@article{Torres_2017, place={Washington DC: American Sociological Association.}, title={Fake News or Genuine Article? Evaluating News Media Claims Using Bivariate Analyses in SPSS}, url={https://trails.asanet.org/article/view/fake-news-or-genuine-article-evaluating-news-media}, abstractNote={Although learning objectives for social statistics courses typically include informed consumption of everyday statistical claims, students are rarely provided explicit opportunities to practice this skill. This is unfortunate because the journalistic accounts to which students are regularly exposed through news or social media vary widely in their citation and evidence documentation practices. Even when author or commentator statements are readily verifiable using publicly available data, these accounts occasionally fail to provide or severely distort such evidence (Orcutt & Turner, 1993). This assignment allows students to identify and evaluate claims presented in online news media sources using articles and variables of their choosing. In doing so, students are required to weigh the quality of the evidence presented in their articles, carry out the statistical analyses appropriate for the levels of measurement of their variables, and consider how they would communicate the implications of their analyses to an audience with a journalism background. The assignment assumes student accessibility to SPSS statistical software and is envisioned as an in-class activity for students to complete in small groups, but could potentially serve as a homework or extra credit assignment for students to complete individually. Reference: Orcutt, James D. and J. Blake Turner. 1993. "Shocking Numbers and Graphic Accounts: Quantified Images of Drug Problems in the Print Media." Social Problems 40(2): 190-206. }, journal={TRAILS: Teaching Resources and Innovations Library for Sociology}, author={Torres, Samuel}, year={2017}, month={Dec.} }