Subjects from the UO experiment report: "I felt immensely powerless and almost naked ...". " ... I felt like half a person." This torture got through UO human subjects review? Shocking.
BTW, UO IRB is now saying that renewal of an existing protocol will take them almost 2 months. How much time has Espy had to fix that office?
Even more shocking is that this study passes for academic research. Did someone mention the J school?
ReplyDeleteI just want to make sure this post is a joke...
ReplyDeleteIt's a joke. It really only takes 55 days to get renewed.
DeleteI know, I shouldn't be so sensitive especially given that this is the Internet but I can't help but defend myself. And this is mostly in response to the first "anonymous" poster.
ReplyDeleteThe issue of media dependency and the evolving role of media in our lives is a legitimate area of study, don't you think? I mean, I understand that it's not as sexy or as meaningful as cancer research but if a liberal arts university does not examine such issues then I don't know who would or should.
Secondly, it's not an experiment. There was no control group or electrodes hooked up to people. It was a simple exercise in college students going without any media for 48 hours and writing up a self-reflective essay on how they felt. In the process, the students learned interesting things about their dependency on media and I summarized the main themes for others to learn something as well. If not listening to music or watching TV makes one feel "almost naked...and like half a person," it's an interesting commentary on our society's dependency on media, is it not?
Anyways, I'd be happy to email anyone a copy of the paper. Just shoot me an email. I am on the J-school website.
Thanks for the defense. I think this is a very interesting field of study. Especially given my own obvious addiction. Torture would certainly be the word. And I'd be happy to post a link to the paper.
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