New study of women who choose to breast-feed finding them less competent is flawed

Of all of the studies, I have ever heard conducted, this is one which should have never seen the light of day.  Not only was it done in a manner much unlike any that I have ever heard of but the premise was as flawed as the results. 

According to an article written by Rachael Rettner a MyHealthNewsDaily Staff Writer titled Mothers Who Breast-Feed Are Viewed as Incompetent, “Although breast-feeding provides proven health benefits for both mother and baby, women who choose to breast-feed are perceived as less competent than women who do not breast-feed, a new study suggests.  In one of their experiments, for instance, researchers found that the participants were less likely to hire a woman for a hypothetical job position once they learned she was breast-feeding.  Given the known benefits of breast feeding, the study researchers were surprised by the results. "I would have had the opposite prediction, that breast-feeding would make somebody seem really competent because you're making this really well-informed decision," said Jessi Smith of Montana State University.”

Besides the fact that using the knowledge of whether or not a mother breast feeds or not is totally out of the reasonable actions realm and shows a bias which is more than likely illegal to determine employment, “the new study was conducted in a laboratory setting, and the participants were all college students, so more research is needed to determine whether the results hold true in the real world.”  Knowing this to be the case why would this study even is considered for publication.  Even the top researchers were surprised by the results.  This experiment was all based on thought and perception and not on anything tangible which is normally used in these situation for substance.

All this study does is make me began to question other studies that I have read and some that I have believed in the past.  I now have to wonder if the results of those studies in the past were not conducted as loosely as this one was.