PsyPost reports:

In the digital era, navigating the relentless surge of political information has become a daily challenge for Americans. Yet, a recent study spearheaded by scholars from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign reveals a concerning trend: many Americans find it difficult to differentiate between statements of fact and statements of opinion. This struggle poses significant implications for civic discourse and the ability to sift through political information effectively.

The findings have been published by the Harvard Kennedy School Misinformation Review.

“The capacity to differentiate between a statement of opinion and a statement of fact is vital for citizens to manage the flood of political information they receive on any given day,” said study author Jeffery J. Mondak, a professor of political science and the James M. Benson Chair in Public Issues and Civic Leadership. “There’s a huge amount of research on misinformation. But what we found is that, even before we get to the stage of labeling something misinformation, people often have trouble discerning the difference between statements of fact and opinion.”

“We also see a lot of research on misinformation that comes at the problem from the angle of, ‘How are we doing in terms of playing whack-a-mole with misinformation? Are we able to fact check them and rebut these claims?’ Well, that isn’t necessarily a useful way of getting at the root cause of the problem,” said Matthew Mettler, a graduate student and co-author of the paper.

To investigate this, the researchers conducted an online survey designed to measure participants’ abilities to differentiate these types of statements, particularly within the context of political information. This survey was administered by YouGov, a reputable market research company, ensuring a broad and diverse demographic reach. The survey took place over five days, from March 9 to March 14, 2019, and successfully gathered responses from 2,500 individuals across the United States.

The core of the survey consisted of twelve statements about current events, deliberately chosen to cover a spectrum of topics likely to elicit varied responses based on participants’ political beliefs. These statements were split evenly to include both factual claims (such as “ISIS lost a significant portion of its territory in Iraq and Syria in 2017”) and opinions (for example, “Increasing the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour is essential for the health of the U.S. economy”).

Participants were asked to categorize each statement as either a fact or an opinion, providing researchers with direct insight into their capacity for discerning factual information from subjective viewpoints.

One of the most striking findings was that a substantial portion of the respondents, approximately 45.7%, performed no better than chance when tasked with identifying statements as fact or opinion. This suggests that nearly half of the surveyed population could not reliably discern factual information from personal beliefs or subjective statements. This finding is alarming, as it underscores a fundamental challenge in the public’s ability to engage critically with information, a skill that is crucial for informed decision-making and civic engagement. [Continue reading…]