This Is A Joke, Right?
3 min read
In yet another example that all of us need lessons in information literacy, I came across this post today:
I'm not going to link to the post because it looks more like a version of a prank designed to feed at the trough of Google Adwords than what it claims to be: a study detailing the myriad flaws of the public education system. Either that, or the post is part of a study on information literacy, and they are looking to cull some wisdom analyzing the relative lack of critical thinking in the comments.
The post supposedly originates from a researcher at the Project Analysis think tank. Want to learn more about Project Analysis? Try their web site. Oh, that's right, you can't. As of this writing, the site is down, and, according to the author of the post, "Project Analysis' online division is still in beta..."
The article itself contains some of the usual suspects -- for example, a "summery" in place of a "summary" (although with spring in the air, I'm in rather a summery mood myself). While these types of mistakes aren't completely out of place in the blogosphere, they certainly diminish the credibility of an academic researcher.
But both the site and the article contain some other gems. The description of the blog, for example, draws the credibility of this "researcher" into question.
Other paragraphs deliver on the implied promise of the "About" block pictured above. In a quote from the post:
The food provided by the majority of school cafeterias was found to be highly carcinogenic and to provide very little, if any, nutritional value. A minimum of five vending machines were found in almost every school, containing a multitudes assortment of sugary and artificial snacks and sodas'€â€bottled water only being available in about two thirds of the tested schools.
I don't know what I enjoy more, the claim of "carcinogenic" food or the complete lack of any evidence (study data? testing methodology? a quantification of "highly carcinogenic"? number of schools in the survey? a source?) to support it. I also like the "multitudes assortment" but hey, that's how I roll. After a couple drinks this might start to sound good.
For those of you who think I'm being excessively harsh, there are people who seem to be taking this seriously. I'm not going to link to the posts of bloggers who have cited this "study" as a resource, but really, I am tempted.
