Comparing Media and Scholarly Articles: An Analysis

Identifier Table

After reading both the media and the scholarly article, you will now compare them in your own written report. To be complete, your report must address all of the following questions. 1. Complete the following identifier table: Media Article Research Article Title of Article Source of Article (Publication Name) Date of Publication URL to the article Was the research done by the author of the article? Where are the Authors from (if information is available)? Give the name and location of their place of work. Note: the contents of this table do NOT count toward the final word count limit on your report. 2. Provide a précis (short summary) of each article in your own words. A good way to make sure you write the précis in your own words is to read the article a few times until you feel you understand its content as much as possible, and then put the article away and write the précis without looking at the article. Don’t forget to articulate the significance of this particular discovery/experiment/study to the broader field of science it is contributing to. Once you have written the précis, reread it and the article together to make sure you have not missed any important points. If your words seem much simpler than those of the article, so much the better! 3. Describe the structure or format of the article – how is the information presented to the reader? Is the article divided up into sections, and if so what are they? (This applies to both media and scholarly articles). 4. For the media article, how are the experimental results presented? (For example, is it just a general written description, are actual numbers reported, are there tables, graphs, statistics?) 5. Compare the general conclusions of the media article with the general conclusions of the research paper. Do they differ in any way, and if so, how? NATS 1870: Understanding Colour F-W 2020 Page 5 of 6 6. Does either of the articles criticize the data, criticize the conclusions, provide alternate hypotheses or conclusions to explain the data? If so provide details. 7. Does one article provide criticism or alternate viewpoints that the other article fails to mention? If so, what are they? (For example, do the authors of the research article mention limitations of their research and conclusions that are left out of the media article?) 8. Does the title of the media article accurately reflect the content of both the media article and the research article? If not, provide details. 9. Has this exercise given you any insights into how scientific research is done and reported, or into how the media covers such research? What do you think is the main advantage and disadvantage of new scientific research being presented in media and scholarly articles? (Discuss at least 1 advantage and 1 disadvantage for each media and scholarly article.)