Discordance in causal terminology between scientific papers and subsequent press releases: chronic traumatic encephalopathy in the “age of spin” - Summary - MDSpire
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Discordance in causal terminology between scientific papers and subsequent press releases: chronic traumatic encephalopathy in the “age of spin”
To quantify the amount of spin between scientific publications on chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) and their associated press releases.
Approach:
Study Design: A search for CTE-related press releases was conducted on EurekAlert!, resulting in 61 usable press releases. A causal intensity score was calculated for each scientific abstract and its corresponding press release.
Spin Measurement: Spin was quantified as the difference between the causal intensity scores of the press release and the abstract, termed the 'discordance gap'.
Key Findings:
Thirty-nine of the 61 (63.9%) press releases were more deterministic than the corresponding abstracts.
Five press releases were categorized as 'severe spin', with z-scores ≥1.5 standard deviations above the mean.
Interpretation:
Press releases on CTE research studies were found to be more deterministic on average than the studies themselves.
Limitations:
The study only included press releases from academic institutions about peer-reviewed publications.
The analysis was limited to a specific database (EurekAlert!) and may not represent all CTE press releases.
Conclusion:
The findings indicate a discrepancy between the determinism of press releases and the corresponding scientific studies.
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