Facebook Study Demonstrates Relationship of Media and Research
I don’t normally stray too far from the focus of this blog, which is research and media commentary about educational video games. However, one study which has focused on Facebook received a lot of publicity lately, and The Wall Street Journal has a nice piece that touches on how the media can misconstrue research and findings. Facebook and other social sites have been compared to video games before, so this is at least partially on topic.
First, a researcher will not come out and say their findings proved anything. Perhaps that is the biggest disconnect between researchers and the press. Journalists often seem to present studies in such a way to suggest they are the final word on the matter, and this is simply almost never the case. On the other hand, researchers and their institutions do make use of press releases in efforts to gin up interest in their work. So, the relationship between media and the academy is definitely a two-way street.
Aryn Karpinski, a doc student over at Ohio State, and Adam Duberstein at Ohio Dominican presented a paper on a survey of 219 students to AERA last week. The survey found those students who spent more time on Facebook had lower GPAs. Carl Bialik at The Wall Street Journal notes what happened when word of their work got out:
The study triggered frightening headlines such as, “Study finds Facebook goofing hurts grades,” “Study says Facebook can impact studies” and “Research finds the website is damaging students’ academic performance.”
However, researchers … didn’t examine the influence of Facebook on grades. Facebook may be a symptom of a big procrastination habit, not a cause. Should Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg pull the plug, chronic users of his site may just procrastinate elsewhere.
Others in the press, as often happens, blamed the researchers without first reading the research:
Coverage that implicated Facebook for the lower grades sparked a backlash to the findings, particularly in the technology press, so much so that Ms. Karpinski was expecting “media with tomatoes” when she presented her study in San Diego. Instead, she met fellow researchers who told her that “this is an interesting topic and they need to research it more.”
Bialik notes that papers presented at conferences are accepted faster than peer-reviewed journals. He wonders if Karpinski regrets the media maelstrom over the study and quotes her as noting the study can’t be “taken back,” but more could have been done before its findings were released. Camille Rutherford over at Brock University in Canada notes the study was seized by the anti-technology crowd. She said, “This is very counterproductive when we should be looking for ways to capitalize on the power of social media to enhance teaching and learning.” Amen to that. I would also say, same for video games.
Earle Holland, assistant VP of research communications at Ohio State had the final quote, stating his expectations for journalists were to get their stories “70 percent accurate.”
It was a good read. You can find Bialik’s article here.
References:
Bialik, C. (2009, April 22). Facebook users — and research — need further study. The Wall Street Journal, A11.
April 22, 2009 7:12 am 
