Toronto CSC 438S – Provide the full bibliographic

Toronto CSC 438S – Provide the full bibliographic

Subject: General Questions    / General General Questions   
Question
ENV200H1S – Winter 2017
Tutorial #1 Worksheet – Science in the Media
Student Name:____________________________ Student Number:__________________
Tutorial Date & Time:_____________________ TA:______________________
Some insights into the quality of your article will be derived from answering the questions on
this worksheet. You may type or write in your answers. Remember you must submit a hard
copy of your article with this worksheet. (0.5 marks)

1. Provide the full bibliographic reference, e.g. author, date, title of article, name of
newspaper, URL (if appropriate), the last date on which you accessed the file, etc…
(0.5 marks)

2. Give a brief description of the article. What is your article about? e.g. is it trying to
sell something? Is it announcing a new “discovery”? (1 mark)

3. Who wrote the article? Can you identify their credentials and/or affiliation? Expect
to undertake some additional research to answer this. E.g. science journalists,
business reporters, freelance journalists, unknown…(0.5 marks) pg. 4

4. What is the phenomenon being reported on? Remember science can only deal with
things that can be tested by observation. What was observed? Are the observations
repeatable or anecdotal? (0.5 marks)

5. Have the ideas been formulated as hypotheses and tested? Identify the hypothesis
being tested. Were the tests controlled in an experimental setting or natural? (0.5
marks)

6. How definitive does the information seem to you? Were any uncertainties identified?
Identify these uncertainties. (0.5 marks)

7. What are the sources of the information reported in the article, since presumably the
journalist did not make this information up? Are they quotations from direct
observations or secondary reports of information already published elsewhere? Is
sufficient information provided so you could locate the information or the original
source if you wanted to, e.g. names, institutional affiliations or other locators? Does
the article identify who may be funding this research? If no to any of these answers,
were you able to easily find this information through a web search? List any of this
information below. (3 marks) pg. 5

8. What is your conclusion as to the credibility of the information in the article? Some
aspects of credibility that you may wish to consider: Is there any reason to expect bias
on the part of a source or the author, i.e. is a drug company paying for the research
that is being reported? Are any alternative explanations offered? Does the
reporter/author quote from more than one point of view? Can you tell whether the
individuals providing the information are recognized experts in the subject? Are the
claims supported by other members of the scientific community? Is there just one
dissenting voice that in perceived "fairness" is being given equal weight to the “other”
side? (3 marks) pg. 6