Media Translation of Evidence Based Research: Vitamin D Portrayal in Print Media
Date
2015-09
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Abstract
The goal of this capstone research paper is to explore how the media translates evidencebased
research into recommendations for the public through an examination of how
newspapers reported on scientific studies of the health benefits of vitamin D. Vitamin D
is controversial because the medical community is still at odds on the proper dosage for
preventing health care various conditions. That becomes a matter of public policy
because vitamin D is sold without a prescription and is not otherwise controlled for
consumer purchase and is taken at the public’s discretion. Therefore, when news media
translates research-based evidence on dosage (as well as other information), that
translation directly influences the public’s choices for how much vitamin D to take.
When the media misses details or miscommunicates scientific evidence and conclusions,
the public does not have the information required to make a fully informed health
decision.
This paper explores six research reviews and corresponding media treatment of those
reviews. Additionally, the paper includes discussion of several Cochrane Reviews on
controlled clinical trials of vitamin D. Next , I conduct a news content analysis to
compare the media’s translation of the information from the scientific evidence. Finally,
the capstone paper includes several public policy recommendations to encourage more
accurate reporting of scientific evidence, in this area and others. The main findings of this paper are that most news outlets fail to accurately portray a
comprehensive overview of the scientific research. There were common issues, with news articles missing scientific details, staying too close to their primary sources, and
overemphasizing the conclusions they wished to forward while ignoring contrary
information. Aside from the news articles, the scientific evidence indicates that very few
conclusions can be drawn at present due to a lack of research. Most news articles did not
note this important detail.
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Citation
Haddadin, Yara. (2015). Media Translation of Evidence Based Research: Vitamin D Portrayal in Print Media ( Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.