Two Sources That Disagree on a Statistic
A student writes a research paragraph about teen sleep and screens. Source A is a 2019 school-district survey of 420 students reporting that 62% of respondents get fewer than seven hours of sleep on school nights. Source B is a 2021 national poll of 1,800 teens reporting 48%. The student wants to write: "Most teens get too little sleep because of screen use." The teacher requires at least two sources, accurate attribution, and no claims stronger than the evidence supports. The student has not yet read either source's methodology section and does not know whether either asked about screen use specifically.
1. Evaluate the student's proposed sentence against the two sources. What is wrong with it, and what would a defensible revision look like?
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The sentence fails on three counts. First, "most teens" generalizes from a single district (Source A) or a national poll (Source B) to all teens; the sources support only their own populations. Second, the two figures disagree (62% vs. 48%), so the student cannot pick the higher one silently. Third, "because of screen use" asserts causation, but neither source is described as establishing that screens cause short sleep, and the student has not confirmed either asked about screens.
A defensible revision: "Estimates of insufficient teen sleep vary by sample: a 2019 survey of 420 students in one district found 62% sleeping under seven hours on school nights, while a 2021 national poll of 1,800 teens found 48%. Neither figure alone describes all teens, and the gap suggests the measure or population matters." This attributes each number, names the population, and avoids causal language.
2. What should the student check in each source's methodology before finalizing, and how might the findings change the paragraph?
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Check four things: (1) the exact sleep question and threshold - "fewer than seven hours" is not the same as "not enough sleep"; (2) the sampling method and response rate, since a 420-student district survey may overrepresent one demographic; (3) whether screen use was measured at all, and if so how; (4) the date and whether conditions changed between 2019 and 2021.
If Source A used a self-selected online survey, its 62% is weaker evidence than a random sample, and the paragraph should say so. If neither source measured screens, the causal claim must be dropped entirely and replaced with a statement about correlation only if a source supports it. If Source B defines short sleep differently, the two percentages are not comparable and should be presented as separate findings rather than a contradiction.
3. How should the student handle the disagreement between 62% and 48% in the final paragraph?
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Present both figures with their populations and dates rather than averaging or choosing. Averaging would invent a number no source reported; choosing the larger would misrepresent the evidence. The honest move is to report the range and explain plausible reasons for the gap - different samples, different questions, different years - while flagging that the explanation is inference, not a finding.
A workable sentence: "Reported rates range from 48% nationally to 62% in one district, a spread that likely reflects differences in sample and survey wording rather than a real change over two years." That sentence is accurate, attributes both sources, and does not overclaim. If the student cannot explain the gap confidently, they should state the range and note that the sources are not directly comparable.