choof.org

August 17, 2003

Detecting Academic PR

Industry-funded studies that skew public debate continue to be a real problem for policymakers. How can we have an informed public debate when so much research is done by institutions that are legitimized by press coverage, but really have an agenda that is pro-special interest?

Professor Elizabeth Warren in this law review article, provides a good framework for recognizing what I like to call "academic PR." She notes that a critical observer can ask the following questions to determine the hidden agendas of special interest research:

Is the research subject to independent peer-review or published in the academic community, or it is simply disseminated to Congress?

Is there any disclaimer or explanation of funding sources?

Is there an attempt to portray the study as a product of an academic institution?

And, perhaps most importantly, can the public inspect the methods and data used to administer the study?

Warren's article is actually a detailed attack on Michael Staten, a researcher at Georgetown University whose loyalty to the credit card industry makes his credibility questionable. Staten's work has been used to, among other things, defend the practice of marketing credit cards to college kids.

Posted by chris at August 17, 2003 02:37 PM