Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
As this example illustrates, the World Wide Web gives re
searchers and authors unrestricted access to a broad audience at very
little cost. As a Web user, this means you can obtain vast amounts of
highquality information easily, even if that material has a limited
audience and might not be commercially viable as a product.
Example 2: Questionable Research
A student particularly liked a certain deodorant and wanted to convince everyone
that this product was better than all others. Toward this end, the student found
10 friends who used the product and 2 that did not. The student wrote these
names on pieces of paper, pulled them out of a hat at random, and called each
person to ask what deodorant they used. After using this process for all names,
the student concluded that, according to a random sample (names pulled ran
domly out of a hat), 10 of 12 people preferred the certain deodorant. (Although
this may seem to be ridiculous research, conflicting advertising statements today
suggest that modern claims may indeed depend upon this type of investigation.)
Following this deodorant research, the student wrote a paper describing the ex
periment, and sent the paper to a research journal for publication. Again an edi
tor considered the article. In this case, the material may have been sufficiently
outrageous for the editor to have rejected it out of hand. Alternatively, the editor
may have sent the material to experts in the field. With such flawed research
methodology, reviewers would certainly have recommended in favor of rejection
of the paper, and the general public would be spared having to read such non
sense in a wellrespected journal or magazine.
With rejection from the formal research community, the student could have con
tacted the manufacturer. If the company was not particularly careful in its scrutiny
of such results, the company might cite the study in its ads or make the study
available in its literature. In such cases, you still might see the student's conclu
sions or read the article. However, you also would know that the ad or article was
sponsored by the manufacturer, and you likely are accustomed to being skeptical
about claims in such circumstances.
Alternatively, the student could post the article on the Web in a way that made it
look like a legitimate research article. The student could include graphs, colored
charts, and other images, and links could be provided to wellrespected organiza
tions. Prestigious names could be mentioned—perhaps suggesting some en
dorsement—but without actually committing libel. With care, such a Web site
might look very professional. If the student maintained the page on a Web site at
a college, the URL would contain “.edu” to suggest an academic base. With the
material available, search engines might find the study and include the findings
in indexes.
