June 17, 2004

Study This!

The absolute best way to guarantee I will not be listening to the rest of your statement (argument, advertising, etc.) is to start it with; "Studies have shown.." or "According to the study...". What the hell does that really mean? Way too many variables and a cheap attempt to make something sound scientific, when you are actually stripping away most of the very basic facts one needs to scientifically evaluate your claim.

How about trying something like this: "A 1998 study of 50 middle-income heterosexual Caucasian male subjects between 34 and 55 years old, conducted by Iowa Technical University in Estherville and paid for by Biogenesis Pharmaceuticals, where subjects had been predisposed to a number of recent happy stories about the wonders of new designer drugs and all except for 2 came from divorced parents..."

You get the idea.

Posted by Pedram at June 17, 2004 11:54 PM
Comments

umm, this really isn't a scientific publication. I wouldn't advise anybody to rely on facts provided in internet comments, even if there seems to be an accurate reference to something.

Posted by: pp at June 18, 2004 12:37 AM

Good idea. I apply the same skeptical view to "studies" about global warming or the bad health effects of Big Macs.

Posted by: Person of Choler at June 18, 2004 07:43 AM

Person of Choler,
Good one!

Posted by: US Vet at June 18, 2004 08:05 AM

Well said,

In case of an ad though, they would lose their target audiance after the first number or the second three syllabus word in the sentence. and for them, you and the guy who is easily satisfied with a simple "according to the study" have the same value, one potential customer.

The sad thing is that there are far more people like them in the world than like you or me so they get to chose the language.

Posted by: Pooya at June 20, 2004 05:10 AM

Person of Choler:

With that kind of sense of humor I wonder why I haven't bumped into you in stand-up comedy circles.

Posted by: Ramin at June 20, 2004 04:35 PM

It is what we think we know already that often prevents us from learning.

Posted by: Claude Bernard at June 25, 2004 05:33 AM