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Science Communication
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Method Matters

The Influence of Methodology on Journalists’ Assessments of Social Science Research

Mike Schmierbach

College of Charleston, schmierbachm{at}cofc.edu

Journalistsmake frequentuse of social science research in news stories, andthis informationcan help shape public opinion and policy. Despite this, few scholars have examined how this coverage is assembled. In particular, researchers have rarely considered how the methodology of social science influences journalists’ judgments. This article uses an experimental design embedded within an e-mail survey of working journalists to compare judgments of a qualitative and quantitative study. Results show journalists consider the quantitative study more accurate and newsworthy. The article considers how focusing on N and other basic aspects of methodology might influence coverage patterns and distort representations of social science research.

Key Words: news judgments • methodology • social science • journalism

Science Communication, Vol. 26, No. 3, 269-287 (2005)
DOI: 10.1177/1075547004273025
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