Finding the source
If you want to find out about the credibility of a news article, we’ll provide a much more detailed assessment tool in the next Step but let’s first start with …
Course: Food and Nutrition: The Truth Behind Food Headlines
Nutrition and health claims
We’ve looked at how to find reliable sources of information about food and nutrition in the media, but there’s another form of communication that has a strong influence on buying …
Who should you trust?
If you were unsure about which sources you trust in the previous Step, watch this video for our top tips on how to find reliable food and nutrition information. To …
Educator response: behind the headline
Welcome to Week 3 when you’ll be reflecting on where we get our information from, who we trust and how to identify reliable information. We’ll introduce you to a tool …
Discussions and references
Discussion The discussion section gives the reader some insight into the subject area of the study and can shed new light on the results and their meaning. Alternative explanations for …
Methodology and results
Methodology The key question the methodology addresses is ‘How?’ This section should enable critical readers to determine whether the research is valid: was the study adequately designed to achieve its …
Summary of the week
This week you’ve discussed how different forms of biases and heuristics influence how we read and interpret news articles. Remember that a bias is a consistent error and a heuristic …
How to interpret correlations and population samples
Watch this video to find out why the statistical language scientists use to share their research findings and recommendations can be confusing for journalists to understand, interpret and accurately report.
Abstract and introduction
To enhance communication among scientists and to make the replication of a study easier, published research generally follows an established format: abstract, introduction, methodology, results, discussion and references (although exactly …
The science behind the conflicting headlines
In Step 2.4 you looked at two conflicting headlines about the effects of red and processed meat on our health. We then reflected on the way our own biases as …
How the media influences us
In the previous Step you looked at two contradictory headlines reporting on the risk of eating red and processed meat on health, and reflected on how our biases might influence …
What’s next?
Traditional media is still the main source for food-related news for many yet it can be confusing when we read attention-grabbing headlines, conflicting advice or seemingly broad generalisations. This week, …
The science behind Headline A
Now that we’ve looked at the ways study design affects how to interpret results and considered some examples of cases where results have been inaccurately reported by the media, let’s …
These articles are from the online course:
Food and Nutrition: The Truth Behind Food Headlines