Key Differences in Media and Academia - Book Report/Review Example

Science Research Articles in Media and Academia: Key Differences Introduction: Science has an uncanny tendency to camouflage itself in news articlesand present key facts discovered in its chapters from time to time. A student of nature science finds more such examples since, nature is the basis of many innovations being achieved in the society today. At the core of all research work undertaken by students of nature science lays the ability to distinguish between media and scholarly articles. As is well known, scholarly articles are written by experts in a certain subject and meant to be read by experts (UBC). Media news or popular articles on science, on the contrary, cater to a wider audience which is looking for more generalization and is created by a journalist or reporter who has conducted fair amount of research to understand the concepts that the article is all about and get readers the latest information. The major similarity between the two sources of scientific information is at the level of development of the article itself. There is research undertaken in each case., although the major difference lies at the fact that in case of scholarly articles, the amount of research undertaken and used in mammoth, while in case of popular or media articles, the amount of research referred to or undertaken is limited. For the purpose of comparisons I have selected two articles, one from a scholarly journal, Journal of Vision and another form a media source, Science Daily. Summary Kim et. al. (2013) in their journal article have experimented whether the suppressive effects in binocular color vision as revealed by cross-orientation masking (XOM) originates from monocular or interocular site. For the experiment, the authors have measured contrast detection thresholds first in absence of a mask and then in presence of an overlaid vertical mask. It was concluded that XOM that originates from monocular site is of greater strength. The article released by John Hopkins University in Science Daily is based on the results derived from an experiment conducted on mice. The experiment was previously published in a scholarly journal, Neuron. A major discovery was made which is a type of photoreceptor is in human retina that helps to distinguish between black and white. Previously it was believed that rods and cones are the only photoreceptors in the retina for detecting different colors. A third type of photoreceptor ipRGC was discovered a decade back but this current research has concluded that this has even more diversity than previously known. Structure This journal article has different sections like introduction which provides some background information of the topic, methods section which describes the apparatus used and procedure of the experiment that has been conducted, result section which gives details of the findings of the experiment. Finally, there is the discussion section where all the findings are discussed in details to arrive at a conclusion. In the final section, the authors have written about the limitations of their conclusion. In the media article, the first part provides the significance of an experiment conducted by several scientists, the results of which have been previously published in the journal Neuron by same scientists. The Science Daily article has also quoted one of the scientists who expressed his excitement over the recent findings. In the second part of this article, background of the experiment has been mentioned like how photoreceptor ipRGC was discovered earlier but its level of diversity has been established in the current experiment. The next part of the article briefly describes the process of the experiment conducted. The article has ended with a quote from another scientist of the team about the need of future experiments. Readership and language difference Scholarly journal articles are principally targeted for students and scholars of science. This scholarly article is therefore not any exception considering this is based on a scientific experiment and will be helpful for those students and scholars who are doing research on human color vision. Since this article serves advanced readers in the field of the topic, therefore the language used is full of concept related jargon and advanced vocabulary. Scientific names and terminologies are used to serve the purpose of explaining the findings of the experiment more explicitly for the advanced readers. Since this media article is meant to provide information to the general readers, therefore the language is much simpler and devoid of any scientific terminologies. The language is jargon free so that readers with little knowledge of science can understand the significance of the experiment. Bibliographies and Citations The third most important contrast between scholarly articles and their popular counterparts is the presence of citation. This journal article too has a list of references as sources of the subject matter of the experience. The sources are mainly previously published articles in other journals based on experiments and results in the same field. Appropriate citations are made within the body of the article to prove to the reader that the research work has been based on highly commendable sources of work undertaken in the same field. This aspect of adding reality and ingenuity to the article through mention of scholarly articles is mostly missing from media articles. This media article only refers to the journal article whose experiment has been reviewed in the article. The journal article has been referred mainly by means of quotes from the scientists who have conducted the experiments. Nature of research The journal article under discussion here is based on experimental lab work conducted by scientists who are also the writers of this article. All the logical conclusions of this experiment have been published by the scientists. This is one major contrast between scholarly and journal articles. This journal is more authentic than the media article since it is based on results derived from experiments made by the writers themselves. The results of this experiment are unique since such results were not announced in any previous scholarly articles. The writers have written about their own views and comments regarding the results of the experiment. The journal article has used graphs, figures and tables to explain the results of the experiment On the other hand, the Science Daily article is based on an an external experiment conducted by the authors of the scholarly article that this popular article has referred to. This article has merely reviewed the facts and findings of the experiment. This magazine article has just given a written description of an experiment and has not provided any tables, graphs or statistics. Conclusions of the articles The conclusion section of the journal article has given a summary of the findings of the experiment, along with the limitations the authors have faced. The magazine article has been concluded by a quote made by one of the scientists who conducted the experiment regarding the significance of the experiment, and what should be the focus of future experiments. Criticism The authors of the journal article have focused only on the experiment they have conducted, its results and conclusions. They have not criticized any other experiments. The magazine article has talked about an experiment conducted by researchers on mice which was previously published in Neuron magazine. This article has also not criticized the concerned experiment nor has it provided any alternate viewpoints. There is also no mention of any limitations of the experiment that the article has referred to. Titles The titles of both the articles appropriately reflect the contents of the respective articles. Since the articles have the same theme which is “human color vision”, both the titles include the word “vision”. My insights By studying both the articles I have learnt how scientific research is done and reported, and how media covers such research. In academic journals, the scientists who conduct experiments themselves publish articles. Therefore, the articles contain details of the background of the research, along with detailed procedure and findings. Also, the authors provide their perspectives about the experiment they have conducted along with limitation, if any, that they have faced. They also mention the necessary future experiments to find further results that they have not been able to get from their experiment for various reasons. The popular media, on the other hand, base their articles on the findings of external researchers, i.e. previously published research experiments and results in scholarly journals. The authors of popular media are journalists employed by the newspapers or magazines. Popular media reviews and/or provides alternative conclusions regarding the findings and discussions by the scientists who have already published their work in scholarly journals. Conclusion: There are significant contrasts between the science in popular and media articles and the reports shared in academic articles. Understanding each of them is important to allow students of nature science to make out one from the other. Often, students tend to fall for trade articles which rely on scientific news and innovations to deliver important trade related news. These articles can also be distinguished by keeping in mind and using the above mentioned parameters. Media Article Research article Title of Article New neural pathway found in eyes that aids in vision Cross-orientation masking in human color vision: Application of a two-stage model to assess dichoptic and monocular sources of suppression Source of Article Science Daily Journal of Vision, Vol.13, No.6 Date of publication May 21, 2014 June 15, 2013 Was the research done by the author of the article? No Yes Where are the authors from (if information is available)? Give the name and location of their place of work Released by Johns Hopkins Univ. Canada References Kim, Y.J., Gheiratmand, M. & Mullen, K.T. (2013). Cross-orientation masking in human color vision: Application of a two-stage model to assess dichoptic and monocular sources of suppression. Journal of Vision, 13(6), 1-14 New neural pathway found in eyes that aids in vision, (May 21, 2014) Science Daily, retrieved on 13th June, 2014 from: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/05/140521162707.htm Read More