Wednesday, September 28, 2016

Bad Abstract: Comparison of risk and protective factors associated with smartphone addiction and Internet addiction.

The authors of this study conclude: "Our findings will aid clinicians in distinguishing between predictive factors for smartphone and Internet addiction and can consequently be utilized in the prevention and treatment of smartphone addiction." J Behav Addict. 2015 Dec;4(4):308-14

Comment: This is an example of a poor abstract. The conclusion to an abstract should state what the scientific study found, not opinion regarding implications of the research. In this case, the researchers presented a conclusion that has nothing to do with the hard scientific data that they found and analyzed. Rather, their conclusion was a mish-mash of vague wishy washy ideas about what they imagine regarding the effects of their research. I challenge anyone to tell me what their research study actually found, from a scientific standpoint, based upon their conclusion. Deeper analysis of the abstract reveals that their results section was also flawed; what was presented here should have been in the conclusion. The authors did not present a statistical analysis of their data in the abstract (this should be presented in the results section).