Scott Alexander critiques media reporting of scientific studies, showing how the same study can lead to vastly different headlines and interpretations, often misrepresenting the actual findings. Longer summary

Scott Alexander critiques media reporting of scientific studies, focusing on two examples: a study about parental time spent with children and another about weight discrimination. He shows how different media outlets can present the same study with vastly different, even contradictory headlines. In the weight discrimination study, he points out how the actual findings were much less significant than the media portrayed, with many important measures showing no discrimination. Scott argues that the process from conducting a study to its media reporting allows for too many 'degrees of freedom', resulting in headlines that may not accurately reflect the study's actual findings. He concludes by emphasizing the importance of reading beyond headlines and abstracts to understand scientific studies accurately. Shorter summary