Study
Scientific currency that has been ascribed social merit.
Increasingly popular as a tool used by governments to exercise authority over others.
Numerous aspects of studies are ignored when they are invoked to argue a particular position. These include who performed the study, who funded it, the methodologies used, the sample size, the recognized bias and limitations, the protocols, the implications, the risk inferences, if it was voluntary, if it was self-report, and how the study was structured. Essentially, everything important to consider when assessing the validity or quality of its findings.
Instead, the data produced by the study is packaged by stakeholders in a manner that is consistent with their priorities. Sound bites and headlines are then constructed and propped up across every form of media in order to generate consistency or controversy, whichever is being sought at the time. Sources are frequently omitted in said reporting, and when they are present, they often have broken links or they are secreted behind a paywall.
We consume these stories, decide if the result in consistent with our preconceptions about the world or a particular issue, and then regurgitate the major talking points as though we performed the study ourselves.
We hope that this will make us look intelligent and knowledgeable to others.
See: SCIENCE, STATISTICS
Posted: 13 Feb 2023
