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Random mutterings
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Recent Chicken Scratchings
A recent study reports that a reference to a vague and undefined “recent study” is among the best ways to lend credence to an otherwise unsubstantiated “fact” of dubious origin.
Have you ever noticed how often one encounters the phrase “a recent study” (or a near approximation) in the news and via email? It makes me laugh because quite frequently the specific report is not referenced anywhere in the story. When creating this post I did come across arecentstudy.com, which seems to actually reference new reports when they are published — unfortunately the site hasn’t been updated since May 29, 2008.
Keep your eyes open! I have a feeling you may see “a recent study” show up soon, decrying the “disparaging remarks made on certain quirky little blogs on the topic of ‘recent studies’.”
Posted 27 Oct 2008
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