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'''Woozle effect''', also known as '''evidence by citation''',<ref name="stras001">{{cite journal | title = Processes Explaining the Concealment and Distortion of Evidence on Gender Symmetry in Partner Violence | journal = European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research | date = 14 July 2007 | first = Murray A. | last = Strauss | volume = 74 | issue = 13 | pages = 227–232 | doi = 10.1007/s10610-007-9060-5 }}.</ref> or a '''woozle''', occurs when frequent citation of previous publications that lack evidence misleads individuals, groups and the public into thinking or believing there is evidence, and nonfacts become [[urban myths]] and [[factoids]].<ref name="GellesStraus1988">{{cite book|author1=Richard J. Gelles|author2=Murray Arnold Straus|title=Intimate violence|date=July 1988|publisher=Simon and Schuster|page=39|isbn=978-0-671-61752-3}}</ref> According to Richard J. Gelles the term "woozle effect" was coined by Beverly Houghton in 1979.<ref name="Houghton001">{{cite journal | title=Review of research on women abuse. | author=Houghton, B. | journal=annual meeting of the American Society of Criminology, Philadelphia |date=November 1979}}</ref><ref name="ViolenceInFammily001">{{cite journal | url=http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/351830 | title=Violence in the Family: A Review of Research in the Seventies | author=Richard J. Gelles | journal=Journal of Marriage and Family |date=Nov 1980 | volume=42 | issue=4 | pages=873–885}}</ref> Other researchers have attributed the term to Gelles (1980)<ref>{{Cite book |last= Nilsen |first= Linda |title= Father-daughter relationships: contemporary research and issues |publisher= Routledge Academic |year= 2012 |location= New York |url= http://books.google.com/books?id=nUyyvmz-Z0UC&pg=PA4 |page= 4 |isbn= 978-1-84872-933-9 }}</ref> and Gelles and Murray A. Straus (1988).<ref>{{Cite journal |last1= Dutton |first1= Donald D. |last2= Corvo |first2= Kenneth |title= Transforming a flawed policy: A call to revive psychology and science in domestic violence research and practice |journal= Aggression and Violent Behavior |volume= 11 |issue= 5 |year= 2006 |page= 466}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last= Ehrensaft |first= Miriam K. |title= Intimate partner violence: Persistence of myths and implications for intervention |journal= Children and Youth Services Review |volume= 30 |issue= 3 |year= 2009 |pages= 279–286}}</ref> Gelles and Straus argue that the woozle effect describes a pattern of bias seen within social sciences and which is identified as leading to multiple errors in individual and public perception, academia, policy making and government. A woozle is also a claim made about research which is not supported by original findings.<ref name="GellesStraus1988woozlenoun">{{cite book|author1=Richard J. Gelles|author2=Murray Arnold Straus|title=Intimate violence|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=_pYoAAAAYAAJ|date=July 1988|publisher=Simon and Schuster|isbn=978-0-671-61752-3|page=28|chapter=2}}</ref> |
'''Woozle effect''', also known as '''evidence by citation''',<ref name="stras001">{{cite journal | title = Processes Explaining the Concealment and Distortion of Evidence on Gender Symmetry in Partner Violence | journal = European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research | date = 14 July 2007 | first = Murray A. | last = Strauss | volume = 74 | issue = 13 | pages = 227–232 | doi = 10.1007/s10610-007-9060-5 }}.</ref> or a '''woozle''', occurs when frequent citation of previous publications that lack evidence misleads individuals, groups and the public into thinking or believing there is evidence, and nonfacts become [[urban myths]] and [[factoids]].<ref name="GellesStraus1988">{{cite book|author1=Richard J. Gelles|author2=Murray Arnold Straus|title=Intimate violence|date=July 1988|publisher=Simon and Schuster|page=39|isbn=978-0-671-61752-3}}</ref> According to Richard J. Gelles the term "woozle effect" was coined by Beverly Houghton in 1979.<ref name="Houghton001">{{cite journal | title=Review of research on women abuse. | author=Houghton, B. | journal=annual meeting of the American Society of Criminology, Philadelphia |date=November 1979}}</ref><ref name="ViolenceInFammily001">{{cite journal | url=http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/351830 | title=Violence in the Family: A Review of Research in the Seventies | author=Richard J. Gelles | journal=Journal of Marriage and Family |date=Nov 1980 | volume=42 | issue=4 | pages=873–885}}</ref> Other researchers have attributed the term to Gelles (1980)<ref>{{Cite book |last= Nilsen |first= Linda |title= Father-daughter relationships: contemporary research and issues |publisher= Routledge Academic |year= 2012 |location= New York |url= http://books.google.com/books?id=nUyyvmz-Z0UC&pg=PA4 |page= 4 |isbn= 978-1-84872-933-9 }}</ref> and Gelles and Murray A. Straus (1988).<ref>{{Cite journal |last1= Dutton |first1= Donald D. |last2= Corvo |first2= Kenneth |title= Transforming a flawed policy: A call to revive psychology and science in domestic violence research and practice |journal= Aggression and Violent Behavior |volume= 11 |issue= 5 |year= 2006 |page= 466}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last= Ehrensaft |first= Miriam K. |title= Intimate partner violence: Persistence of myths and implications for intervention |journal= Children and Youth Services Review |volume= 30 |issue= 3 |year= 2009 |pages= 279–286}}</ref> Gelles and Straus argue that the woozle effect describes a pattern of bias seen within social sciences and which is identified as leading to multiple errors in individual and public perception, academia, policy making and government. A woozle is also a claim made about research which is not supported by original findings.<ref name="GellesStraus1988woozlenoun">{{cite book|author1=Richard J. Gelles|author2=Murray Arnold Straus|title=Intimate violence|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=_pYoAAAAYAAJ|date=July 1988|publisher=Simon and Schuster|isbn=978-0-671-61752-3|page=28|chapter=2}}</ref> |
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Revision as of 03:25, 4 February 2014
![]() | The topic of this article may not meet Wikipedia's general notability guideline. (February 2014) |
Woozle effect, also known as evidence by citation,[1] or a woozle, occurs when frequent citation of previous publications that lack evidence misleads individuals, groups and the public into thinking or believing there is evidence, and nonfacts become urban myths and factoids.[2] According to Richard J. Gelles the term "woozle effect" was coined by Beverly Houghton in 1979.[3][4] Other researchers have attributed the term to Gelles (1980)[5] and Gelles and Murray A. Straus (1988).[6][7] Gelles and Straus argue that the woozle effect describes a pattern of bias seen within social sciences and which is identified as leading to multiple errors in individual and public perception, academia, policy making and government. A woozle is also a claim made about research which is not supported by original findings.[8]
Origin and usage
A Woozle is an imaginary character in the A.A. Milne book, Winnie-the-Pooh, published 1926.[9] In chapter three, "In Which Pooh and Piglet Go Hunting and Nearly Catch a Woozle", Winnie-the-Pooh and Piglet start following tracks left in snow believing they are the tracks of a Woozle. The tracks keep multiplying. Christopher Robin then explains that they have been following their own tracks around a tree.
In 1979, Houghton[3] illustrated the Woozle effect, showing how work by Gelles 1974, published in the book "The violent home",[10] had been transferred from applying to a small sample to a universal sample by Strauss who had written the foreword to the same book.[11] Both of these were then cited by Langley & Levy in their 1977 book, "Wife beating: the silent crisis".[12]
In 1982, Professor Wakter R Schumm of Kansas State University School of Family Studies and Human Services, warned of the danger of the Woozle effect when he said of it that it could be used to mistakenly "set policy in the prevention and treatment of family violence".[13]
In the 1998 book "Intimate Violence", Gelles and Straus use the Winnie-the-Pooh woozle to illustrate how poor practice in research and self-referential research causes older research to be taken as fresh evidence causing error and bias.[2]
A woozle effect, or a woozle, occurs when frequent citation of previous publications that lack evidence mislead individuals, groups and the public into thinking or believing there is evidence, and non-facts become urban myths and factoids.[2] The creation of woozles is often linked to the changing of language from qualified ("it may", "it might", "it could") to absolute form ("it is") firming up language and introducing ideas and views not held by an original author or supported by evidence.[14] Selection of data and design of research instruments to gather raw data are linked to the creation of the Woozle effect on many fields of study.[15]
The woozle effect is seen as an example of confirmation bias[16] and linked to belief perseverance.[17] Due to the nature of social sciences, where empirical evidence can be based more upon subjects' experiential report than absolute measure, there can be a tendency for researchers to align evidence with expectation. Social sciences are also seen as more likely to align with contemporary views and ideals of social justice, leading to bias towards those ideals and use of evidence to prove them.[18] Woozles have also been linked to groupthink, where social conformity within a group's accepted paradigm leads to the simplification, alteration and even deliberate ignoring of data which does not support the groupthink.[16]
The terms woozle and woozle effect are most frequently cited and used in the field of interpersonal violence (IPV) and domestic violence. This appears to be linked to the terms originating in the subject field in the 1998 book,"Intimate Violence".[2]
Other academic papers and publications have used the woozle as a motif and to show the presence of the woozle effect in many areas, such as school management,[19] nursing and gerentology,[20][21] developmental psychology[22] and public sector - governmental decision making.[23]
Gender bias
In the book "Rethinking Domestic Violence", Donald G Dutton raises concerns as to gender bias and potential political bias. He states:
"Woozles are usually not simply a matter of authentic misreporting. They also reveal a desire to read into the data an a priori position that is really not there, what Bacon calls "idols of the theatre". ... All the data reporting mistakes I have found in the literature, without exception, were made in the direction of supporting feminist preconceptions."[24]
See also
- Argument from authority
- Argumentum ad populum
- Fallacy
- Idola theatri - Idols of the Theatre
- Spiral Dynamics
- Viral phenomenon
- White hat bias
References
- ^ Strauss, Murray A. (14 July 2007). "Processes Explaining the Concealment and Distortion of Evidence on Gender Symmetry in Partner Violence". European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research. 74 (13): 227–232. doi:10.1007/s10610-007-9060-5..
- ^ a b c d Richard J. Gelles; Murray Arnold Straus (July 1988). Intimate violence. Simon and Schuster. p. 39. ISBN 978-0-671-61752-3.
- ^ a b Houghton, B. (November 1979). "Review of research on women abuse". annual meeting of the American Society of Criminology, Philadelphia.
- ^ Richard J. Gelles (Nov 1980). "Violence in the Family: A Review of Research in the Seventies". Journal of Marriage and Family. 42 (4): 873–885.
- ^ Nilsen, Linda (2012). Father-daughter relationships: contemporary research and issues. New York: Routledge Academic. p. 4. ISBN 978-1-84872-933-9.
- ^ Dutton, Donald D.; Corvo, Kenneth (2006). "Transforming a flawed policy: A call to revive psychology and science in domestic violence research and practice". Aggression and Violent Behavior. 11 (5): 466.
- ^ Ehrensaft, Miriam K. (2009). "Intimate partner violence: Persistence of myths and implications for intervention". Children and Youth Services Review. 30 (3): 279–286.
- ^ Richard J. Gelles; Murray Arnold Straus (July 1988). "2". Intimate violence. Simon and Schuster. p. 28. ISBN 978-0-671-61752-3.
- ^ Milne, A.A. (1926). "3". Winnie The Pooh (1 ed.). London: Methuen & Co Ltd.
In Which Pooh and Piglet Go Hunting and Nearly Catch a Woozle
- ^ Richard J. Gelles (November 1974). The violent home: a study of physical aggression between husbands and wives. Sage Publications. ISBN 978-0-8039-0381-4.
- ^ Forward By Straus, Murray A. (November 1974). The violent home: a study of physical aggression between husbands and wives. Sage Publications. pp. 13–17. ISBN 978-0-8039-0381-4.
Original Author Richard J. Gelles
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(help) - ^ Roger Langley; Richard C. Levy (1977). Wife beating: the silent crisis. Dutton. ISBN 978-0-87690-231-8.
- ^ Schumm, W. R.; Martin, M. J.; Bollman, S. R.; Jurich, A. P. (1982). "Classifying Family Violence: Whither the Woozle?". Journal of Family Issues. 3 (3): 335. doi:10.1177/019251382003003004. ISSN 0192-513X.
- ^ Donald G. Dutton (30 May 2006). Rethinking Domestic Violence. UBC Press. p. 28. ISBN 978-0-7748-1304-4.
- ^ Roth, Philip L. (1999). "Missing Data: Instrument-Level Heffalumps and Item-Level Woozles". Research Methods Forum. 4.
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suggested) (help) - ^ a b Donald G. Dutton (30 May 2006). Rethinking Domestic Violence. UBC Press. p. 109. ISBN 978-0-7748-1304-4.
- ^ Roy F. Baumeister; Kathleen D. Vohs (2007). Belief perseverance - Encyclopedia of social psychology. Sage Publications. pp. 109–110. ISBN 978-1-4129-1670-7.
- ^ Donald G. Dutton (30 May 2006). Rethinking Domestic Violence. UBC Press. p. 110. ISBN 978-0-7748-1304-4.
- ^ Soder, Roger; Bentzen, Mary (1989). "Looking for the Woozle and Other Tales: An Examination of "The Myths of School Self-Renewal"". Curriculum Inquiry. 19 (2). Wiley: 207–219. doi:10.2307F1991. JSTOR 1179411.
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value (help) - ^ Fox-wasylyshyn, Susan M.; El-masri, Maher M. (2005), "Handling missing data in self-report measures", Research in Nursing & Health, 28 (6): 488–495, doi:10.1002/nur.20100, retrieved 2013-01-02
- ^ Manthorpe, Jill; Watson, Roger (2002), "Editorial", Journal of Advanced Nursing, 38 (6): 541–542, doi:10.1046/j.1365-2648.2002.02265.x, retrieved 2013-01-02
- ^ Ann M. Bingham-Newman, Frank H. Hooper (75). "The Search for the Woozle circa 1975: Commentary on Brainerd's Observation". American Educational Research Journal. 12 (3): 379–387. JSTOR 1162319.
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ignored (help)CS1 maint: year (link) - ^ Kinchin, Niamh (20 MAR 2007). "More than Writing on a Wall: Evaluating the Role that Codes of Ethics Play in Securing Accountability of Public Sector Decision-Makers". Australian Journal of Public Administration. 66 (1): 112–120. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8500.2007.00519.x. Retrieved 2013-01-02.
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(help) - ^ Donald G. Dutton. Rethinking Domestic Violence. UBC Press. p. 29. ISBN 978-0-7748-1304-4.