RESPOND TO THE FOLLOWING STUDENTS

Britany post

Climate change research and funding is influenced by the media and by politicians due to lack of knowledge and actual facts. Science is being ignored or distorted, easily, by vested interests.  (Frank, 2014) And scientists for fear of losing their jobs and or credibility are afraid to talk about things. The media has alot of influence on people’s opinions. If people don’t support research on something, there probably isn’t going to be much funding for it. So if the media  can keep people from worrying about climate change then the funding for research won’t be there. 

Bias, beliefs, and assumptions influence what we know and how we approach contemporary global issues related to social sciences because if we already have a feeling or thought about something then we will already have an opinion of it. If our opinion is negative then we probably won’t worry about the issues. If we feel strongly about changing things and sustaining life on Earth longer, we will probably want to do research.

Julie post

The way that the media portrays climate change can really affect the way that it is studied in a lot of ways. When we look up climate change, we see images such as dying polar bears or shrinking polar caps. we also get bombarded with movies such as the day after tomorrow or the movie 2012. These movies while some of them are good can be used as a tool to scare people into thinking the same way as a certain group. For example, a conservative Christian group could use a movie such as the day after tomorrow to show that because of the sins of this world God is causing climate change. They could use this to scare people into praying and believing as they do. On the flipside of that a group who is all about fixing climate change could use the photos of dying polar bears to gain sympathy for their cause. Our bias will always influence the way that we move. for example, currently the nation is facing a major shift. Not only are women losing more and more rights every day, but more and more rights are being snatched away from the indigenous and people of color. when we hear about this in the media, if it’s on the news or a tweet by a celeb, or immediate response will be based off our bias and values. We as a people need to learn to push past those bias and values and chose what is right for everyone not just for one group.

ASSIGNMENT

Use the provided Module Five Activity Template Word Document that is uploaded below to complete this assignment. Using the module resources as inspiration, identify an ethical issue, question, or dilemma relevant to the main idea of your chosen news story. This might include bias in research, the impact of politics on science, research funding sources, objectivity in science, or the spread of scientific misinformation. For example, you could discuss possible tensions between scientists and their funding sources with regards to publicity and media involvement.

Specifically, you must address the following rubric criteria:

• Describe an ethical issue that relates to the main idea of your chosen news story.
• Explain how bias, beliefs, assumptions, or values relate to your chosen ethical issue.
  • This might include funding bias or publication bias, conflicting values between the sponsoring organization and the research agenda, the assumptions of the general public impacting how science is interpreted, or scientists’ beliefs affecting the research questions they ask.
• Explain how your chosen ethical issue may impact (or has impacted) how research is conducted on the main idea of your chosen news story.
  • This could include the research questions and hypotheses scientists can test, the methods they can use to collect or analyze data, who they can collaborate with, where they publish their research, or the funding that is available.
• Explain how your chosen ethical issue may impact (or has impacted) advancements in the field of study.
  • This might include the technology that can be developed, the knowledge that can be generated, or the problems that can be solved.