{"title":"超越排毒神话：语料库辅助下的科学与伪科学话语研究。","authors":"Cecilia Lazzeretti","doi":"10.3138/cam-2024-0020","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This paper explores the intersection of science and pseudoscience in online discourse about detoxification, investigating how and to what extent they coexist on the web. Drawing on previous studies of internet health scams, it examines the discursive strategies used to either validate or refute alternative detox treatments. Using a corpus-assisted discourse studies approach, the study analyses a corpus of texts (167,177 tokens) about detoxification randomly collected from the web. The results show that corrective messages debunking the detox myth make up less than 10% of the corpus. Furthermore, many keywords in the corpus, such as \"toxin(s),\" are subject to constant renegotiation. Advocates of alternative medicine use the term \"toxin(s)\" to justify detox treatments, while scientists criticize it as pseudoscientific. The study highlights how terminological ambiguity facilitates the mixing of science and pseudoscience, confusing readers. It also highlights the role of language in health-related misinformation and calls for interdisciplinary research to develop educational tools for health professionals.</p>","PeriodicalId":39728,"journal":{"name":"Communication and Medicine","volume":" ","pages":"e20240020"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2025-04-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":"{\"title\":\"Beyond the Detox Myth: A Corpus-Assisted Discourse Study of Science and Pseudoscience Online.\",\"authors\":\"Cecilia Lazzeretti\",\"doi\":\"10.3138/cam-2024-0020\",\"DOIUrl\":null,\"url\":null,\"abstract\":\"<p><p>This paper explores the intersection of science and pseudoscience in online discourse about detoxification, investigating how and to what extent they coexist on the web. Drawing on previous studies of internet health scams, it examines the discursive strategies used to either validate or refute alternative detox treatments. Using a corpus-assisted discourse studies approach, the study analyses a corpus of texts (167,177 tokens) about detoxification randomly collected from the web. The results show that corrective messages debunking the detox myth make up less than 10% of the corpus. Furthermore, many keywords in the corpus, such as \\\"toxin(s),\\\" are subject to constant renegotiation. Advocates of alternative medicine use the term \\\"toxin(s)\\\" to justify detox treatments, while scientists criticize it as pseudoscientific. The study highlights how terminological ambiguity facilitates the mixing of science and pseudoscience, confusing readers. It also highlights the role of language in health-related misinformation and calls for interdisciplinary research to develop educational tools for health professionals.</p>\",\"PeriodicalId\":39728,\"journal\":{\"name\":\"Communication and Medicine\",\"volume\":\" \",\"pages\":\"e20240020\"},\"PeriodicalIF\":0.0000,\"publicationDate\":\"2025-04-04\",\"publicationTypes\":\"Journal Article\",\"fieldsOfStudy\":null,\"isOpenAccess\":false,\"openAccessPdf\":\"\",\"citationCount\":\"0\",\"resultStr\":null,\"platform\":\"Semanticscholar\",\"paperid\":null,\"PeriodicalName\":\"Communication and Medicine\",\"FirstCategoryId\":\"1085\",\"ListUrlMain\":\"https://doi.org/10.3138/cam-2024-0020\",\"RegionNum\":0,\"RegionCategory\":null,\"ArticlePicture\":[],\"TitleCN\":null,\"AbstractTextCN\":null,\"PMCID\":null,\"EPubDate\":\"\",\"PubModel\":\"\",\"JCR\":\"Q4\",\"JCRName\":\"Medicine\",\"Score\":null,\"Total\":0}","platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Communication and Medicine","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.3138/cam-2024-0020","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q4","JCRName":"Medicine","Score":null,"Total":0}
Beyond the Detox Myth: A Corpus-Assisted Discourse Study of Science and Pseudoscience Online.
This paper explores the intersection of science and pseudoscience in online discourse about detoxification, investigating how and to what extent they coexist on the web. Drawing on previous studies of internet health scams, it examines the discursive strategies used to either validate or refute alternative detox treatments. Using a corpus-assisted discourse studies approach, the study analyses a corpus of texts (167,177 tokens) about detoxification randomly collected from the web. The results show that corrective messages debunking the detox myth make up less than 10% of the corpus. Furthermore, many keywords in the corpus, such as "toxin(s)," are subject to constant renegotiation. Advocates of alternative medicine use the term "toxin(s)" to justify detox treatments, while scientists criticize it as pseudoscientific. The study highlights how terminological ambiguity facilitates the mixing of science and pseudoscience, confusing readers. It also highlights the role of language in health-related misinformation and calls for interdisciplinary research to develop educational tools for health professionals.
期刊介绍：
Communication & Medicine continues to abide by the following distinctive aims: • To consolidate different traditions of discourse and communication research in its commitment to an understanding of psychosocial, cultural and ethical aspects of healthcare in contemporary societies. • To cover the different specialities within medicine and allied healthcare studies. • To underscore the significance of specific areas and themes by bringing out special issues from time to time. • To be fully committed to publishing evidence-based, data-driven original studies with practical application and relevance as key guiding principles.
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