[vslira]

People like to blame social media for this kind of bullshit, but social media is just the vector.

Just this week I read a "study" because someone claimed on social media that it was made by (Public, famous) Unis A, B and C and reported as an effect an increase in 30% of revenue for the companies that participated in the experiment.

The "study" was commissioned by an interest group (bad sign). It was conducted by people associated with said unis (I didn't check their credentials), and it did report in its headline the 30% revenue increase.

Said study was about an experiment that ran for a few months. Within these months, the revenue was flat (which could be considered good enough for the cause). The 30% was the revenue of this period against the same period the previous year. So somehow the experiment affected the companies retroactively! Not to mention that the researchers were able to find a group of companies that were, on average, growing 30% YoY. Surprising indeed.

So even if you check your sources, it may still be bullshit science or bullshit reporting from well-credentialed sources.

[dugidugout]

Why not link the study?

[irishcoffee]

Damned if you do, damned if you don't. Spreading fake news isn't great. People also want you to prove what you say is true.