Sunday, June 26, 2005
Physicians Not As Nerdy As Other Scientists
That appears to be the primary point of this article.
My conclusion: Reporters must be required to take graduate level statistics before they get to report on "studies."
In the survey of 1,044 doctors nationwide, 76 percent said they believe in God, 59 percent said they believe in some sort of afterlife, and 55 percent said their religious beliefs influence how they practice medicine.Faults with this reporting are numerous. First of all they quote no specific statistics concerning "scientists." Secondly, they do not define "scientist," which can cover a huge range of individuals. Thirdly, medicine is as much art as science, a fact they conveniently ignore.
"We were surprised to find that physicians were as religious as they apparently are," said Dr. Farr Curlin, a researcher at the University of Chicago's MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics.
"There's certainly a deep-seated cultural idea that science and religion are at odds," and previous studies have suggested that fewer than half of scientists believe in God, Curlin said Wednesday.
A previous survey showed about 83 percent of the general population believes in God.
But while medicine is science-based, doctors differ from scientists who work primarily in a laboratory setting, and their direct contact with patients in life-and-death situations may explain the differing views, Curlin said.
My conclusion: Reporters must be required to take graduate level statistics before they get to report on "studies."
