A Scientific Study: From Hypothesis to Hyperbole

1. A Scientific Study:From Hypothesis to Hyperbole Comparing a scientific study related to brain injury in former NFL players published in the journal of geriatric psychiatry, and the second a popularization of that study from PBS. Background on Study: The study was completed at UCLA by a team of researchers who invented a new technique to identify the abnormal protein tau found in the brains of NFL players who had developed symptoms such as dementia, depression, and Other cognitive disturbances. This study claims to have used positron emission tomography(PET) to detect the abnormal protein in living former players, whereas before it could only be identified upon autopsy. Could Visuals Have Been Used More Effectively? Could the Audience Have Been Engaged Better? New Study Finds Brain Damage in Living Ex-NFL Players Forum Overview: PBS is a news organization that comments on all types of news stories from sports to foreign affairs. With such a broad range of topics comes a broad range of structure and style within articles as well. Key Elements of Title: The news piece uses a very bold title claiming they found “brain damage” which is accurate but does not indicate that these are only preliminary findings and really doesn’t point to the major breakthrough of the study which is that this protein was identified in living players. Structure and Style: The news piece really lays out the main argument right from the title, then backs up that thesis with information from the study as well as interviews they conducted. This structure creates a narrative that really requires that it be read from start to finish, as quickly locating desired information is not easy because there are no headings or visually defined sections to the article. Use of Visuals: The article used the same brain scan image that was included in the study. This was the only picture used, but there was a video embedded in the article that included an interview with one of the co-authors of the news piece who is also planning on writing a book on football and brain injuries. Effective Engaging Elements: The article utilizes multiple testimonials from players and family members of players who participated in the study, as well as authors of the study to engage the audience on an emotional level about the possibilities of what this study could do for the future of football. PET Scanning of Brain Tau in Retired National Football League Players: Preliminary Findings Forum Overview: The journal of geriatric psychiatry is very specific, only publishing a limited number of articles each month. While I was not able to view the articles without a membership, from the table of contents there were editorials, research articles, and “brief reports” on topics within this very specific field. Key Elements of Title: The article uses a direct to the point title that is very descriptive, which indicates both the scientific aspect of the piece as well as the inconclusiveness of the fact that these are only preliminary findings. Structure and Style: The scientific study uses a very strict structure with an abstract at the beginning with objective, methods, results, and conclusions sections(IMRAD format), then the actual article uses fairly lengthy background and methods sections, then continues on with a results and discussion section with statistical analysis which are all very easy to locate to the reader, and would be very easy to find a specific piece of information that the reader could be looking for. Use of Visuals: No other visuals are used to really engage the reader other than some graphs of statistical analysis and the brain scan images. Effective Engaging Elements: The authors of the study report on a very scientific level as to how the results they found relate to previous brain scans conducted during autopsy. They show the importance of the study as, “providing a noninvasive means of early detection is a critical first step to developing interventions to prevent symptom onset and depression.”