Question of the Week, Sept. 22, 2008

There are a few generally accepted ways of investigating urban myths and legends. Most all investigations start with some background, bare-bones research to get the basic background information on the myth and different variations of it that might be circulating. The next steps might involve conducting an experiment (such as the MythBusters TV show and the scuba diver in a forest fire myth), talking to experts in myths or the subject at hand (again, in the tv show they spoke to folklorists and helicopter equipment experts), or digging deeper to find more information about the myth (such as in the Broiled Again! myth when both Abigail van Buren and Brunvant called hospitals to see if they had ever treated a certain condition/patient). In our case, when we are researching the myths that we have chosen, we will just research other peoples' research when it comes to the investigation.