Since we began this blog discussing misleading studies, I thought I would turn our attention to a recent ×??study×?? by the American Medical Association.

Back in March, the AMA released a ×??study×?? on alcohol and sex during spring break trips.÷š The AMA said that the study was based on the responses of 644 college women and graduates ages 27-35.÷š Their study noted a number of things: spring break trips involve more or heavier drinking; women use drinking as an excuse for outrageous behavior; and that alcohol is easy to get on spring break.

Now, I×?Tm not saying that college students don×?Tt drink and party on spring break trips.÷š However, what I do want to bring everyone×?Ts attention is that what the AMA is claiming as scientific research is not as scientific as they would like us to believe.

Howard Kurtz from the Washington Post accurately points out, ×??this poll had zero scientific validity.×??÷š Randomly selected respondents were not the participants in the poll ×?’ it was an Internet survey with self-selected participants.÷š According to Cliff Zukin, president of the American Association for Public Opinion Research, (a bona fide expert in the field of public opinion research) dismissed the AMA survey as ×??scientifically useless.×?? [Note: This quote is excerpted from a Wall Street Journal article.÷š To access the article, you must log on to www.wsj.com.]

And of course after the study was released (and before the truth was exposed) the media ate it up.÷š Mystery Pollster has noted that stories on the poll appeared in thousand of newspapers across the country.

This leads me to conclude a couple of things: 1) how many ×??studies×?? has the AMA released that we just accept as scientific fact; and 2) why isn×?Tt the media more responsible with their reporting?

As I have said a number of times, underage drinking is unacceptable.÷š But passing off bogus studies as scientific fact is not the answer.