The world, today, is exposed to a plethora of information, substantiated or not. Since newspapers and other secondary source material is responsible for relaying information to much of the population it is important to understand and realize the limitations of the medium. Their need to appeal to the general population and their wide dispersal would make them more likely to incorporate entertainment value versus objectively reported facts. Therefore it is imperative to question and compare them with the primary sources they report on. A fairly recent study was done on the effects of Internet use. The researchers report was published as was a secondary article on the findings. By comparing these two the limitations of the secondary source can be exposed and used as an example for other such circumstances.
The secondary-source article comes from the August 30, 1998 edition of the New York Times. Written by Amy Harmon, the report is titled Researchers Find Sad Lonely World in Cyberspace. The article goes on to explain that researchers at Carnegie Mellon University completed a study (later identified as the Homenet study) that examines the social and psychological effects of Internet use in the home. What they found, the report states, is that the initial depression and loneliness of the participants in the study did not increase use on the Internet. However, citing the researchers, the article states; Internet use itself appeared to cause a decline in psychological well-being.
After stating this theoretical finding the article lists the cost of the project ($1.5 million) and the organizations who sponsored it (many being technology companies). The article notes that both these organizations and the research team were shocked by the findings, because the Internet has been viewed by many as having actively social uses. Harmon goes on to compare the Internet to the passive medium of television.
