News and Numbers (eBook)

The late Victor Cohn, called the "Dean of Science Writers" was the prize-winning science editor and writer for The Washington Post for 25 years. He was cited as one of the top science writers by The New York Times and Newsweek, co-founded the Council for the Advancement of Science Writing and served as president of the National Association of Science Writers. Lewis Cope was science writer at the Star Tribune of Minneapolis-St. Paul for 29 years and, like Cohn, the recipient of numerous awards. Cope formerly served as president of the National Association of Science Writers. Deborah Cohn Runkle is a Senior Program Associate at the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

A Note to Our Readers vii

A Tribute to Victor Cohn, 1919-2000 ix

Foreword xi

Acknowledgments xiii

Notes on Sources xv

Part I Learning the Basics 1

A Guide to Part I of News & Numbers 2

1 Where We Can Do Better 3

2 The Certainty of Uncertainty 8

3 Testing the Evidence 15

4 What Makes a Good Study? 37

5 Your Questions and Peer Review 54

Part II Now Down to Specifics 69

A Guide to Part II of News & Numbers 70

6 Tests and Drug Trials 71

7 Vital Statistics 83

8 Health Costs, Quality, and Insurance 97

9 Our Environment 108

10 Writing About Risks 124

11 Polls 133

12 Statistical Savvy for Many Types of News 145

Epilogue 161

Glossary 163

Bibliography 170

Index 173

"News & Numbers is a classic that should be a
must-read for journalists in all fields, from business to sports.
It provides practical advice for avoiding embarrassing statistical
pitfalls."

- Cristine Russell, President, Council for the Advancement of
Science Writing



"The demand for press coverage of science and medicine is
growing as public interest grows. This book sets the standard. It
uses simple language to teach the layman or the scientist how to
read and understand scientific publications. Even more important,
it teaches one to critically interpret and think about research
findings and ask the right questions. This is a book that you can
read from cover to cover and then keep as a reference."

- Otis Brawley, Chief Medical and Scientific Officer,
ACS

"Vic Cohn's reporting inspired a generation of science and
health writers, and he kept us on the straight and narrow with his
concise and engaging book on how to interpret scientific studies.
Now updated and expanded, his classic guide to statistics should be
essential reading, not just for reporters but for anybody trying to
separate science from pseudoscience in the torrent of unfiltered
information flowing over the internet."

- Colin Norman, News Editor, Science magazine