1. Prevalence of Pseudoscience in Magazines
Brittney Becker, Ashley House, & Caleb W. Lack, Ph.D.
Method
Procedure
Initial data collection began by choosing magazines from the University of Central Oklahoma (UCO) and Oklahoma City metropolitan area libraries’ magazine databases. Researchers determined which magazines were used in the study by their relevance to specific audiences and popularity. Collection of data required researchers to document the amount of advertisements in various popular, non-academic magazines published between August 2011 and October 2011.
Manual data collection was recorded using a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet that included: name of magazine, location, type of magazine, date of publication, frequency of publication, total page numbers, total advertisements, total pseudoscientific advertisements, and type of pseudoscientific advertisement.
Once researchers selected particular magazines, documentation of pseudoscientific advertisements began.
First, researchers documented the amount of pages, including front and back covers, from a specified list of 126 magazines (available upon request).
Second, researchers counted the number of advertisements in each magazine. Multiple page ads were counted only once unless each page was promoting a different product. For example, a two page spread for a cologne would be one, but a two page spread for a department store advertising clothing on one side and toys on the other would count as two ads.
Third, researchers counted the number of pseudoscientific advertisements. These where defined as any ad falling under the categories of Aliens, Ghosts & Demons, Psychics, Witches & Supernatural, Alternative Medicines (Whole), Alternative Medicines (Mind), Alternative Medicines (Bio Based), Alternative Medicines (Manipulative), Alternative Medicines (Energy), Cryptozoology, Faith, Pseudohistory, Conspiracy, Parapsychology, Apocalypse, Food Science/Nutrition/Diet, or Education/Teaching/Learning.
Finally, magazines were categorized into 10 genres: family, fashion, food/beverage, health/fitness, hobby, lifestyle, news/business, popular news, science, and special interest.
Introduction
Within modern day media outlets, the emergence of pseudoscience has begun increasing in popularity. Media outlets such as television, newspapers, and magazines have begun to report pseudoscientific claims as science, but little research has been conducted to determine how much pseudoscience is reported.
The purpose of this study is to determine the frequency of pseudoscientific advertisements in non- academic magazines published between August and October We propose that a significant amount of pseudoscientific advertisements will be printed within our designated magazine choices.
Results
Initial data analysis indicates that, out of 15,578 advertisements recorded in the magazines, only 86 of the advertisements were pseudoscientific in content. Detailed analysis of each genre indicated that magazines within the Lifestyle and Scientific genre had the highest percentage of pseudoscientific advertisements.
Discussion
Results indicate that the prevalence of pseudoscientific advertisements in our designated magazine choices are not consistent with our initial hypothesis. Our analysis of the prevalence of pseudoscientific advertisements in magazines indicated that there are more non-pseudoscientific advertisements rather than pseudoscientific. However, the prevalence of pseudoscientific advertisements in magazines that are considered scientific should cause some alarm. People may be inclined to question advertisements in a lifestyle or fashion magazine but readily accept anything printed in a scientific magazine even though the advertisement has no affiliation with the magazine.
One limitation within the study were the amount of magazines that could be used for analysis. Due to regional limitations, magazines were chosen and analyzed from two databases: the University of Central Oklahoma and Oklahoma City metropolitan library. The availability of current magazines within each database were limited and impaired data analysis.
Future research analyzing initial magazines could indicate a more significant prevalence of pseudoscientific advertisements after a designated time. Additionally, further research can be performed on specific genres of magazines to indicate how many and how often specific types of pseudoscientific advertisements are printed within a magazine. Research could also analyze false advertisements that might not necessarily be pseudoscientific. Finally, other venues of media such as television or newspapers can be analyzed to determine the amount of pseudoscience in media.
Magazine Type
Type
Total Pages
Pages
Total Ads
Total Pseudo
%PseudoAds
ALL
15,578
7,969 86
1.0
Family
754
434 1
0.2
Fashion
2,494
1090 13
Food/Beverage
302
142
0.0
Health/Fitness
732
461 3
0.6
Hobby
3,058
1799 17
0.9
Lifestyle
3,488
1663 35
2.0
News/Business
1,686
716
Popular News
318
117
Science
1,266
633 15
Special Interest
1,480
1022 2
0.1
Please address correspondence regarding this poster to: Caleb W. Lack, Ph.D., Department of Psychology, 307D Education Bldg, Edmond, OK or
This project was supported by funds from the University of Central Oklahoma Office of Research & Grants, College of Education & Professional Studies, & Office of Academic Affairs
Presented at Oklahoma Research Day at Cameron University, November 2011, Lawton, Oklahoma.