Tainted Truth

Crossen, a reporter and editor for the Wall Street Journal , asks us to take a hard look at the ``facts''--statistics, surveys and medical studies, among others--which inform our decisions as consumers and as citizens. Noting that Americans profess a healthy skepticism about the data that advertisers, politicians and the media throw at them, Crossen argues that we nevertheless tend to let data sway our choices and our opinions because this sort of information often appears to be the most reliable guide we have. But ``information,'' however persuasive, is never neutral, and the purpose of this book is to expose the interests that underlie the ``truths'' we have come to trust. Particularly disturbing, the author notes, is that scientific and academic research, which has traditionally represented the disinterested pursuit of knowledge, is increasingly underwritten by corporate sponsors seeking to manipulate the results. As Crossen demonstrates, we are neither trained nor inclined to interrogate the methodology behind the production of the facts that pervade our lives. As a result, she warns, we are at grave risk of being perpetually misled. The author urges both tighter controls on the practices of the research industry and greater awareness on the part of the public. Her book is unremittingly cynical, but Crossen's uncovering of deceptions behind the ``truth'' as we know it suggests that her cynicism is not unfounded. (June)