Writing Homework Help

Project:  This is a project paper that will involve reviewing the research methods of a study found in popular media.

Step 1:Go out and find a piece of news written about research that you think fails to deal with causality correctly.

Source suggestions (not limitations): NPR’s syndicated programs (RadioLab, TED Talks, Marketplace (especially the “Science”

Desk), Blog-post style news (Huffington Post, Drudge Report, BuzzFeed,  CNN Health or Science,Pretty much anything in Epidemiology (nutrition and physiology are similar), Newspaper sections on “Lifestyle”

Step 2 – Write About the Article (in 2 parts)

1. Explain the article and its causal claim

2. Explain your critique of that claim, in terms of what we’ve talked about (reverse causality, selection, omitted variable bias)

Give some specific examples (stories) detailing the process by which causality could fail (recall the Facebook example)

Step 3– Propose a Better Study (in 2 parts)

1. First: the ideal experiment you would run if you could control everything and didn’t have to worry about morality

2. Next: a feasible approximation of the ideal study