I want a glass of milk, but do I want it 1/2 full or 1/2 empty? Ch. 5&6 EL 227
"It's not that two bits of data can contradict one another; it's that the same bit of data can be read in (at least) two different ways." pg. 86 This sentence definately got the author's point across and gave me a clear impression of what they were trying to say. It's kinda like the tomato thing again; I may see a big tomato, but someone who grows radioactive tomatos in a lab might say my tomato's small!
Different people can look at the exact same data and eventually come away with completely different views on the same subject. Just like the old saying where you either look at the world with a 'glass half full' attitude or its really 'half empty.' For example, the raw numbers pertaining to women infected with AIDS fell, but this resulted in a slight rise in the percentage. Some newspapers then could choose to run with a positive news angle or a negative angle. However, we all know that negative news often gets the most press.
John Maynard Keynes' observationfit really well into Ch. 6: "in the long run, we are all dead." pg. 91 It's just like when you say that 9 out of 10 smokers will die...well, the 10th does too. The data that says this though doesn't specify that all 9 will die from the effects of smoking. This also ties in to leading pollers with questions that are geared toward a certain goal. If you word someting eloquently enough, you'll expertly be able to bury the bull crap within pretty little tresses. Add this to the fact that newspapers and the media often only want to give their reader's the answer (or any answer), and you truly have to put some thought into what it is that you're reading.
I really like Gertrude Stein's response when asked, "Gertrude, Gertrude, what is the answer?" and she replied, "Alice, Alice, what is the question?" pg. 98 This clearly emphasizes how newspapers look at polls and statistics. After reading these chapters, I don't think that I'll ever look at a poll quite the same way. I've learned my lesson: I shall not trust a poll unless I can seeth the said poll's questions!
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There are two sides to every story. I think that the media and other sources of information such as polls, tend to lead us astray, you're correct 1 out of every 5 people will get divorced, well the 5th one does also. We never recieve accurate information, just misleading. Read the fine print before involving yourself into something.
There are two sides to every story, right? It seems that in the world of science reporting, however, one side always tells a more accurate story than the other. Case in point, your examples from the text. It just underscores the idea that as journalists we must read polls with a wary eye and as readers of journalism, we must approach the articles' use of polls with an equally wary eye.
Again, this fits into an idea I brought up on my blog about how polls are not always to be trusted, just because the reader usually doesn't know the exact circumstances in which it was taken. No reporter, before giving the results of a poll or survey in an article, is first going to tell you exactly the type of people surveyed, with what type of questions, and how. The reader just wants to know the facts- skewed or not.
"Gertrude, Gertrude, what is the answer?" and she replied, "Alice, Alice, what is the question?"
This was my favorite part of the reading I thought that I could relate to Alice's character here because I'm always thinking of what the answers to my interview questions will be before I give the person I'm interviewing a chance to responed. Pretty much I try to make my articles without the quotes and hope that the people I interview follow my lead. When I now realize that I need to let the interviews take their course, basically I need to start being Gertrude.
"It's kinda like the tomato thing again; I may see a big tomato, but someone who grows radioactive tomatos in a lab might say my tomato's small!"
Yes, my tomatoes are grown in the jack and the beanstock story where the giant lives, so mines bigger thab those dinky radioactive ones! :)
"It's kinda like the tomato thing again; I may see a big tomato, but someone who grows radioactive tomatos in a lab might say my tomato's small!"
Yes, my tomatoes are grown in the jack and the beanstock story where the giant lives, so mines bigger than those dinky radioactive ones! :)