Science in the media Scientific information is presented in the media every day, from beauty and health products to stories about scientific phenomena such as global warming. Readers must be careful because scientific information in the media may lack detail, be misinterpreted or show bias. Sometimes people who report scientific information in the media misinterpret the findings
of scientific research. Sometimes people who carry out or interpret research findings may be biased. If an article is biased it will favour one side of an issue or argument over another. For example, manufacturers of chocolate will often use scientific research to support the idea that chocolate is good for you. If they are biased they may ignore findings which suggest that too much chocolate is bad for you.
Case Study Misinterpreting information A news magazine published the following article: ‘Is there any kind of safe energy?’
For producing clean, renewable energy, wind farming has many supporters. Animals probably aren’t among them. A new study suggests that whales – the
size of a rhino and the weight of a bus – are confused by the presence of wind farms at sea, leading them to beach. Newsweek (adapted)
Fig. 5 A beached whale.
Fig. 6 A wind farm at sea.
Analysing the report This report lacked detail because it did not explain how the whales might be affected by the wind farms. When this research was looked at more closely it became clear that the research the article was referring to did not actually mention wind farms. The research had been misinterpreted. When reading reports about scientific research it is important to think about how detailed it is and if it may have been misinterpreted.
