{"id":125800,"date":"2019-03-08T11:51:43","date_gmt":"2019-03-08T11:51:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/samathieson.com\/sa-mathieson\/?p=125800"},"modified":"2024-08-01T12:47:52","modified_gmt":"2024-08-01T11:47:52","slug":"wikipedia-gets-it-wrong-even-as-a-source-of-sources","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/samathieson.com\/sa-mathieson\/wikipedia-gets-it-wrong-even-as-a-source-of-sources\/","title":{"rendered":"Wikipedia gets it wrong even as a source of sources"},"content":{"rendered":"

I am currently teaching a term-long data journalism course at Birkbeck, University of London<\/a> for MA students. Aside from seeing their overall projects develop, it is fun to see how students respond to challenges, such as to find data visualisations. (They came up with fine examples on gender pay gaps<\/a>, China\u2019s Uighur prison camps<\/a> and trade discrepancies<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

One particularly interesting set of responses came when I asked students to find something wrong on Wikipedia (without editing in their own errors). Several found basic factual mistakes in pages on their home towns and other things they know well. Having said that, in data journalism courses I always advise using Wikipedia as a source of sources, to follow links and footnotes to good primary material.<\/p>\n

But one error undermined that too: a reference to \u2018emotional and behavioural difficulties\u2019 \u2013 an official although superseded UK term for troubled children \u2013 that linked to a US page using a similar phrase, rather than a source for the British definition.<\/p>\n

The student who spotted this works at a pupil referral unit, and therefore knows what he is talking about. As I also say in the course, if in doubt speak to experts\u2026 and don\u2019t rely on Wikipedia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I am currently teaching a term-long data journalism course at Birkbeck, University of London for MA students. Aside from seeing their overall projects develop, it is fun to see how students respond to challenges, such as to find data visualisations. (They came up with fine examples on gender pay gaps, China\u2019s Uighur prison camps and … Continue reading “Wikipedia gets it wrong even as a source of sources”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[363,12,352],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-125800","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-data","category-media","category-training"],"yoast_head":"\nWikipedia gets it wrong even as a source of sources - SA Mathieson<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I am currently teaching a term-long data journalism course at Birkbeck, and asked students to find something wrong on Wikipedia.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/samathieson.com\/sa-mathieson\/wikipedia-gets-it-wrong-even-as-a-source-of-sources\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Wikipedia gets it wrong even as a source of sources - SA Mathieson\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I am currently teaching a term-long data journalism course at Birkbeck, and asked students to find something wrong on Wikipedia.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/samathieson.com\/sa-mathieson\/wikipedia-gets-it-wrong-even-as-a-source-of-sources\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"SA Mathieson\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-03-08T11:51:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-08-01T11:47:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"SA Mathieson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"SA Mathieson\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/samathieson.com\\\/sa-mathieson\\\/wikipedia-gets-it-wrong-even-as-a-source-of-sources\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/samathieson.com\\\/sa-mathieson\\\/wikipedia-gets-it-wrong-even-as-a-source-of-sources\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"SA Mathieson\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/samathieson.com\\\/sa-mathieson\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3606fa34fc4a527f20eeb5a32ff83a36\"},\"headline\":\"Wikipedia gets it wrong even as a source of sources\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-03-08T11:51:43+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-08-01T11:47:52+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/samathieson.com\\\/sa-mathieson\\\/wikipedia-gets-it-wrong-even-as-a-source-of-sources\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":212,\"commentCount\":0,\"articleSection\":[\"Data\",\"Media\",\"Training\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/samathieson.com\\\/sa-mathieson\\\/wikipedia-gets-it-wrong-even-as-a-source-of-sources\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/samathieson.com\\\/sa-mathieson\\\/wikipedia-gets-it-wrong-even-as-a-source-of-sources\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/samathieson.com\\\/sa-mathieson\\\/wikipedia-gets-it-wrong-even-as-a-source-of-sources\\\/\",\"name\":\"Wikipedia gets it wrong even as a source of sources - SA Mathieson\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/samathieson.com\\\/sa-mathieson\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2019-03-08T11:51:43+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-08-01T11:47:52+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/samathieson.com\\\/sa-mathieson\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3606fa34fc4a527f20eeb5a32ff83a36\"},\"description\":\"I am currently teaching a term-long data journalism course at Birkbeck, and asked students to find something wrong on Wikipedia.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/samathieson.com\\\/sa-mathieson\\\/wikipedia-gets-it-wrong-even-as-a-source-of-sources\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/samathieson.com\\\/sa-mathieson\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/samathieson.com\\\/sa-mathieson\\\/\",\"name\":\"SA Mathieson\",\"description\":\"Journalist, editor, analyst and trainer on computing, government, climate and data\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/samathieson.com\\\/sa-mathieson\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/samathieson.com\\\/sa-mathieson\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3606fa34fc4a527f20eeb5a32ff83a36\",\"name\":\"SA Mathieson\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/023c08559e663aa567033c4c53dea808a97496ecb3e08431abc1a347ef45782b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/023c08559e663aa567033c4c53dea808a97496ecb3e08431abc1a347ef45782b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/023c08559e663aa567033c4c53dea808a97496ecb3e08431abc1a347ef45782b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"SA Mathieson\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/samathieson\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/samathieson.com\\\/sa-mathieson\\\/author\\\/admin\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Wikipedia gets it wrong even as a source of sources - SA Mathieson","description":"I am currently teaching a term-long data journalism course at Birkbeck, and asked students to find something wrong on Wikipedia.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/samathieson.com\/sa-mathieson\/wikipedia-gets-it-wrong-even-as-a-source-of-sources\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Wikipedia gets it wrong even as a source of sources - SA Mathieson","og_description":"I am currently teaching a term-long data journalism course at Birkbeck, and asked students to find something wrong on Wikipedia.","og_url":"https:\/\/samathieson.com\/sa-mathieson\/wikipedia-gets-it-wrong-even-as-a-source-of-sources\/","og_site_name":"SA Mathieson","article_published_time":"2019-03-08T11:51:43+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-08-01T11:47:52+00:00","author":"SA Mathieson","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"SA Mathieson","Estimated reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/samathieson.com\/sa-mathieson\/wikipedia-gets-it-wrong-even-as-a-source-of-sources\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/samathieson.com\/sa-mathieson\/wikipedia-gets-it-wrong-even-as-a-source-of-sources\/"},"author":{"name":"SA Mathieson","@id":"https:\/\/samathieson.com\/sa-mathieson\/#\/schema\/person\/3606fa34fc4a527f20eeb5a32ff83a36"},"headline":"Wikipedia gets it wrong even as a source of sources","datePublished":"2019-03-08T11:51:43+00:00","dateModified":"2024-08-01T11:47:52+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/samathieson.com\/sa-mathieson\/wikipedia-gets-it-wrong-even-as-a-source-of-sources\/"},"wordCount":212,"commentCount":0,"articleSection":["Data","Media","Training"],"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/samathieson.com\/sa-mathieson\/wikipedia-gets-it-wrong-even-as-a-source-of-sources\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/samathieson.com\/sa-mathieson\/wikipedia-gets-it-wrong-even-as-a-source-of-sources\/","url":"https:\/\/samathieson.com\/sa-mathieson\/wikipedia-gets-it-wrong-even-as-a-source-of-sources\/","name":"Wikipedia gets it wrong even as a source of sources - SA Mathieson","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/samathieson.com\/sa-mathieson\/#website"},"datePublished":"2019-03-08T11:51:43+00:00","dateModified":"2024-08-01T11:47:52+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/samathieson.com\/sa-mathieson\/#\/schema\/person\/3606fa34fc4a527f20eeb5a32ff83a36"},"description":"I am currently teaching a term-long data journalism course at Birkbeck, and asked students to find something wrong on Wikipedia.","inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/samathieson.com\/sa-mathieson\/wikipedia-gets-it-wrong-even-as-a-source-of-sources\/"]}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/samathieson.com\/sa-mathieson\/#website","url":"https:\/\/samathieson.com\/sa-mathieson\/","name":"SA Mathieson","description":"Journalist, editor, analyst and trainer on computing, government, climate and data","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/samathieson.com\/sa-mathieson\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/samathieson.com\/sa-mathieson\/#\/schema\/person\/3606fa34fc4a527f20eeb5a32ff83a36","name":"SA Mathieson","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/023c08559e663aa567033c4c53dea808a97496ecb3e08431abc1a347ef45782b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/023c08559e663aa567033c4c53dea808a97496ecb3e08431abc1a347ef45782b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/023c08559e663aa567033c4c53dea808a97496ecb3e08431abc1a347ef45782b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"SA Mathieson"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/x.com\/samathieson"],"url":"https:\/\/samathieson.com\/sa-mathieson\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/samathieson.com\/sa-mathieson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125800","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/samathieson.com\/sa-mathieson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/samathieson.com\/sa-mathieson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samathieson.com\/sa-mathieson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samathieson.com\/sa-mathieson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=125800"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/samathieson.com\/sa-mathieson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125800\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":205681,"href":"https:\/\/samathieson.com\/sa-mathieson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125800\/revisions\/205681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/samathieson.com\/sa-mathieson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=125800"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samathieson.com\/sa-mathieson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=125800"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samathieson.com\/sa-mathieson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=125800"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}