Science in the Media

(Don’t believe everything you read – or see)

Modern technology has changed the way the world can be shown to us. That means we need to learn how to look at the world through modern technology. A television news personality once said that; "statistics can be tortured to confess to just about anything." In some sense this is true. But whether they confess or not, scientists use statistics to answer very narrow questions. Popular media does the torturing. The ability to recognize when the results of scientific research are being manipulated to present a biased viewpoint of the world is a critical skill in the Millennium of Technology.

This class will investigate the ways data are presented graphically and analyzed, and the ways in which research is cited, in current popular, trusted forms of media:

• Newspapers  - USA Today, Wall Street Journal
• Magazines - Time, Newsweek, Life
• Television - Discovery Channel and PBS
• Professional Internet media - a wide range 

We will seek the original sources to understand the real science behind some of the hot, headline topics of the day. Handouts and Internet resources will help us sort things out. Don’t be deceived!

4 sessions

1 hour per session

$500

Maximum 20 students