisticated, the authors state. A

widespread perception that 1 in 8 women will develop breast cancer has

been refined in recent years by the media to reflect the fact that

lifetime risk is not the same as the risk a woman faces at any one point

in her life. "Activist contentions have repeatedly been questioned, and

alternative interpretations of the statistics have been readily

offered," the

authors state. "In this notable instance, the print media have often

excelled at explaining the realities of risk" (123).



The ongoing debate over to what extent research is influenced by

industry

sponsorship will make the final section of particular interest to many

readers.



<snip>



In its concluding chapter, the authors acknowledge that their effort to

bring a more rigorous examination to the proliferation of scientific

studies by a harried press and results-driven advocacy organizations

"may seem like the labors of Sisyphus." That may be true, but the

information provided in It Ain't Necessary So gives readers the

necessary tools to begin an ascent.

-- 

.....................................................

Susan L. Gawarecki, Ph.D., Executive Director

Oak Ridge Reservation Local Oversight Committee

Please visit our Web site - http://www.local-oversight.org

.....................................................

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