Toss a sliver of information into the great stream of public narrative and see what happens to it. There it goes, briefly visible on the surface then consumed; part of the stream but no longer visible. A perfect example of this is provided by a new piece of research carried out by the Texas A&M Health Science Center School of Public Health into the effects of standing at work on a small sample of call centre workers. While the results of the study are impressive, notably a 46 percent increase in productivity, by the time the story was reported on Inc.com, the 167 call centre workers had suddenly morphed into everybody. It should go without saying that the headline ‘Your Productivity Will Increase by 46 percent if You Stand at Your Desk’ does not reflect the conclusions of the original research. The statements by the researchers suggesting that the study is significant with regard to call centre staff but merely indicative of a wider issue go ignored.
The facts about sit stand work are already lost in the stream of narrative