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A2 Science In Society 3.2
Teacher Notes
Introduction
How Science Works
In this activity students take on the role of tabloid journalist to write a
news story from a press release. Can our genetics affect how we bond
with our partners? A team at the Karolinska Institute, a medical
university in Stockholm, studied a gene called AVPR1A, which has
been shown to affect the mating behaviour of voles.
Activity
Studies show how behaviour is influenced by a combination of both
genetic inheritance and environment. There are social implications for
our understanding of the role of genes in influencing behaviour. Factors
that affect single gene explanations of behaviour include ways that
preliminary findings have been publicised by the media and the
scientists involved. Newspapers are there to stimulate interest in the
news, so also have to be entertaining and very few people would ever
read about science at all if it were left to the people carrying out
research to report on their findings to a wider audience.
This activity looks at how the reporting of scientific research by
newspaper journalists can place a different emphasis on the
interpretation of data from researchers. In particular it illustrates how
some of the unknown factors relating to our behaviour, our genetic
makeup and our experiences can be used to exaggerate claims.
The press release for this research can be read at the Karolinska
Institutet website:
http://ki.se/ki/jsp/polopoly.jsp?a=66035&d=22037&l=en
http://www.pnas.org/content/105/37/14153.full.pdf+html
Fb The popular media play a
part in providing information,
setting the agenda and
influencing opinion on issues
involving science and
technology.
Fc Media reports of scientific
developments are always
simplified and sometimes
inaccurate A newspaper report
of a new development has not
been through the stringent peer
review process that articles in
scientific journals must undergo
(though it may be reporting on
work that has).
Science explanations
Ce Most characteristics are
determined by an interaction
between several genes as well
as by the effect of the
environment. The environment
can influence gene expression.
At the end of the activity you might wish to get students to also criticise
real media stories based on this same press release.
BBC Men's health First Coast News
Page 1
©The Nuffield Foundation, 2009
Copies may be made for UK in schools and colleges
A2 Science In Society 3.2
Teacher Notes
Part 1
Read the press release from the Karolinska Institutet to help you answer the questions below:
1 The press release states that there are many reasons why a person may have relationship problems.
What does the press release suggest is a genetic contributor to relationship problems?
Men who carry one or two copies of a variant of a gene - allele 334
2 The research made use of a type of twin study. What do we understand by a twin study and why do
researchers looking at ‘nature and nurture’ often favour this approach?
Scientists value twin studies in nature-nurture studies because they are thought to control for genetic
variability. Identical (monozygous) twins have the same gene combinations – so any behavioural
differences are thought to be a result of experience and environment. In a typical twin study, identical
twins separated at birth are compared with non-identical twins who have been brought up together.
This design reduces some of the criticism leveled at comparisons between identical twins, since, if
they are brought up together, they will be sharing the same experiences as well as having identical
genes.
The study reported here does not appear to have used monozygous twins, reared apart.
3 The researchers appear to have identified a correlation between possessing either one or two copies
of allele 334 and men’s behaviour in a relationship.
What precisely is the correlation identified?
Men who carry one or two copies of a variant of this gene - allele 334 - often behave differently in
relationships than men who lack this gene variant. The incidence of allele 334 was statistically linked
to how strong a bond a man felt he had with his partner. Men who had two copies of allele 334 were
also twice as likely to have had a marital or relational crisis in the past year than those who lacked
the gene variant. There was also a correlation between the men's gene variant and what their
respective partners thought about their relationship.
4 A correlation alone is often not sufficient for us to accept that a given factor is a cause of an outcome.
What might scientists try to establish, once a clear statistical relationship be established between
allele 334 and men’s behaviour?
The limitations of correlation studies are that they often do not indicate the cause of the relationship
between the variables being studied. There is also a possibility that the two variables being explored
are both explained by another underlying factor (eg ice cream sales seem to increase if there is no ‘r’
in the name of the month – these also happen to be May, June, July and August!).
Scientists might attempt to determine the action of the allele 334, and how its presence affects
factors such as brain growth, hormone levels and psychological and emotional factors.
5 Describe two further pieces of information about the research that you think should have been
included in the press release to help readers to evaluate the conclusions.
The limitations on inferring human behaviour from animal studies
More of the actual data. How ‘modest’ the genetic effect actually is in humans – and in comparison
with voles
Page 2
©The Nuffield Foundation, 2009
Copies may be made for UK in schools and colleges
A2 Science In Society 3.2
Teacher Notes
Part 2
Try to keep rigidly to the time set to simulate the real life situation. The extent to which time constraints
affect journalistic quality can be discussed at the end.
Nature and nurture activities developed and written by Nowgen as part of the Wellcome Trust funded Nowgen
School Genomics Project.
August 2009
Page 3
©The Nuffield Foundation, 2009
Copies may be made for UK in schools and colleges
A2 Science In Society 3.2
Student sheets
Introduction
Can our genetics affect how we bond with our partners? In this activity you will be introduced to some of
the evidence and will explain it for a popular audience.
Textbook p.33-35 and 37-42
Studies show how human behaviour is influenced by a combination of both genetic inheritance and
environment but the interaction is poorly understood. There are social implications for our understanding
of the role of genes in influencing behaviour.
Factors that affect single gene explanations of behaviour include ways that preliminary findings have
been publicised by the media and the scientists involved. “The popular media play a part in providing
information, setting the agenda and influencing opinion on issues involving science and technology.
Media reports of scientific developments are always simplified and sometimes inaccurate” - since there
is no peer review process for newspapers and other non-technical media. Newspapers are there to
stimulate interest in the news, so also have to be entertaining. Very few people would ever read about
science at all if it were left to the people carrying out research to report on their findings to a wider
audience.
This activity looks at how the reporting of scientific research by newspaper journalists can place a
different emphasis on the interpretation of data from researchers. In particular it illustrates how some of
the unknown factors relating to our behaviour, our genetic makeup and our experiences can be used to
exaggerate claims.
The press release for this research can be read at the Karolinska Institutet website:
http://ki.se/ki/jsp/polopoly.jsp?a=66035&d=22037&l=en
Part 1
Read the press release from the Karolinska Institutet to help you answer the questions below:
1 The press release states that there are many reasons why a person may have relationship problems.
What does the press release suggest is a genetic contributor to relationship problems?
2 The research made use of a type of twin study. What do we understand by a twin study and why do
researchers looking at ‘nature and nurture’ often favour this approach? (see textbook page 38)
3 The researchers appear to have identified a correlation between possessing either one or two copies
of allele 334 and men’s behaviour in a relationship.
What precisely is the correlation identified?
4 A correlation alone is often not sufficient for us to accept that a given factor is a cause of an outcome.
What might scientists try to establish, once a clear statistical relationship has been established
between allele 334 and men’s behaviour?
Page 1
©The Nuffield Foundation, 2009
Copies may be made for UK in schools and colleges
A2 Science In Society 3.2
Student sheets
5 Describe two further pieces of information about the research that you think should have been
included in the press release to help readers to evaluate the conclusions.
Part 2
In this activity you will adopt the role of a journalist working on a tabloid newspaper to a very tight
deadline. As often happens, the journalist is presented with a press release from which s/he has to
construct a story. You should ensure that you meet a strict deadline by completing the article of no more
than 500 words within 60 minutes. The editor of your newspaper expects you to make sure a nonscientific audience is drawn to your article and that they find the content interesting and relevant.
Good tabloid journalism is a real skill - even when the information it presents is skewed or simply wrong.
You have to engage with the reader and try to encourage them to identify with the politics and views of
the newspaper. A good news article relies on a ‘reverse pyramid’ in which the most substantial and
important information comes at the start, leading to progressively more detailed but less important
content as the article progresses. One of the reasons this is such a powerful approach is that the reader
can ‘leave’ the article at any time, having gained as much information as she or he requires.
To make your article even more like a real newspaper report, you should also apply the who, when,
where, what and how rule in your first paragraph. This means that your article needs to establish:
Who: the people involved in the research and any human interest – newspapers stories are made
interesting by application to real lives.
When: News stories go out of date very quickly. Emphasising something that is happening right now
makes it attractive to read. If the content did not happen recently, journalists will often link it with
something that did.
Where: Similarly, stories appeal to the reader if they took place locally or in an exotic place. If neither of
these apply, the location is still important – partly so that the reader can place the events in a cultural
context.
What: News stories, of course, need to describe an event. It is sometimes difficult to see long-term
activities, such as scientific research, as a discrete event. This is why scientific organisations produce
press releases to coincide with the formal publication of the research findings.
How: The skill is to ensure that the level of detail is just enough to convey the news story without going
into too much detail. Bear in mind the inverted pyramid.
The science
You just have time to look up a source to help you understand the background basic science a bit better,
even if you don’t use it all.
A team at the Karolinska Institute, a medical university in Stockholm, studied a gene called
AVPR1A, which has been shown to affect the mating behaviour of voles. Meadow voles, are
solitary and the males are highly promiscuous whilst their cousins, the prairie voles, are
monogamous. When scientists added a prairie voles’ gene to the meadow voles’ brains the
meadow voles began both to spend more time with their partners and to look after their offspring.
It is known that the AVPR1A gene influences the number of receptors for the hormone
vasopressin in the forebrain. This in turn affects dopamine release. The AVPR1A gene has also
been seen to influence social behaviour in other animals, including chimpanzees.
The personal
You might also just have time to make one phone call to woman known to be having relationship
problems to allow you to have a personal quote in the story. You can imagine what she might say for
the purposes of this activity
Page 2
©The Nuffield Foundation, 2009
Copies may be made for UK in schools and colleges
A2 Science In Society 3.2
Student sheets
How effective is your journalism?
When your article is complete exchange it with another member of your class to assess how effective
you have been as a tabloid journalist. Copy and complete the table below for between 3 and 8 scientific
facts. For each piece of science covered, state how each has been manipulated to make it more
interesting to the reader. A slightly exaggerated example is provided:
Science
Humans and meadow voles
both possess the AVPR1A
allele.
1
Assumptions and exaggerations made on that
science in the article
Humans and voles have been shown to possess the
gene which makes the males ‘love rats’
On the basis of your assessment decide whether the article was
(i) a good piece of journalism
(ii) scientifically accurate.
Share your thoughts with the rest of the class in a short discussion.
2
Consider the challenge to scientists and to journalists of communicating with the public when much
of scientific discovery is painstakingly slow and carried out one step at a time.
3
Discuss the use of press releases by journalists. (See textbook page 33)
Page 3
©The Nuffield Foundation, 2009
Copies may be made for UK in schools and colleges