RADAR ALERT:
The CDC Admits its Mistake, But Doesn't Stop Junk Science

Two months ago RADAR blew the whistle on a junk science report from the federal Centers for Disease Control. The report purported to show that in their lifetime, women are more than twice as likely as men to suffer from intimate partner violence – 23.6% vs. 11.5%.

The problem is the CDC researchers loaded the questionnaire, counting any "attempts" or "threats" of violence, or "any unwanted sex," on the same level as actual acts of violence – and then lumping all the answers together!

So on February 11 we put out an Alert – and thousands of you responded!

Then the CDC rechecked the raw numbers. OOOPS! Turns out the numbers were wrong – but the CDC didn't explain why. The percentages are actually 26.4% for women vs. 15.9% for men. So on March 7 the CDC issued a correction.

But here we are almost two months later, and the CDC has not fixed the main problem – three of the four questions they used have not been validated.

The CDC needs to hear from you – TODAY!

Email CDC director Dr. Julie Gerberding at , or call her office at 1-404-639-7000.

• Politely ask her to explain why the numbers the CDC originally reported turned out to be incorrect.
• Urge her to appoint an advisory panel of qualified university researchers.
• Tell her the CDC needs to stop using invalid questions that inflate and distort the true incidence of partner violence.

Take Action Now! WE CAN STOP JUNK RESEARCH!

RADAR's February 11 Alert: http://mediaradar.org/alert20080211.php
RADAR letter to the CDC: http://mediaradar.org/docs/RADARletter-CDC-BRFSS-Distorts-Data.pdf
CDC's original study: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5705a1.htm
CDC's correction: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5709a7.htm

Date of RADAR Release: March 31, 2008

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R.A.D.A.R. – Respecting Accuracy in Domestic Abuse Reporting – is a non-profit, non-partisan organization of men and women working to improve the effectiveness of our nation's approach to solving domestic violence. http://mediaradar.org