Chapter 13 Homework Scientists Sometimes Deliberately Start Rumors At Colleges

Unlock access to all the studying documents.

View Full Document

Chapter 13

Have You Heard This? The Latest on Rumor

CHAPTER S

UMMARY

The chapter opens with a reflection by journalist Stephen O’Leary on how and why rumors spread following large-

scale tragedies like the 9/11 terrorist attack, emphasizing how rumors represent an attempt at making meaning in

unsettled, confusing circumstances. The chapter then settles into a presentation of rumor theory and examples of

rumors on which students can test these theories. First several rumors: of Frankenchicken served up by a well-

known fast food restaurant; symbols of devil worship subtly embedded in a corporate logo; and a dead grandmother

strapped to the roof of a car. Next, students will get the chance to investigate the birth and spread of a (false) rumor

concerning the spread of the deadly Ebola virus in Kansas City.

Next, Katherine Viner, editor-in-chief of The Guardian, offers her views on why our times are roiled by fake news

and rumor. Several theoretical pieces on rumor follow. First, psychologist Daniel Goleman shows us that most

rumors feed on our anxieties about contamination or death. Then political scientist and op-ed writer Gregory

Rodriguez deploys the findings of rumor theorists like Robert H. Knapp and Cass Sunstein to explore the ways in

You might begin this chapter by asking students what rumors they have heard recently around campus, in their circle

of friends, in their faith community, or in politics, entertainment, or sports. Select a few examples and ask the

students who have volunteered to discuss the rumor in greater depth. Did he or she hear only one version of the

Rumors of Grace and Terror (p. 435)

Strephen O’Leary

UMMARY

A journalist who teaches at the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, Stephen O’Leary is concerned

not just with the spread of rumors and how they subvert fact-based knowledge. He explores the psychological and

sociological causes of rumors as well, particularly as a response to high-profile news. “Any large-scale tragedy

naturally invites speculation on the ‘story behind the story,’” he writes. HE urges us to regard rumors “as a sort of

modern folklore, generated by new technologies but serving an ancient function.” That function: the need to bring

order out of chaos, to make sense of a confused and confusing world.

TEACHING S

UGGESTION

Ask students to work in groups and respond to the Discussion and Writing Suggestions following the selection. Of

particular interest may be Question #2, which draws a comparison of moderns times to medieval times. Students may

Frankenchicken (p. 438)

Snopes.com

UMMARY

When the fast-food chain Kentucky Fried Chicken changed its name to KFC, rumors spread that the restaurants had

replaced real chicken with a scientifically mutated creature that was cheaper to produce. Snopes.com, a Web site

devoted to debunking rumors and urban legends, demonstrates that this deception is impossible. Snopes attributes the

rumors to concern over genetically modified foods.

TEACHING S

UGGESTIONS

Ask students how many of them regularly eat at a fast-food chain. Then ask what they’ve read or heard about these

chains regarding the quality of the food, the nutritional value, and what fast-food corporations might be doing to keep

ANSWERS TO REVIEW Q

UESTIONS

1. As this rumor spread, some of the details offered as evidence helped make it seem rooted in reality.

2. The supporting evidence underlying this rumor reflects what some may view as corporate trickery.

The name change suggests a company presenting “facts” in a technically accurate, though publicly deceptive

4. The public is becoming ever more aware of and concerned by scientific developments in the manipulation of

genetic codes and, consequently, of newer versions of genetically engineered foods. With such concerns

becoming integrated into public discourse, the idea of a company selling genetically altered fast-food chicken

may not seem out of the question.

Fighting that Old Devil Rumor (p. 440)

Sandra Salmans

UMMARY

For Procter & Gamble, lawsuits and a public relations campaign could not completely dispel rumors linking their

moon-and-stars logo to devil worship. The stories began in 1980, two years before this article was published, and calls

and letters to the company swelled to 15,000 per month. Both churches and rival consumer-goods companies

appeared to be perpetuating the rumors.

TEACHING S

UGGESTIONS

Before students read anything about the selection, have them respond to the Procter & Gamble logo purely as a visual

text. Ask students to give a quick first reaction to the symbols and what they might signify. Then ask them to

volunteer what they know about Procter & Gamble, its history, and its products. (Current P&G brands they might be

familiar with include Cover Girl, Gillette, Crest, Scope, Safeguard, Old Spice, Pampers, Swiffer, Tide, Febreze,

Duracell, and NyQuil.)

ANSWERS TO REVIEW Q

UESTIONS

1. The image allegedly supporting P&G’s satanism actually depicts the man in the moon, along with thirteen stars

representing the original thirteen colonies.

3. While the company sought a legal resolution to the rumor, the lawsuits were also an opportunity to get the truth

The Runaway Grandmother (p. 443)

Jan Harold Brunvand

UMMARY

Brunvand presents several variations of an urban legend in which a family’s car is stolen with the dead

grandmother on top. He analyzes versions from different places and time periods, concluding that the American

version signals discomfort with aging and death and a wish to have their elderly relatives disappear.

TEACHING S

UGGESTION

Read aloud the first paragraph of the introduction that precedes this selection, which defines urban legends. Ask

students if they know of any urban legends that they can share with the class.

Rumor Report: Ebola in Kansas City (p. 450)

UMMARY

This On the Web feature encourages students to do research of their own on a 2014 rumor about Kansas City

concerning the spread of the deadly Ebola virus. At the time, an outbreak of highly contagious disease in West Africa

had authorities throughout the world on high alert, quarantining travelers who might have been exposed to the virus.

TEACHING S

UGGESTIONS

The topic lends itself to group work. Possible topics to organize research:

• Background on Ebola in West Africa.

• Quarantines for returning travelers to West Africa.

• Responses to the Ebola rumor in Kansas City.

How Technology Disrupted the Truth (p. 450)

Katherine Viner

UMMARY

“Social media has swallowed the news,” writes Katherine Viner, “ushering in an era when everyone has their own

facts.” Viner points to news outlets that don’t hesitate to publish stories without first confirming their veracity. In these

TEACHING S

UGGESTIONS

Ask students to watch a partisan news broadcast, or to read an article or two from a partisan news web site. Their

assignment is to watch (or read from) news that runs counter to their own politics. Self-styled politically liberal

students should watch the Fox evening news or go to the Fox web site. Self-styled politically conservative students

should watch MSNBC or read the Huffington Post online. Students should record their responses, noting any claims

that seem to be unverified but reported nonetheless. Class discussion should follow. A second activity: Ask students to

Anatomy of a Rumor: It Flies on Fear (p.453)

Daniel Goleman

UMMARY

Goleman explains that fear and anxiety are the driving force behind rumors. People repeat a rumor when they are

anxious or frightened, in hopes of being contradicted or in order to feel they have some control over what worries

TEACHING S

UGGESTIONS

Ask students to list some rumors currently circulating in the news. Then have them put on their PR hats and suggest

what further information the embattled company or individual would need to provide to squelch the rumor.

ANSWERS TO REVIEW Q

UESTIONS

1. People repeat rumors in order to feel that they understand something that troubles them (487). See also question

2. Rumors are about something important to the teller, while gossip is “small talk” or “intellectual gum chewing”

3. Scientists sometimes deliberately start rumors (at colleges, for instance) in order to observe how they travel. They

One Man’s Rumor Is Another Man’s Reality (p.457)

Gregory Rodriguez

UMMARY

Drawing upon rumor theorists such as Robert H. Knapp and Cass Sunstein, columnist Gregory Rodriguez explores the

ways in which rumors emerge from our anxieties and belief systems. Rumors that support and validate our prior

convictions are hard to disprove, even when countered with cold hard facts and solid reasoning. See particularly the

footnote explaining Robert H. Knapp’s theory of rumor on page 458.

TEACHING S

UGGESTIONS

Before having students read the selection, ask them whether their view of the potential harmfulness of rumor changes

when their country is at war. In wartime, should people have different standards for passing along the information

they hear? And what kinds of information should be shared or kept to oneself?

ANSWERS TO REVIEW Q

UESTIONS

1. “Biased Assimilation” refers to the way people process new information according to wants and needs. To

4. Researchers found that opinions concerning the justification for declaring war on Iraq depended on respondents’

political views—not on hard information about the existence or non-existence of Weapons of Mass Destruction.

A Sociology of Rumor (p. 460)

Dan E. Miller

UMMARY

This piece is an homage to a revered teacher and sociological researcher, Tamotsu Shibutani, who argued that rumor-

making is a perfectly functional, sensible social response among people who find themselves in an uncertain situation

and are looking for a reasonable explanation. Shibutani describes rumors as “improvised news.” Miller distinguishes

TEACHING S

UGGESTION

This selection provides an excellent opportunity to help students understand the difference between inductive and

deductive thinking. In their approach to rumor, Gordon and Allport worked deductively. Shibutani worked inductively.

Review this important distinction with students. It has important implications for their writing. Ask: in what settings, in

what kinds of papers, is it appropriate to operate inductively? In which contexts, inductively? What is the relationship

ANSWERS TO REVIEW QUESTIONS

1. For Shibutani, rumor is “a recurrent form of communication through which people attempt to construct a

meaningful or working interpretation of a threatening or ambiguous situation by pooling their intellectual

2. Allport and Postman assumed that those who spread rumors are “psychologically damaged” in their willing

distortion of the truth. They believed rumors are irrational acts that are “potentially dangerous and destructive

3. In their “basic law of rumors,” Allport and Postman emphasized the importance of situational ambiguity:

4. A Japanese-American, Shibutani was interned in a relocation center during World War II, Shibutani observed

rumor-making in progress as a community attempt to “make sense of its situation.” The advantage: he

5. Shibutani sought to remove the stigma from rumor-making and spreading attached to the approach of Allport

Pizzagate: An Anthropology of Rumor (p. 463)

Hugh Gusterson

UMMARY

Gusterson recounts the Pizzagate rumor—that Hillary Clinton was running a child sex ring from a D.C. area pizza

parlor—and analyzes it from an anthropologist’s perspective. The rumor was as outrageous as it was false, but it

nonetheless roiled the 2016 presidential campaign for several news cycles. A young man actually entered the pizza

TEACHING S

UGGESTIONS

Ask students to research Edgar Welch’s trip from North Carolina “with an assault weapon to ‘self-investigate’ the

[Pizzagate] rumors.” There’s been a great deal of commentary about Welch’s trip. Students should learn what actually

happened and then read some analysis of that happened. Other students can investigate the topic of political rumors.

They should choose one and analyze it using Gustafson’s anthropological perspective: How does the rumor “express,

metaphorically at least, a deeper perceptual truth”?

How and Why Rumors Work—And How to Stop Them (p. 466)

Nicholas DiFonzo

UMMARY

In an interview, DiFonzo relates some major points from his book Rumor Psychology: Social and Organizational

Approaches. DiFonzo explains how people use rumors to gain or test information and to enhance relationships or self-

esteem. He also distinguishes rumor from gossip and presents four ways to fight a rumor.

TEACHING S

UGGESTION

Students can contribute to research on the psychology of rumor by completing a survey on DiFonzo’s

Web site (professornick.com). Taking the survey will give students a good sense of how such research is

conducted. Under “Rumor Resources,” select “Take a Rumor Survey.”

ANSWERS TO REVIEW Q

UESTIONS

1. People spread rumors to gain facts about a situation that makes them anxious, to enhance their relationship with

the hearer, and to build their own self-esteem or that of the group.

3. People accept a rumor when it appears to verify a conclusion that they already hold true, it comes from a credible

How to Fight a Rumor (p. 467)

Jesse Singal

UMMARY

Although rumors have historically been maligned as petty and immoral, current psychology views them as neutral and

even helpful. Like DiFonzo, Singal discusses several ways that rumors can be of use to a society or group. He also

provides strategies for debunking rumors.

TEACHING S

UGGESTION

Emergent.info is a Web site designed by Columbia University digital media experts to track rumors as they begin. It

indicates where a rumor first began, whether it is true, and how many sources have supported or debunked the rumor.

Click on “Stories” to see what rumors have sprouted today and how far they’ve traveled.

ANSWERS TO REVIEW Q

UESTIONS

1. Rumors can be a way of sifting information and identifying the truth. They can also be a way of warning others

3. Researcher Frank McAndrew (17) says that information about leaders’ weaknesses was extremely important when

4. Singal says that “the best way to help stem a rumor is to spread it” (6) by providing an “effective rebuttal” that

5. Obama fought rumors effectively by launching a Web site that listed the rumors and gave their origins and the

The Rumor (p. 472)

John Updike

UMMARY

Frank and Sharon, a straight married couple who run an art gallery in Manhattan, become the victim of a rumor that

Frank left Sharon for a man. Ultimately, the rumor is cleared up and proved false, but not before creating subtle

changes—many of them positive—in Frank’s outlook and relationships.

TEACHING S

UGGESTIONS

Rumors having to do with sexuality and romance seem to travel the fastest: for instance, that two people have gotten