Lesson plan

Interphone study

The Interphone study (sometimes stylized as INTERPHONE) was a set of international case-control studies conducted with the aim of determining whether mobile phone use increased the risk of certain tumors, namely, glioma, meningioma, and schwannoma. The study was conducted by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in thirteen countries, at a cost of $24 million. About fifty scientists worked on the study, which was the largest case-control study conducted on the association between mobile phones and cancer as of 2014. The study's results, published in 2010, indicated that mobile phone use did not increase the risk of tumors among most cell phone users, with the possible exception of an increased risk among the 10% of users who used their cell phones the most. In the Interphone study, the top 10% of users used their phones 30 minutes/day. Some users reported using their cell phones >5 hours per day, but this was considered implausible at the time of the study. The median usage was less than 2.5 hours per month.

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Article summary

The Interphone study (sometimes stylized as INTERPHONE) was a set of international case-control studies conducted with the aim of determining whether mobile phone use increased the risk of certain tumors, namely, glioma, meningioma, and schwannoma. The study was conducted by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in thirteen countries, at a cost of $24 million. About fifty scientists worked on the study, which was the largest case-control study conducted on the association between mobile phones and cancer as of 2014. The study's results, published in 2010, indicated that mobile phone use did not increase the risk of tumors among most cell phone users, with the possible exception of an increased risk among the 10% of users who used their cell phones the most. In the Interphone study, the top 10% of users used their phones 30 minutes/day. Some users reported using their cell phones >5 hours per day, but this was considered implausible at the time of the study. The median usage was less than 2.5 hours per month.

Key claims

  1. publication date: 2010 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95
  2. release date: 2010 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95

Discussion questions

  1. Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
  2. The record states that the publication date is "2010". What evidence would count against this claim?
  3. The record states that the release date is "2010". What evidence would count against this claim?
  4. Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
  5. If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?

Bibliography

  1. Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1319834833

Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.