Groan. Why the trumpets, why the tinsel?! When discussing and disseminating science news, shouldn't we aspire to be, you know, a little more scientific?
The following release of a science finding strikes me as akin to having a party to celebrate sobriety.
I bet the headline that appeared on my screen last December elicits at least a small groan from most of you:
The mall as a sanctuary: Study finds holiday shopping outlets aren't just shrines to spending
Oh holy kazoos -- is that for real? Alas, it wasn't a parody or a joke. It was "science." In this case, the strongest of the science part was some actual data collected. That said, get ready for another, minor groan:
The researchers conducted 41 in-depth, in-home interviews with Muslims, Jews and Christians in the United States, Israel and Tunisia to examine consumers' behavior when their given religion represents either a majority, minority or immigrant faith.
That 41 number is kinda small, especially considering the three countries of origin and the three religions involved. How could you come to any type of reasonable conclusion from that sample? Not to mention questions about how the subjects were . . . recruited?
Are you ready for some of the actual "finding"? Put down any sharp object you may be holding, because if you slap your forehead you don't want to hurt yourself.
In countries where a religious group was in the majority, the researchers found that the dominant religion experienced "consumption mass hysteria," which led to consequences of debt, drunkenness and overeating.
Wait. Was this study a joke? Have I been duped into attempting to take something seriously that isn't serious? Sadly, it wasn't a joke. But fortunately, I wasn't duped. Were others?
What we have in this study is another case of a little bit of (poor) data being amplified into a supposedly revelatory finding.
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