From the Laboratory to the Headlines: Teaching Critical Evaluation of Press Reports of Research

Abstract

This article describes a classroom exercise and an individual assignment designed to teach critical evaluation of research reports in the popular press. The classroom exercise uses active and collaborative learning to apply the principles of scientific investigation, particularly the distinction between correlation and causation, in analyzing the limitations of a newspaper account of a research study. The individual assignment requires students to locate and critique a newspaper or magazine summary of research. The goal of these two exercises is to engage students in active learning about research methods and help them to become critical consumers of media accounts of research findings.