Sleep: the Silent Killer

Why do this problem?

This problem connects the technical side of doing statistics to the human side of communicating the results effectively.  A very important citizenship skill is the ability to critically question reports and articles.  In this problem, we take the research itself as solid (as the skills needed to evaluate that are far more technical in nature), but focus on whether the research itself is accurately represented or distorted.

Secondarily, this problem also develops literacy skills, by looking at both technical material (the research article) and non-technical material (the newspaper).  It could be interesting to work with colleagues from the English department to think about how this issue relates to persuasive writing.  For example, one might ask at what point persuasive writing crosses the line into dishonest writing.  Alternatively, how could this research be presented in an engaging and accurate way?

The particular article discussed here was chosen because it appeared at the time this problem was being written, but there is nothing unusual about it: articles like this one appear in the press and online on a regular basis.

Possible approach

Students will either need access to the internet to read the online newspaper article which can be found here, or they will need the article or the excerpts from the problem printed out.  A few quotes from the research article have been reproduced in the problem, but if students want to read them in context, they will again require access to it.

Students could be asked to look at the print headline and subheading and to write down what they think the key result of the study is.  They could then be shown the online version and asked whether they still think the key result is the same or whether their ideas have changed.  Then reading the rest of the article, this question can be posed a third time.  How were their ideas different on each occasion, and what has caused this?

After reflecting on this, students should then consider the study's conclusion and reflect on how it relates to the way the study's results have been communicated.

A further question which might be considered is why the newspaper editors might have made these decisions.

If time permits, students could go on to the "Clinical implications" section and consider the further questions there.

Key questions

• How do newspapers or other news sources misrepresent scientific research?
• How can we check whether we should act on or be concerned about a significant news report?

Possible extension

Students could be asked to look at a newspaper or news website for a few days to find an interesting-sounding scientific article.  Once they have found one, they should analyse it to find out how well the scientific research has been represented.  If they can find the original research paper that the article is based on, if there is one, they will also be able to compare the report to the newspaper article.

Possible support

To help them get started, students could be asked scaffolded questions to help them consider the headline and subheading in detail, for example:

• Without reading more of the article, what does the headline make you think?  How does it make you feel?
• What do you think the newspaper editor was trying to do by writing the headline like this?

Asking questions like these could help students to think more critically about the newspaper article.