Detecting fake news assignment vaccines answers

Biology Labs 1 And 2

Lab 1: Follow the instructions and complete the assignment below. Submit your answers through the Lab 1 Assignment on Blackboard.

Lab 1 1

Lab 1: Detecting and Debunking Fake News

Fake news sites are designed to look like real news, but do not follow the same journalistic standards that you would expect from a real news source. The motive for each of these sites is to attract as many visitors as possible to maximize revenue from selling ad space. This is especially dangerous because fake news sites are flooding the world with information that is misleading at best, but is often completely false, and presenting it as true. In this activity, you will learn how to identify fake news while you investigate the authenticity of two sources. As you walk through the steps outlined below, you will see question/note- taking/recording prompts (indicated by letters). Be sure to record your thoughts and answer these questions, as your notes will help you to answer the questions at the end of this exercise. 1. Access and read the news articles referenced below (2 links provided for each, in case one does not cooperate with your computer ). Article 1: “Vaccines Kill More People Than Sharks, Alligators, Bears, Snakes And Spiders Combined” by D. Samuelson. Accessed from: http://vaccines.news. Sept 7 2016.

 http://bit.ly/2fOcL0h

 http://web.archive.org/web/20161031095438/http:/vaccines.news/2016-08-23-vaccines- kill-more-people-than-sharks-alligators-bears-snakes-and-spiders-combined-2.html

Article 2: “CDC officials worry that new flu vaccine recommendations could reduce use” by Lena H. Sun. Accessed from: http://washingtonpost.com. Sept 29 2016.

 http://wapo.st/2dh25ol

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2016/09/29/cdc-officials- worry-that-new-flu-vaccine-recommendations-could-reduce- use/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.22cbcce5b56c

2. Now that you’ve read both articles, we are going to a few aspects of the websites for each article. Clickbait Headlines: Fake news sites often rely on clickbait headlines that are sensational, provocative, and grab your attention. This XKCD.com graphic gives good examples of what headlines may have looked like through the 20th century using clickbait terminology. A. Evaluate both articles 1 and 2 for evidence of

clickbait. Take notes on your findings Author Credibility: Fake news sites often have anonymous authors, authors with false names, or

http://bit.ly/2fOcL0h
http://web.archive.org/web/20161031095438/http:/vaccines.news/2016-08-23-vaccines-kill-more-people-than-sharks-alligators-bears-snakes-and-spiders-combined-2.html
http://web.archive.org/web/20161031095438/http:/vaccines.news/2016-08-23-vaccines-kill-more-people-than-sharks-alligators-bears-snakes-and-spiders-combined-2.html
http://wapo.st/2dh25ol
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2016/09/29/cdc-officials-worry-that-new-flu-vaccine-recommendations-could-reduce-use/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.22cbcce5b56c
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2016/09/29/cdc-officials-worry-that-new-flu-vaccine-recommendations-could-reduce-use/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.22cbcce5b56c
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2016/09/29/cdc-officials-worry-that-new-flu-vaccine-recommendations-could-reduce-use/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.22cbcce5b56c
Lab 1: Follow the instructions and complete the assignment below. Submit your answers through the Lab 1 Assignment on Blackboard.

Lab 1 2

authors who have no journalistic background at all. Fortunately, author credentials, background, and other information can be quickly located through a simple internet search. B. Look up the author of each article (try Googling the author’s name and their news and see if

you can find a biography for each) and evaluate their credibility. Fact-Checking Claims: Real scientific news provide appropriate citations for any facts or figures. Fake news sites often provide falsified or misleading data/statistics that often do not have any citations at all. C. Review the articles 1 and 2, and for each article, see if you can identify information that

should have a citation but doesn’t. Save these for later reference. 3. Let’s consider a couple of claims from Article 1 (the “Vaccines…” article): Claim 1: “poison-filled injection are associated with at least 5,000 deaths annually, according to data from the Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS)” This statement has a citation. Let’s check it. Go to the VAERS database here: https://wonder.cdc.gov/vaers.html (About tab).

 Click on the “VAERS Data Search” button.

 Scroll down to “2. Select symptoms” and choose 10011906 (Death).

 Scroll down to “7. Select report completed dates” and set the date range from Jan 2015 to Dec 2015.

 Click on the “send” button on the right side of the page. D. How many VAERS reported deaths were there in 2015? Repeat for 2017 (you can press the

back button in your browser, and only have to change the year), or any other year of your

choice.

Claim 2: “Recognizing that VAERS data constitutes as little as 10% of actual injury and death cases, the annual death rate from vaccines swells to about 39,000.” This claim is referring to a phenomenon called underreporting, where fewer instances of an event or behavior than what has actually occurred are recorded (or reported). Specifically, this article appears to be arguing that a number of deaths and injuries from vaccines are not being reported at all, and the current data are consequently flawed. Take another look at the VAERS website (About tab) https://wonder.cdc.gov/vaers.html:

 View the “Data Limitations and Cautions” section

 Click the link in that section http://vaers.hhs.gov/data/index to view information about VAERS Data (https://vaers.hhs.gov/data.html)

 Click the Guide to Interpreting VAERS Data link (https://vaers.hhs.gov/data/dataguide.html)

E. Summarize the VAERS database disclaimer on underreporting, in your own words.

Claim 3: “You are more than 200 times more likely to suffer mortality following a government- recommended shot, in other words, than you are dying from a bear, shark, alligator or any of the other aforementioned animals.”

https://wonder.cdc.gov/vaers.html
https://wonder.cdc.gov/vaers.html
http://vaers.hhs.gov/data/index
https://vaers.hhs.gov/data.html
https://vaers.hhs.gov/data/dataguide.html
Lab 1: Follow the instructions and complete the assignment below. Submit your answers through the Lab 1 Assignment on Blackboard.

Lab 1 3

Let’s use our resources to figure out if this is true.

 Visit the CDC Wonder Underlying Cause of Death database at: https://wonder.cdc.gov/ucd-icd10.html. As you may notice, these data are based on causes of death recorded on formal death certificates.

 Click “I agree” at the bottom to search the database.

 Scroll down to “4. Select year and month” and select 2015.

 Scroll down to “6. Select cause of death” and select ICD-10 Codes (should be already pre-selected).

 Within the ICD-10 Codes browse window, o select code set V01-Y89 (External causes of morbidity and mortality), and click

“Open Fully” o select codes W53–W59 and X20 –X29 (covers all animal related mortalities) [you

can use “Control” and “Click” to select multiple fields] o Click on the “send” button on the right side of the page.

F. How many animal related deaths were recorded in 2015?

Let’s take this a bit further and look at what the CDC Wonder database has on vaccine- attributed deaths, compared to the VAERS Reports. Repeat this Underlying Cause of Death search, but this time, select ICD-10 codes indicating immunization and vaccine associated causes of death. Be sure to choose codes that directly attribute death to the vaccine with intentional administration of the vaccine, especially groups Y58 and Y59 (accidental poisoning or contamination with biological agents do not qualify). G. How many vaccine-attributed deaths are on record within the CDC database from 2015 (you

might need to click for “More Information” to learn more)?

Before we move on, take a moment and consider the CDC Wonder and VAERS websites, in terms of data verifiability and credibility. H. Follow the links below to read more about the types of data and data sources for each:

a. https://wonder.cdc.gov/wonder/help/about-cdc-wonder-508.pdf b. https://wonder.cdc.gov/vaers.html (first paragraph under the About tab)

Now, let’s compare mortality rates. According to the CDC, 2,712,630 people died in 2015 (Underlying Cause of Death data). We can use this information to determine the mortality contribution for vaccine and animal associated deaths in 2015. I. To do this, take the number of deaths attributed to that cause (found earlier) divided by the

total number of deaths, and multiply by 100 to convert the value to a percentage.

Disease Mortality Rate without

vaccination Mortality Rate

with vaccination

Measles 1-3% 0.1%

Mumps 1% 0.01%

https://wonder.cdc.gov/ucd-icd10.html
https://wonder.cdc.gov/wonder/help/about-cdc-wonder-508.pdf
https://wonder.cdc.gov/vaers.html
Lab 1: Follow the instructions and complete the assignment below. Submit your answers through the Lab 1 Assignment on Blackboard.

Lab 1 4

Tetanus 50% 0.132%

Whooping Cough 3.7% 0.04%

Here you are provided with the mortality rates of some vaccine preventable illnesses (CDC.gov). J. Carefully consider these data. In your interpretation, ask yourself which is the greater

statistical risk to you: the vaccination or contracting the disease Echo Chamber: Another danger sign of fake news websites is that their primary content tends

to focus on a very specific group of people. This reflects an “echo chamber” or “preaching to

the choir” situation, where they only write articles that will affirm the beliefs of their core

audience. When evaluating a resource for the echo chamber phenomenon, pay attention to the

advertisements and other articles published by the site to see if they appear to within a narrow

mindset or worldview.

K. Evaluate both of the original article websites (Articles 1 and 2) for the echo chamber effect. Remember to pay attention to the advertisements, and take a look at a collection of other articles published on the site as well.

Consequences: Publishing and sharing fake news has real consequences. The CDC’s goal for vaccination rates for children is at least 90%. Take a look at the CDC’s data on vaccination rates here to evaluate current vaccination rates: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/immunize.htm L. Notice which vaccines are and aren’t meeting this goal. 4. When you are finished, answer the following questions. 1. Discuss your overall evaluation of both sources (Article 1 and Article 2), focusing on the

general websites not the articles. Were you able to identify any echo chamber evidence or clickbait headlines with either? Describe what you found for each, including specific evidence.

2. Describe the credentials (degrees, awards, experience) for the authors of both articles that

we evaluated. Which author do you believe has more credibility? Explain your answer, using their credentials as evidence.

3. Describe each claim that you found within each article (Article 1 and Article 2) that didn’t

have a citation that you thought should have (quote the articles). Explain why you think each claim doesn’t have a citation, and why you think it needs one. If you weren’t able to find a claim that wasn’t cited, state this.

4. Based on your first Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System search, how many VAERS reported deaths were there in 2015? Compare this to Claim 1, the Article 1 statement that

http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/immunize.htm
Lab 1: Follow the instructions and complete the assignment below. Submit your answers through the Lab 1 Assignment on Blackboard.

Lab 1 5

the VAERS source attributes 5,000 deaths to vaccines annually; is this accurate? Explain your answer.

5. As you may have noticed during your investigation, the VAERS website contains a lot of

information, including background, disclaimers, and caveats to the database. One such example reads “A report to VAERS does not mean that the vaccine caused the adverse event, only that the adverse event occurred sometime after vaccination.” What does this mean? How does this contribute to or change your approach to interpreting VAERS data?

6. Based on your research on VAERS database underreporting, is underreporting a problem

with VAERS? Given the VAERS underreporting disclaimer that you summarized during your

investigation, how do you respond to the Article 1 (vaccines.news article) Claim 2, that

~90% of vaccine associated deaths aren’t even reported?

7. Check the math. Consider Article 1 (vaccines.news) Claims 1 and 2 in terms of numbers. For

the sake of analysis, let’s assume that 5,000 vaccine associated deaths stated in Claim 1

really does represent only 10% of the actual (reported and unreported) vaccine associated

deaths, as stated in Claim 2. If this true, then does the second part of Claim 2, that the

actual death vaccine associated death rate “swells to about 39,000”, make sense,

mathematically? Is it mathematically possible for the numbers stated in Claims 1 and 2 to

be true? Explain your answer, including your logic and calculations.

8. How many animal related deaths were recorded in 2015, as presented by the CDC Wonder

Cause of Death database? Compare this number to the VAERS reported vaccine deaths (that

you found in your first VAERS search); what is your response? How does this information

impact your interpretation regarding the validity of vaccine.news article Claim 3? Explain

your answer, including your logic and calculations.

9. How many vaccine-attributed deaths are on record within the CDC Wonder database from 2015 (recall, you might have needed to click for “More Information” to learn more after searching for this result)? What does this tell you about the number of data recorded vaccine-attributed deaths in the US in 2015?

10. Consider each search data site that we have used in this investigation; review your

comparison in of the CDC Wonder and VAERS data verifiability. Discuss your interpretation

of the credibility of the data presented on these sites. Which data are more credible?

Provide at least 2 reasons to support your conclusion.

11. Calculate and compare mortality rates. Based on the total number of deaths in 2015 and the VAERS reported number of vaccine attributed deaths for 2015 (for calculations sake) what is the mortality rate % associated with Vaccines from 2015? Based on the total number of deaths in 2015 and the CDC Wonder database number of animal associated

Lab 1: Follow the instructions and complete the assignment below. Submit your answers through the Lab 1 Assignment on Blackboard.

Lab 1 6

deaths for 2015, what is the mortality rate % associated with animals from 2015? Do these number make sense; are you confident in the validity of these figures, why/why not? Additionally, does this calculation alter your previous conclusions regarding the validity of the Article 1 (vaccine.news article) Claim 3? Explain your answer, including your logic and calculations.

12. Carefully consider your calculated vaccine induced mortality rate (determined based on the

VAERS reported VAERS reported number of vaccine attributed deaths for 2015 and the total number of deaths in 2015). Compare this number to the mortality rate presented in the data table for those without vaccinations for measles, mumps, tetanus, and/or whooping cough. Now, compare these numbers with the mortality rate for those that have been vaccinated for these diseases. Based on these data, which of the following poses the greatest statistical risk (a higher mortality rate): dying a vaccine-caused death in 2015 (assuming the VAERS report data is accurate), dying from measles, mumps, tetanus, and/or whooping cough without being vaccinated, or dying from measles, mumps, tetanus, and/or whooping cough after being vaccinated? Which of these poses the least statistical risk? Explain your answer, including your logic and calculations.

13. In the background information provided with this lab, we learned that the CDC’s goal for

vaccination rates for children is at least 90%. Based on their current vaccine rates, what vaccines are not meeting this goal? Given what you’ve read and researched in this activity, what are some possible reasons why the vaccination rates are below this threshold?

14. If one of your friends shared the Article 1 (vaccines.news news article) on social media, how

would you respond? Write a respectful reply below, pointing out some of the issues in this article that we discovered today.

Now that you completed this lab, return to Blackboard and select Lab 1 Assignment. You will see that Blackboard randomly selected 5 of the 14 questions above for you to answer, from the pool of all 14 questions. Copy-paste your answers for the 5 questions that Blackboard selected into Blackboard. Note that as this is a random selection, sometimes the questions will all be next to each other, sometimes they will be the hard ones, sometimes the easy ones, sometimes a true mix, and each student gets a slightly different selection. Each question is worth 2 points, for a total of 10 points for the lab.