O\'Connor, Anahad. (June 22, 2004) the Claim:

O'Connor, Anahad. (June 22, 2004) "The Claim: Too Much Sleep Is Bad for You." The New York Times. Science & Health Section. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/22/health/22REAL.html

It's hard to believe, but this article councils the reader that getting more than seven hours of sleep may be hazardous to his or her health. "A 2002 study found that getting more than seven hours of sleep each night was associated with a shorter life span. Several studies since then, including one this year by researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, also found a link," between poor health and getting more than seven hours of sleep a night.

Thus, the article makes vague reference to several studies pointing to such a correlation, but only provides specific information on one particular 2002 study. This "2002 study examined data on more than a million Americans over the age of 30 between 1982 and 1988." The article, however, does not state why the study was limited to compiling data only about individuals over the age of thirty, given that individuals below this age might be more apt to 'cheat' on sleep -- such as college and high school students -- or have less of a risk of health problems. Nor does the article state that the study gradated the analysis regarding hours of sleep logged also according to age, which might screen out health and lifestyle differences between, for instance, a thirty and an eighty-year-old. It does not even state that the information was gathered solely from individuals in good health, although the population of a million is significantly large in number, to screen out some possible non-sleep related factors.

The study found that "the risk of dying in that period climbed as subjects went above seven hours of sleep. Those who averaged eight hours a night, the study found, had a 12% increased chance of death. Other researchers have also found that life expectancy declines as sleep falls below seven hours, but not as steeply as it does with eight hours or more." However, the research does not take into consideration that those who 'make time' for above-average levels of sleep may have depression, less social obligations and connections, or may be unemployed and thus lack appropriate health insurance, thus putting them at risk. The article does admit that "most sleep experts are reluctant to draw conclusions because the findings are based on correlations, which cannot show cause and effect," and that people who sleep longer may have illnesses that cause fatigue and earlier death, and that the study shows that those "averaging more than seven hours of sleep a night is associated with a shorter life span, though whether poor health or too much sleep accounts for the link is unclear." However, overall the data compiled in the study seems fuzzy at best.

Article 2: Kolata, Gina. (June 23, 2004) "10 Million Women Who Lack a Cervix Still Get Pap Tests." Science & Health Section. The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/23/health/23PAP.final.html?pagewanted=print&position=

This article discusses a potentially divisive malpractice issue regarding an unnecessary medical procedure. According to a new study, ten million women who have had hysterectomies and who no longer have a cervix are still getting Pap tests. The nature of a screening Pap test is a test that looks for pre-cancerous cells in cervical tissue. The tissue scraped from a woman's cervix. Early detection through this test can prevent what would otherwise be a common and deadly cancer, but, shockingly, "these women are being screened for cancer in an organ that they don't have."

The 10 million women having unnecessary Pap tests constitute about 12% of the 85 million women currently being screened. No professional medical organization recommends Pap tests for most women without a cervix. The screening guidelines for administering pap tests, "either have not been heard or have been ignored," the investigators wrote," regarding the study.

However, the article does not state how the data was compiled, if the test was conducted equally broadly across the country, amongst mainly middle-class women, women of a particular race or socio-economic group, or women possessing a particular kind of health insurance. The article does note "not only are most women who have had hysterectomies having Pap tests," but "the proportion having them also held steady, at 68%, from 1992 to 2002." The aging of the population is not taken into consideration, nor is it noted overall that women have had hysterectomies in greater number over those years, compared with previous years. It is not recorded in the data if there are other pressure factors that increase the rate of pap tests being performed in the unnecessary group.

Article 3: Elliot, Stuart. (June 23, 2004)"Upbeat Forecast for Advertising." The New York Times. The New York Times. Business. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/23/business/media/23adco.html

Forecasts for the future of the advertising industry are looking up, according to the projected statistics compiled for this article. Unlike much of statistical analysis, this article is future looking rather than looking at the past. Because of the raise forecast estimates for 2004 yesterday the improving economy should result in an even more optimistic outlook in his first assessment of 2005.

Robert J. Coen reduced his prediction for ad spending growth in local media across the country, "citing softness in categories like retail and classifieds." But Mr. Coen, senior vice president and forecasting director at Universal McCann in New York, lifted his estimate for the growth of combined national and local ad spending in the United States to 7.3% this year compared with 2003. In December, he had forecast a gain of 6.9% in 2004.