English Dictionary

Woozle effect

/ˈwuːz(ə)l ɪˈfɛkt/

name

The phenomenon whereby frequent citation of earlier publications leads to a mistaken public belief in something for which there is no evidence, giving rise to an urban myth.

The Woozle effect is a phenomenon named after the fictional character Woozle.

意味（1）

The phenomenon whereby frequent citation of earlier publications leads to a mistaken public belief in something for which there is no evidence, giving rise to an urban myth.

One general problem is what [Beverly] Houghton (1979) calls the Woozle Effect (based on a Winnie the Pooh story). The Woozle Effect begins when one investigator reports a finding, such as Gelles's (1974) report that 55 percent of his sample of families reported one instance of conjugal violence in their marriage. The investigator may provide qualifications to the findings. … In the Woozle Effect, a second investigator will then cite the first study's data, but without the qualifications (such as done by Straus, 1974a). Others will then cite both reports and the qualified data gain the status of generalizable truth.