bio statistics research, statistics homework help

Where ever you are, you will no
doubt come across a phrase like this, “Scientists have found a link between A
and B.”Whether this is on a morning
talk show, such as, Good Morning, America.Or perhaps on your Facebook wall posted by a friend.Brought up in a conversation at work.Essentially this phrase is everywhere.

Many call this the Information Age,
but it could also be looked upon as the Misinformation Age.Since anyone can get online from just about
anywhere and post something like seen above, it can be difficult to know what
to believe.If I can get one thing
through to you, my student this semester, it would be an appreciation for the
scientific process and how to properly navigate the boundless amount of
information out there today.

You are working towards becoming a
medical professional, and whatever title you end up holding, you will play a
vital role in disseminating information and educating the public.With this in mind you are tasked with an assignment
to teach you how to take a sensationalized claim about science presented in
popular media, and you will dissect it and evaluate its merits, so that you can
properly educate you patients and fellow citizens as any good public servant
and community leader should.

We will begin this assignment by
watching a segment from Last Week Tonight, hosted by John Oliver on HBO.It aired on 5/8/16, and discusses the
interplay between science and popular media.How many times what gets reported isn’t actually what is stated by the
study itself, due to the relatively dry nature of scientific reporting and the
desire for media outlets to grab your attention with a flashy headline and
amazing claim.Or how in the competitive
field of research, scientists will feel pressured to find anything new that is
“statistically significant,” a term we will define in detail this
semester.Even if no practical
significance is present.

What you will be doing is
dissecting the claims you find in the popular media.Ideally I want it to be something that you
actually encountered in your everyday life.Meaning it was in an article you read, or a post that was shared to you,
or on a TV show you watched.You will
note the claims in the media in detail, then find the actual study and read
through it.You are to compare what is
actually claimed in the study to what is presented to the public in the
media.You will also be analyzing the
mechanics of the study to determine how reliable its claims are.

More specifically here is what you will do:

1.You will analyze two studies, at least one that
turns out to be well reported and one that is poorly reported.

2.For each study you will

a.Accurately and briefly summarize the claims of
the media report and the study.

b.Compare and Contrast the claims of the study to
the claims of the media report of the study

i.How were the results portrayed by the media?

1.Were they sensationalized?

2.Did it accurately reflect the conclusions of the
scientists?

3.Was any misleading language or a misleading
headline used?

ii.How were the conclusions written in the study?

1.Were they appropriately narrowed to their
research topic or overgeneralized

2.Did the researchers engage in any
sensationalism?

c.Analyze the mechanics of the study

i.The type of study or experiment

ii.Were proper sampling techniques used

iii.Any Lurking variables or uncontrolled variables?

iv.What statistical test performed, what was the
significance level?Were these
appropriate for this kind of study?

v.And any concerns you have about the study?Anything not controlled for, data points
ignored by researchers, small sampling sizes, etc.

d.Each study should get about 3 pages worth of
cover, (standard sized font 1 ½ spaced)

e.Cite all sources, I need to be able to see the
original media report, and the study the report cites

Grading Criteria are as follows.Each Study will be worth 10 points.Please follow APA formats for citations.

1.)Does the study have the appropriate length write
up?(3 pages each)

2.)Did your write up follow the guidelines for
content above?

3.)Did you include working links/citations to both
the media coverage of the study and the official study itself?

4.)Did you properly use quotations and citations
each time you referenced material from a source?

5.)Did you accurately summarize the studies and
their findings?Did you accurately
summarize the media reports about the findings?

You will start with a score of 10 points for each
study.Should any of the categories
above be incomplete or missing all together, I will remove anywhere from 0-3
points rounded to the nearest tenth, for each categorical infraction depending
on the severity of the mistake or omission.Assuming a good faith attempt without plagiarism, no score on any single
study will drop below 3 points.Plagiarism
at any point or copying another students’ study will result in a zero for the
assignment.Each student is expected to
work on their own set of 2 studies.