Bad Science Ben Goldacre Analysis
Ben Goldacre is a doctor, academic and best-selling author. He wrote a weekly column called Bad Science in the Guardian for ten years and this first book of his, also titled ‘Bad Science’, “reached number one in the UK non-fiction charts and has sold over half a million copies worldwide” (Goldacre, 2017).
The presentation of ‘Bad Science’ gives the reader a seemingly accurate representation of its contents; the shape and size of a fulfilling novel, emphasising its entertainment value, and the cover which is bright red in colour symbolising fierce fiery danger, adorns an explosion from a medicine bottle of ‘Hacks, Quacks and Uncomfortable Facts’. This expresses the nature of the book, with the contents being a fiercely passionate argument against …show more content…
But I am not that kind of journalist,” (p.20). This left me feeling annoyed at the lack of responsibility he seemed to take. Why wasn’t he going to confront the government departments?! Why wasn’t he going to try and make a difference?! From further research, I discovered that (thankfully), Goldacre has had an influence. In 2009, Ed Ball’s department ruled that ‘Brain Gym’ had no scientific basis (Clark, 2009) and this “vast empire of nonsense” (p.14) is no longer ‘infecting’ our education system (see Appendix E). Goldacre has had further impact on education; in 2013, the Department for Education published his paper highlighting the benefits of quality research and evidence-based interventions in Education (Goldacre, 2013) and he received recognition in Nick Gibb’s speech at the ‘Researchers in Schools’ celebration event – “Goldacre’s advocacy of randomised controlled trials to test educational interventions has directly influenced government policy” (Gibb, 2015). Hallelujah! He didn’t just sit on …show more content…
Currently, he works in the University of Oxford, running the Evidence-Based Medicine DataLab, and is also “a Research Fellow in Epidemiology at The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine” (Goldacre, 2017). Pleasingly, other elements of his work since this book, include writing two more books, being co-founder of AllTrials.net, a campaign for “all clinical trials to be registered and results reported” (Goldacre et al, 2013), writing a paper in collaboration with Laura Haynes, Owain Service and David Torgerson which argues for Randomised Controlled Trials to be used in public policies (Haynes, L. et al, 2012) and submitting evidence to various Parliament Select Committees (Goldacre, 2017); most recently, to the House of Commons Sci-Tech Select Committee on Research Integrity, targeting the “widespread culture of incomplete and inaccurate reporting of scientific research” (Goldacre, 2017). YES! Thank you Ben
The presentation of ‘Bad Science’ gives the reader a seemingly accurate representation of its contents; the shape and size of a fulfilling novel, emphasising its entertainment value, and the cover which is bright red in colour symbolising fierce fiery danger, adorns an explosion from a medicine bottle of ‘Hacks, Quacks and Uncomfortable Facts’. This expresses the nature of the book, with the contents being a fiercely passionate argument against …show more content…
But I am not that kind of journalist,” (p.20). This left me feeling annoyed at the lack of responsibility he seemed to take. Why wasn’t he going to confront the government departments?! Why wasn’t he going to try and make a difference?! From further research, I discovered that (thankfully), Goldacre has had an influence. In 2009, Ed Ball’s department ruled that ‘Brain Gym’ had no scientific basis (Clark, 2009) and this “vast empire of nonsense” (p.14) is no longer ‘infecting’ our education system (see Appendix E). Goldacre has had further impact on education; in 2013, the Department for Education published his paper highlighting the benefits of quality research and evidence-based interventions in Education (Goldacre, 2013) and he received recognition in Nick Gibb’s speech at the ‘Researchers in Schools’ celebration event – “Goldacre’s advocacy of randomised controlled trials to test educational interventions has directly influenced government policy” (Gibb, 2015). Hallelujah! He didn’t just sit on …show more content…
Currently, he works in the University of Oxford, running the Evidence-Based Medicine DataLab, and is also “a Research Fellow in Epidemiology at The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine” (Goldacre, 2017). Pleasingly, other elements of his work since this book, include writing two more books, being co-founder of AllTrials.net, a campaign for “all clinical trials to be registered and results reported” (Goldacre et al, 2013), writing a paper in collaboration with Laura Haynes, Owain Service and David Torgerson which argues for Randomised Controlled Trials to be used in public policies (Haynes, L. et al, 2012) and submitting evidence to various Parliament Select Committees (Goldacre, 2017); most recently, to the House of Commons Sci-Tech Select Committee on Research Integrity, targeting the “widespread culture of incomplete and inaccurate reporting of scientific research” (Goldacre, 2017). YES! Thank you Ben