Disclaimer
The opinions expressed herein are my own personal opinions and do not represent anyone else's view in any way, including those of my employer.
© Copyright 2007
The opinions expressed herein are my own personal opinions and do not represent anyone else's view in any way, including those of my employer.
© Copyright 2007
Over and over I have the “Wikipedia encourages careful source evaluation” argument with educators and administrators. Over and over I tell them that we need to teach students that no source is without bias and that all sources (even the holy Britanica) need to be evaluated. But a recent spew of supposed “research” announcements in business has me thinking that it’s not students we need to worry about but journalists and business publishers.
Take this story for example. Apparently using Facebook at work causes companies BILLIONS! And who did this research? A company that sells filtering software. That’s right. A company whose software is made to help companies block undesirable sites. Is this research or advertising? And why can’t Reuters tell the difference?
Why aren’t companies held to the same high standards as academia. If I were to release the results of a study I would have to mention who my subjects were, how data was gathered and what my personal biases might be related to who funded the study, where the study was conducted etc. Apparently big business is not subject to such rules or expectations. I say we all start peppering the media with insane “research studies.”
Midwestern Researcher Finds ‘Most’ People stop at red lights: Could cost insurance companies millions$
Indiana resident Sarah Robbins lives at a busy intersection. Over time she noticed accidents in front of her house and began to get curious about their cause. After a few hours of extensive research (read: watching traffic while drinking coffee), Robbins discovered that some cars do not stop when the light turns red. Apparently, says Robbins, some drivers think that yellow means speed up. This results in many cars being in the intersection when the light turns red thus, causing accidents. Robbins estimates that most car accidents result in claims of at least $500 to auto insurance companies (based on a friend of a friend who was in an accident last month). Says Robbins “If this many people cause this many accidents at every stop light in the US, it could cost the auto insurance companies millions!.”
Your turn! What “Oh so obvious” research could you publish?
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CHILDBIRTH FATAL TO WOMEN!
Recent studies indicate that 100% of women who have experienced childbirth go on to die…some as long as 80 years later!
How’s this one? Found an article on Slashdot about email taking over the use of phones in the common workplace.
http://it.slashdot.org/it/07/08/21/0030218.shtml
(original article: http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/18555)
What’s funny, is the first comment on Slashdot’s post asking if the survey was done via email.
At least with this example, they seem to have gotten a fairly decent sample, but it’s kinda obvious, no?
Not original to me, of course, but the dihydrogen monoxide one is still an all-time favorite.
Some known perils of dihydrogen monoxide (quoted from the site linked above):
# Death due to accidental inhalation of DHMO, even in small quantities.
# Prolonged exposure to solid DHMO causes severe tissue damage.
# Excessive ingestion produces a number of unpleasant though not typically life-threatening side-effects.
# DHMO is a major component of acid rain.
# Gaseous DHMO can cause severe burns.
# Contributes to soil erosion.
# Leads to corrosion and oxidation of many metals.
(And if you haven’t gotten the joke yet, write out the chemical formula: 2 Hydrogens, 1 Oxygen…)