Superficial research in an article about fear of mass shootings

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is an article with superficial research by James Alan Fox at USA Today on January 14, 2026 titled There’s no mass shooting epidemic, but fear epidemic is real | Opinion. He says (as shown above) that:

 

“Although the frequent claims of a ‘mass shooting epidemic’ are more hyperbole than reality, there truly is an epidemic of fear fueled by the extensive media coverage afforded deadly attacks in schools, churches, restaurants and other public settings.

 

Indeed, the percentage of Americans indicating that public mass shootings are a significant source of worry has nearly tripled, from 16% in 2015 to 44% in 2025, based on the Chapman University Survey of American Fears." 

 

The first data point for fear of a random or mass shooting really should be from 2014 rather than 2015, and be 24.7% - which is 51 percent larger than the 16.4% that Prof. Fox uses. So his comparison would just be an increase of 79% rather than a near tripling.

 

 

  

 

 

And those are only two of eleven data points in those Chapman surveys, as is shown above. When you only use ~18% of the available data, you will get a grossly misleading picture of what really is going on.

 

There also is another article by James Alan Fox in the Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice for July 31, 2023 (Volume 40, number 1) titled Trends in U. S. Mass Shootings: Facts, Fears, and Fatalities. Figure 2 in it is a vertical bar chart showing seven Chapman Survey data points from 2015 to 2022, but it also omits the 2014 data point and instead of listing 47.4% for 2019 (the very highest point!) it repeats the 41.5% from 2018. Also, he reports 28.1% for 2017 when the correct number in the detailed results instead is 30.8%. I discussed this problem in a blog post on October 4, 2017 titled What do the most Americans fear? The fourth Chapman Survey on American Fears, and being innumerate.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Is fear of a random or mass shooting the greatest fear in the Chapman surveys? No – corrupt government officials are. As shown above in a bar chart, fear of a random or mass shooting ranked from a low of #56 to a high of #22.   

 

 

A free Reference Guide to American English Idioms

     

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Idioms are important in speechwriting. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines an idiom as carrying a figurative or non-literal meaning:

 

“an expression in the usage of a language that has a meaning that cannot be understood from the combined meanings of its elements (such as up in the air for ‘undecided’) or in its grammatically atypical use of words (such as give way for ‘retreat’).”

 

Having a dictionary or reference guide for idioms is very useful. There is a free 133 page pdf e-book by the Office of English Language Programs at the United States Department of State from 2010 titled IN THE LOOP: A Reference Guide to American English Idioms. You can download it either here or here.

 

The book cover was adapted from this one at OpenClipArt.

  

Steeped in an excellent metaphor

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is a very serious, 9-page pdf article by Pragnesh Parmar and Gunvanti Rathod at Academic Forensic Pathology on January 13, 2026 titled The Tea-Steeping Metaphor: Origin, Application, Advantages, Disadvantages, and Impact on Forensic Medicine Teaching. I found it by searching PubMed Central. The article describes how:

 

“The ‘tea-steeping metaphor’ originates from a universally familiar process—brewing tea—where the infusion of flavor, color, and aroma is directly influenced by the duration of steeping and the conditions in which it occurs. This analogy has been increasingly embraced in educational literature to illustrate the pedagogical necessity of allowing learners adequate time and appropriate contexts to achieve deep, meaningful learning. The metaphor emphasizes that just as tea leaves gradually infuse water to create a robust brew, learners too require sustained engagement within conducive environments to fully internalize, reflect upon, and apply new knowledge.”

 

Four paragraphs describe advantages, which are:

Encourages Deep Learning

Supports Patience and Persistence

Promotes Reflective Practice

High Adaptability Across Contexts

 

And another three paragraphs describe disadvantages, which are:

Time-Intensive Nature

Risk of Over-Saturation

Dependence on Optimal Learning Conditions

 

On April 19, 2022 I blogged about How to do a better job of researching medical and health articles. In that post I mentioned PubMed Central, which is a database with 11.6 million articles compiled by the U. S.  National Library of Medicine.

 

The image of a tea bag came from here at Wikimedia Commons.

 

 

Life in the Present is a wonderfully joyful little book of comics by Liz Climo

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is a 112-page book from 2024 by Liz Climo titled Life in the Present: a joyful collection of comics about living in the moment. As shown above (in my version), the cover has a hamster looking out from a window in a gift box. That comic is shown on page 84. Its first frame has the hamster reading a book and is captioned:

 

“True happiness comes when you live in the present.”

 

Four sections in it are titled:

 

Work (page 7)

Play (page 32)

Rest (page 60)

Reflect (page 85)

 

There is a post by Rafael Velez at the threadless blog on July 19, 2024 titled Liz Climo on Living in the Present: Comics, Joy, and Everyday Magic.

 

And three examples of dialogue in this book from her cartoons are:

 

Page 34

Bear (playing cards): I get so nervous making new friends. What if they’re grumpy? Or have nothing to say? What if they get on my nerves?

Rabbit (also playing cards): Do you ever wonder if anyone feels that way about you?

Bear (still playing cards): Oh, no, I’m a delight.

 

Page 58

Penguin: Let’s hang out sometime. What’s your number?

Turtle: 6.

Penguin: Just 6?

Turtle: Yeah, I’m really old.

 

Page 89

Weasel (reading text from shark): Everyone is scared of me, do you think it’s because I’m so brutally honest?

Weasel (replies): Nah, dude, it’s because you’re a shark.

 

Many other cartoon are shown in a series of seven collections over at boredpanda:

 

June 29, 2015

Awkward everyday lives of lovable animals by Simpsons illustrator Liz Climo

 

October 13, 2016

Simpsons illustrator shows what would happen if animals celebrated Halloween (42 pics)

 

March 5, 2019

The Simpsons animator illustrates awkward everyday lives of lovable animals, amasses 849k Instagram followers

 

April 30, 2021

The Simpsons animator illustrates awkward everyday moments of these wholesome animals (30 new pics)

 

June 27, 2023

“The Simpsons” animator illustrates humorous everyday moments of talking animals (40 new pics)

 

October 29, 2024

“The Simpsons” animator Liz Climo creates humorous comic sillustrating cute moments of talking animals (30 new pics)

 

May 14, 2025

22 Funny everyday moments of talking animals illustrated by “The Simpsons” animator Liz Climo (new comics)

 

The gift box and hamster were adapted from OpenClipArt.

 

According to eight Chapman Surveys of American Fears, more adults fear sharks than fear public speaking – but neither is their top fear.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Way back on October 27, 2009 I blogged about an often-quoted old survey (where public speaking was the top fear) in a post titled The 14 Worst Human Fears in the 1977 Book of Lists: where did this data really come from? In that post I noted:

 

“The movie Jaws came out in 1975, so by next year I suspect that sharks were ‘top of mind’ and would have made any list of top ten fears.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally, starting in 2017, the annual Chapman Survey of American Fears asked about Sharks. As shown above for eight surveys, more people fear them than fear Public Speaking.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But, as also is shown above, Corrupt Government Officials were the top fear in ten surveys, and Public Speaking only ranked from #26 to #59.   

 

Cartoons of a shark and speaker came from OpenClipArt.

 

 

Dinner Talk is a book of 365 useful conversation starters (Table Topics questions)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On November 21, 2022 I blogged about how Conversation Starters can also be used for Table Topics questions. Then, on January 3, 2026, I blogged about 135 Conversation Starters (or Table Topics Questions) from the Family Dinner Project.

 

Via interlibrary loan, from the Twin Falls Public Library I obtained a useful book from 2010 by Emily Hall, Philip S. Hall, and Nancy D. Hall titled Dinner Talk: 365 Engaging Conversation Starters to help you and your family connect. It also is subtitled that THERE’S MORE TO SAY THAN JUST “please pass the salt.” There is a Google Books preview. Along with each starter there is a paragraph on What to Expect. For example, Number 209 is How would you describe yourself in five words or less? and What to Expect is:

 

“Expect your children to describe themselves with five positive words that tell about their physical characteristics and attributes like strong, fast, tall, skinny, etc., because these are the characteristics that children are most focused on -the physical and visual. They are most tuned into how people look and haven’t yet learned to be as aware of inner characteristics, at least not in ways they can verbalize quickly. Adolescents will describe themselves in five words that tell how they hope they are perceived by their peers: cool, hip, smart, nice, etc. The adults at the table will describe themselves in five words that tell about their core values: honest, dependable, industrious, etc.” 

 

A dinner of red beans and rice came from Wikimedia Commons.

 

Exnovation is the opposite of innovation

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On December 20, 2024 I posted on A comic strip about flipping prefixes from ex- to in-. The opposite direction also works. There is an article by Hector P. Rodriguez et al. at The Milbank Quarterly in 2016 (Volume 94 number 3, pages 636 to 653) titled The Exnovation of Chronic Care Management Processes by Physician Organizations whose opening states:

 

“Exnovation is the process of removal of innovations that do not improve organizational performance, are too disruptive to routine operations, or do not fit well with the existing organizational strategy, incentives, structure, and/or culture. John Kimberly first coined the term in 1981 to describe the removal process at the tail end of the innovation cycle.”

 

Exnovation isn’t either the Merriam-Webster or Oxford English dictionaries. But there is a Wikipedia page on Exnovation, and a LinkedIn Pulse article by Joanne Hagerty on June 24, 2025 titled We Need to Talk About Exnovation.

 

There is a more detailed discussion in the 2023 book by Juergen Howaldt and Christoph Kaletka titled Encyclopedia of Social Innovation (Chapter 10 page 56) which you can read here at Google Books:

 

“Exnovation ‘occurs when an organization divests itself of an innovation in which it has previously invested’ (Kimberly 1981, p. 91). Kimberly offers the example of an organization, which adopted videotape equipment to record staff meetings. Subsequently, the organization no longer actively uses the equipment, its popularity fades away, but the equipment is still there, and costs the organization space and money. Exnovation, in Kimberly’s sense is the active divestment of the innovation) i.e., here the videotape equipment), not just discontinued use. He observes that there are several reasons for exnovating; another innovation replaces the old one, for example the organization might switch to Zoom recordings, or the innovation might turn out not to be justified (perhaps, it was just a bad idea to record the meetings in the first place). The underlying reasons for exnovating might be due to beliefs about the performance of different technologies, due to imitation of other organizations, or result from a change in policy support. In short, exnovation is a rich and complex topic. It is also a topic that is widely ignored due the prevailing pro-innovation bias in innovation studies (more on this below). In a few pages of his 1981 article, Kimberly introduces exnovation along with key considerations for further development.

 

Subsequent research extended the scope of the definition beyond organizations and technology. ‘Expanding on Kimberly’s definition, we understand exnovation as the purposive termination of existing (infra) structures, technologies, products, and practices’ Heyen et al. 2017, p. 326). In this wider sense, exnovation depends on actors across social spheres. The extended definition provides a fertile soil for social innovation research since the latter calls for a shift from a reductive focus on technological change in business contexts to one on change of practices across social spheres (Howaldt et al. 2014) (- SOCIAL INNOVATION AND SOCIAL CHANGE). In light of these developments, social exnovation can be defined as the deliberate termination of social practices, and the change in goals and relations as well as materials and techniques required for this.”