Introduction: According to CBS News, roughly 500 scientific papers are retracted yearly (from an overall 2 to 3 million published papers). Approximately two-thirds of the papers are retracted due to the wrongdoing of the researchers. Unfortunately, the number of retracted scientific papers has steadily increased in recent years. It is our duty as informed citizens to be critical and analytical of published papers and studies. For instance, in 1998 paper published by a prominent British journal contended that the combined MMR vaccine could possibly cause Autism. Although this paper was retracted due to bad science and many studies since this study have shown absolutely no correlation between vaccines and Autism, the damage was already done. Now the percentage of parents not vaccinating their children has increased an alarming amount.
Purpose: In this activity, you will be researching a retracted scientific study. This study can be from any scientific background.
You will analyze how bad science can negatively affect the public.
Pre-Lab:
What is the guideline that your group has been given?
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Part 1 Procedure:
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Write your guideline clearly on a piece of poster board.
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Underneath your guideline, write a summary of the guideline.
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Decorate the poster, this will be hung in the classroom!
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After all posters are hung (wait for Ms. Reichelt to give you direction as to where to put the poster), circulate the classroom and write down the guidelines. Also, write down at least one bullet point of summary.

Name: _________________________________ Per:_______ Date: ___________
Guidelines for Evaluating Scientific Studies:
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Part 2 Procedure: With your group, research one study that has been retracted. Tell Ms. Reichelt about which study you choose before analyzing it. No group is allowed to do the same study as another group. Answer the following questions about the study:
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APA citation of the study:
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Date of retraction: ___________________________
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Summary of the study:
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Reason for retraction: ___________________________________________
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Did the article has a negative effect on the public? What were the repercussions from the published article?
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Conclusion:
Write a 2-3 paragraph summary of what you learned during this exercise. Reference the guidelines of evaluating a good study and your specific researched study.
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