A research UK based study of Interent searches related to common childhood health questions yielded mixed results. In general, 39% of the 500 sites visited provided accurate information, 11% provided incorrect info and 49% provided information that did not truly address the question/issue.
So what does this mean? Where do you go when you want to learn more about a health-related problem? Is your standard to "google it?" How do you decide what is the best source? According to this study, government sites were uniformly most accurate -- however, government sites are not without bias. At the start of the Bush administration, several years ago, there was actually a push to remove all STI prevention information other than abstinence, from the CDC site. So, while government sites do provide factually accurate information, it may not be "the whole picture." New sites were accurate in only about 55% of the cases -- this is particularly concerning since I imagine a majority of people do get their health information from news sites! Next time you are searching, try sites like the Mayo Clinic or other well-established health care organizations.
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The internet is a great tool to use to find information...if you are using it correctly. I was actually surprised at some of the numbers in this article (only 39% of the sites provided accurate information?) I was also surprised to find that government websites may not provide the "whole picture." I figured those sites would provide all of the information needed. Keep in mind though that this study was done only on common childhood health issues; the results may have been different for different topics. However, one site that I like in particular is WebMd. This website seems to be pretty accurate, and it was suggested by on of my WSSD professors as a good website to use for one of our class projects.
ReplyDeleteI thought this article was very interesting. I mean we all know that things posted on the internet are not always true and I am definetely guilty of the google search engine. I use it for everything including health research. I think the mayoclinic website mentioned is usually accurate and has in depth research on its variety of topics. I like to look at a bunch of different websites and compare what each has to say and then make my own inferences. It is surprising that goverment websites do not provide the whole picture and honestly quite upsetting. If we cannot get the truth from ourgoverment what will thye tell us. This article reminded me not to be so gullible and reseacrh is always neccessary from scholarly websites. thanks!
ReplyDeleteI thought this article was very relevant to our generation. We tend to depend on the internet as our major source of information. I am guilty of this also, but I became more aware of reliable sources to use for information since coming to college. Now instead of using the original google website, I now use google scholar or the university database to access information.
ReplyDeleteI think that when it comes to the internet it all depends on what kind of site that we go to. There are those sites out that we all know and trust like webmd and the mayo clinic. But there are some out there like answers.com or even just Wikipedia. I think it all depends if you really can trust the site and if it is coming from a reliable source.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Lynn on this one. I believe it all depends on what kind of website you do the research on. Some may provide accurate information but I still feel that if the problem is any sort of serious, people should go straight to doctors in which they can personally talk to and ask the questions they have so that they can be directly answered without beating around the bush. I agree with article and am not surprised at all when it talks about Bush administration wanting to remove STI prevention details and I believe that every site has great potential to be biased.
ReplyDeleteJohnny Claffey
This article is interesting because people of this generation really does rely on the internet to inform them on what's going on in today's society. The problem is with so many different websites providing different information it's hard to determine which one is actually providng you with the most accurate details. To hear that the Bush administration were trying to remove all STI prevention from off of the internet is ridiculous. Personally, I think the best source for information would be directly from the doctors themselves or from websites that are referred by people in the health department.
ReplyDeleteJamaine Leslie