Lesson 2 : Science and the Media 3rd year (LMD)

Science is defined as the systematic enterprise of gathering knowledge about the world and organizing
it into testable laws and theories. Media is a means by which journalists gather knowledge about the world
and access it to people. Science and media have long contributed in the development of societies as they keep
people enlightened. There is a good relationship between journalists who report science and scientists who do
science. This means that the best reporters have learned a lot of science, and the best scientists have made
productive relationships with journalists. Nevertheless, there is disagreement between these sides; for
example, a scientist may criticize a journalist who has written an article about global warming, claiming that
s/he has no background knowledge which will take a very long time to be studied by a scientist.

An important aspect of science is objectivity. Science is an objective enterprise par excellence.

Objectivity means a total absence of the scientist (feelings or viewpoints) when explaining a scientific
phenomenon. The difference between objectivity and subjectivity in science or in media is in the way in
which arguments are presented. Subjective information is generally considered to be a single person’s
opinion. It has a viewpoint, or possibly a bias, regardless of the information it provides. Objective
information, on the other hand, is meant to be completely unbiased. The difference between objective and
subjective information is the difference between a fact and an opinion. Objective information has the ability
to be counted or described. Subjective information can consist of statements of judgment, assumption, belief,
suspicion, or rumour. Objective information does not vary, whereas subjective information can vary greatly
from person to person or day to day. Subjectivity can actually be wrong, or far from the truth, whereas
objectivity means being as close to the truth as possible. Often objectivity is used in a decision making
process, whereas subjectivity should be considered, but less strongly so. A good example of where to find
subjective and objective styles right next to each other is in the media. For example, newspaper reporters
most generally hold themselves and their writing to a high level of objectivity. They present the facts and do
not offer their own opinions when it comes to their presentation. However, the editorial section of newspaper
is where one can find subjectivity. Newspaper articles can present facts, in some cases the same as the
objective ones, but will also include the writer’s viewpoint and opinion. When encountering with a piece of
writing, there are some clues which help the reader decide whether it is objective or subjective. In articles,
writers ought to write objectively by adopting the passive to focus on actions. In subjective writing, on the
other hand, the pronoun “I” or “we” with giving value judgements e.g. “this is very important to consider”.

Another important feature of scientific communication is argumentation and reasoning.

Argumentation is the language of science; it is a means of thinking used for persuasion. Reasoning is used for
making an argument. The strength of an argument depends on the quality of reasoning. Scientists use
argumentation to persuade researchers of the validity of their claims.

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Lesson 2 : Science and the Media 3rd year (LMD)
Another aspect of science and scientific writing is reliability. A reliable paper in science is considered
a powerful one; however, accepting blindly information or using unreliable sources will affect its power. It is
important for a researcher to be able to identify which sources are credible. When searching for information,
one eventually faces the challenge of evaluating the resources and should select the most appropriate ones for
his/her needs. The following criteria aid researchers in the assessment of sources: Timeliness,
resources need to be recent enough for the topic investigated. If a paper is on a topic like cancer research, one
should look for the most recent information, but a topic such as World War II could use information written
in a broader time range; Authority, does the information come from an author or organization that has
authority to speak on the topic? Has the information been peer-reviewed? Does the author cite his
credentials? Researchers need to make sure that there is sufficient documentation to help them determine
whether the publication is reliable including footnotes, bibliographies, credits, or quotations; Audience
who are the intended readers, and what is the publication's purpose? There is a difference between a
magazine written for the general public and a journal written for professors and experts in the field;
Relevance, does this article relate to the topic? What connection can be made between the information that is
presented and the thesis? An easy way to check for relevance is by reviewing the Abstract or Summary of the
article before downloading the entire article; Perspective, biased sources can be helpful in creating and
developing an argument, but researchers should be sure to find sources that help them understand the other
side as well.

In addition to evaluating sources, a researcher should also evaluate websites. Websites create an
interesting challenge in evaluating credibility and usefulness because no two websites are created the same
way. A number of steps are followed for the evaluation of websites: The look of the website, reliable
websites usually have a more professional look than personal websites; The URL, URLs like “.com”, “.edu”,
“.gov”, “.net”, and “.org” can help researchers in their research. There are different types of resources used in
the web: informational resources are those which present factual information. These are usually sponsored
by educational institutions or governmental agencies. These resources often include ‘.edu’ or ‘.gov.’ ;
Advocacy Resources are those sponsored by an organization that is trying to sell ideas or influence public
opinion. These resources may include ‘.org’ within the URL.; Business or Marketing Resources are those
sponsored by a commercial entity that is trying to sell products. These pages are often very biased, but can
provide useful information. Researchers will usually find .com within the URL of these resources. ; News
Resources are those which provide extremely current information on hot topics. Most of the time news
sources are not as credible as academic journals, and newspapers range in credibility from paper to paper.
The URL will usually include ‘.com.’ ; Personal Web Pages/Resources are sites such as social media sites:
blogs, Twitter pages, Facebook, etc. These sources can be helpful to determine what people are saying on a
topic and what discussions are taking place; however, they cannot be considered credible for making an

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Lesson 2 : Science and the Media 3rd year (LMD)
academic research paper. Other aspects that should be considered when evaluating web resources: Check
when the page was last updated - Dates when pages were last updated are valuable clues to its currency and
accuracy.

References

1. Kennedy, D. & Overholser, G. (2010). Science and the Media. Cambridge, American Academy of Arts
and Sciences
2. Klazema, A. (2014). Objective vs. Subjective Writing: Understanding the Difference.
<https://blog.udemy.com/objective-vs-subjective/>
3. Tippett, C. (2009). Argumentation: The Language of Science. Journal of Elementary Science Education,
Vol. 21, No. 1, pp. 17-25
4. Walton, D. (1990). What is Reasoning? What Is an Argument? The Journal of Philosophy. Vol. 87, N. 8,
pp. 399-419

Tasks
1. Select a topic related to food science: think of the possible subjective and objective viewpoints.
2. Summarise, in a table, the difference between objective and subjective information.
3. Give all language expressions of objectivity and subjectivity.
4. What are the most common differences between a scientific article and a newspaper article?
5. Imagine you as a specialist in the food industry. Think about the possible arguments you can use to
persuade people to consume a given product.
6. You are a researcher. You will make a research paper on the investigation of the effects of diet on
colon cancer. Try to identify the references you need to include for your paper. You should take into
consideration aspects of credibility.

3 Dr. ELMECHTA Lamia