How to “Research the Headlines”

Over the last few months, many of our Research the Headlines contributors have produced some “top tips” to help you to “Research the Headlines”. We’ve compiled the full How to “Research the Headlines” series below, so please do continue to read, share and feedback.

At Research the Headlines, our aim is to examine “the way in which research is discussed and portrayed in the media”. So, whether you have some background in research or none at all, we hope the short tips are interesting, and that they might help you to get closer to the latest research reported in the media.

• Part 1: Don’t stop at the headline, by Alan Gow.
• Part 2: What did the researchers actually say?, by Alan Gow.
• Part 3: Are independent experts featured in the article?, by Sinead Rhodes.
• Part 4: Does the media article link to the where the work is published and the original research team?, by Ross Forgan.
• Part 5: Are associations/causal links handled correctly?, by Duncan Forgan.
• Part 6: How to assess the risk?, by Stewart Smith.
• Part 7: Is a news article biased? Is the entire news outlet biased? Why might they be biased and how can we tell?, by Subramanian Ramamoorthy.
• Part 8: No study stands alone – research findings must be put in the context of the wider body of research, by Sinead Rhodes.
• Part 9: Is this media article consistent with others?, by Alan Gow.
• Part 10: Exaggeration and opinion versus research evidence, by Sinead Rhodes and Alan Gow.